Bowling, once a popular sport in Niles North, has seen a recent decline in participation, support, and recognition. Once a sport with dozens of players, the sport’s 2022 – 2023 season turned out only four players, less than the amount needed to have a full Varsity team, meaning there was no JV team. However, some positive changes have shown this year, and it holds some hope for the future of Girls Bowling at Niles North and how the sport is viewed at the school.
“The environment is very fun,” Varsity bowler Alana Sindelar said. “It’s not easy to play but it’s very easygoing. I wouldn’t say it’s as hard as the other sports, so it would be very easy to join; no prior experience needed. Girls should ‘just do it’ like they say in Nike ads. It feels so good when you get a strike or a spare. We’re located at Classic Bowl and they have such a good restaurant [too, Boba Burger]. Competitions can get very loud, but if you like cheering and supporting your team, this is definitely your sport; If you’re a cheerleader and you’re not doing literal cheer, this is definitely the sport for you. We’re getting our own bowling balls fitted to our hands soon thanks to the Athletic Booster Club. I’ll definitely come back to bowling next year.”
For the first time after the pandemic, the team finally has a full Varsity team, composed of all new bowlers that joined this year (eight in total). This made the team eligible for participation in weekday matches against other individual teams such as Vernon Hills, Evanston Township, and Niles West, whom they faced off against on Dec. 6. Now, they once again participate in tournaments: these are weekend competitions with as many as two dozen teams from the Northeast Illinois region traveling to one alley and playing six games, meaning the whole experience (drive and pre-tournament preparations included) can take as long as 10 hours. For the competitive and well-versed bowler, this is usually a difficult, tiring, and sometimes draining experience. But, as for the new girls on North’s team, it’s seen as another fun learning and bonding experience.
“The girls have been really dedicated to working hard,” Coach Lee said. “They’ve been improving from one match to the next. We had our first tournament this past Saturday, and while we weren’t overly competitive, we still bowled pretty well, at least about where I expected us to be. Because we’re a small team/sport, we’re always looking for more bowlers. The minimum amount that we’d be happy with would be 14 to 16 girls, so we’re about halfway there. What we want to do is change the perception of how the bowling teams are viewed at school. We like to be considered as a large team sport like football, basketball, volleyball. Even though we don’t have the same size, as a representative of the school, we should be still earning the same level of respect from our students and our staff.”
While no bowlers from previous years returned, eight new players came to try out the sport and even compete whenever possible. The 5 players on Varsity are Emma Estrada, Grace Michaels, Caeli Henson, Sereen Alawi, Alana Sindelar (pictured), Litzy Cano, Elizabeth Ramos, and Amira Cheng (not pictured). This spike in participation can mainly be attributed to the team’s coach, Richard Lee, who has been making efforts to publicize the sport since the pandemic. The most successful efforts have been consulting school media groups and bowling/sports sources like other coaches. Girls Bowling has now seen promotion around the school with things such as posters and NN media sources like North Star Broadcast.
Girls Bowling finally has enough people to play competitively, but not enough to fill all their slots. They have been and will continue to look for players, doing everything they can to bring in support and participation. This includes teaming up with the Boys Bowling team for a promotional performance during the Winter Pep Assembly on Dec. 8. With enough pictures, words, voices, and support out there, victory and power in numbers could be within the team’s grasp for future seasons.
