Published: November 25, 2009 10:20 pm      

Club teams ready for second season

As some local high schools begin their second season of club-level bowling, there will be more focus on team and the future.

Bowlers from Woodrow Wilson, Shady Spring and Independence will host their season opener Sunday at Leisure Lanes in Beckley. The event will start at 1 p.m.

Last year was the teams’ first as organized club squads. They will compete in eight tournaments overall, and the state tournament will be held in Parkersburg in February.

“It went over real well last year,” said Capt. Kevin Price, Beckley’s fire marshal who is also the teams’ coach. “The kids got to bowl in some tournaments and this year we have picked up some schools from all over the state, both in the northern and southern conferences.”

The inaugural season was a learning experience.

“There were a lot of good bowlers that I had never seen,” said Dakota Price, a junior at Woodrow and Capt. Price’s son.

“I think it made me a better bowler,” Independence junior Zach Nicely added. “It gave me more experience bowling against better people. I thought the competition was pretty good. I don’t really like to bowl against bad (bowlers).

“I think if I bowl against better people then I will eventually get better.”

The biggest difference this year will be in the format. Last year, five members on each team would bowl a complete game. This season, however, they will employ the Baker format, in which each member alternates frames. One member will roll the first frame, another the second and so on, then repeat the rotation in frames 6-10.

The local teams were introduced to the system at last season’s state tournament.

“I think it increased my score and made the team better, too,” said Jonathan Cantley, a Woodrow junior.

The Baker format is used at the college level, and there seems to be plenty of college-caliber talent among the local bowlers.

Dakota Price, for example, recently won a Junior Gold qualifying event in Virginia. His average score for six games was over 200.

He and Rachel Donell, a junior at Mountain State Academy, will compete in the national Junior Gold tournament in Indianapolis next July. The top eight from that tournament will compete for Team USA in countries all over the globe.

“It meant a lot,” Price said. “It is a big achievement to get to go to Indianapolis.”

There will be other qualifying tournaments, including one in Dunbar. Capt. Price hopes to get one organized in Beckley.

The club teams compete on Sundays and practice on Wednesdays.