As the winter months approach, so do the next round of sports at GRHS. When the sign-up forms were sent out this month, though, among the typical choices like basketball, hockey, and swim, there was something missing. Bowling was no longer an option.
Prior to the release of the form, there was no indication that bowling wasn’t going to continue as a winter sport. Students were blindsided when they went to sign up and bowling simply wasn’t an option. Initially, I was in denial, assuming that someone had mistakenly omitted it. To my dismay, it was intentional.
Mr. Hill, the school’s athletic director, said bowling was cut due to budgetary constraints, as it would cost more this year than in years before. Historically, the bowling team met only once a week to practice. Since practices have to be done at a bowling alley, students need bus transportation to and from the bowling alley, Parkway Lanes, each week. This was manageable in the past because bowling practices only totaled around 10 in a season. This year, though, for bowling to continue as a sport, there would have needed to be an increase in practices each week. Under the current budget, this simply could not be accommodated without more money to pay for the additional days.
In some respects, bowling was the least ‘controversial’ sport to take away at the last minute, given that it’s not nearly as substantial as others like basketball or hockey. However, that shouldn’t diminish its importance. I spoke with Mrs. Tully, a physics teacher at GRHS and the coach of the bowling team, about her opinion on bowling’s discontinuation. “I am very sad that there is no bowling team this year,” she said, “The team was an outlet for those students that were not cheerleaders, basketball players, swimmers, or hockey players.”
Mrs. Tully, who is, coincidentally, retiring this January and wouldn’t have continued coaching bowling anyway, understands the dedication that went into making the bowling program. She reminisced about how it began as a club many years ago when students would gather on their own time on Thursday evenings at the Garden Palace bowling alley in Clifton. The commitment required to use personal transportation to get there week after week demonstrates the passion of those involved. Moreover, many people were quite talented at the sport, competing in several NJ tournaments when it was only just a club.
She shared some of her past bowler’s successes: “The top bowlers in the club were allowed to bowl in the Essex County meet and the sectional meet. One year we had a county champion and a sectional top 10 bowler who qualified for states.” While bowling may not have been a super popular sport, for those who did participate, it was a valued experience.
That said, bowling may not be gone permanently—there is still a glimmer of hope for its return. If enough students and their parents raise the necessary funds to operate bowling for one season, the school will reinstate it as a sport and cover its costs in future years. This will take a lot of effort and dedication so I’m doubtful that bowling will make a return in the next few years, but there still is hope that one day, down the road, it will be brought back. Mrs. Tully always emphasizes that bowling is a low-stress, welcoming, and fun sport, and she hopes the school will revive it(even if she’s retired)—and I couldn’t agree more.
