Crash! The bowling ball slams into the pins knocking them to the floor, making a perfect strike!
Kinnelon High School just added a new bowling team for the winter season. Physical education teacher James Soules created the team due to popular demand. With short notice, the team has been making the most of the time that they have been given. With games coming up fast, they are preparing as hard as ever.
Kinnelon’s High School Bowling Team consists of a varsity team of five people and a junior varsity team of five people. The junior varsity team acts as a reserve for varsity. With one to two practices a week, there is a chance to be subbed in during varsity matches if improvement is seen.
Captain and sophomore Scott Sanczyk is excited for the rest of the season. “I would say the thing I am most excited for is the state individual tournament.” Sanczyk aims to show off all of his hard work in this tournament which focuses on the individual player’s skills.
The state tournament is to be determined around the end of February. However, the regular season for the Kinnelon High School bowlers started in December and the season is planned to end around the middle of February.
Pratik Patel, a varsity bowler, has set up goals for his upcoming season as a sophomore. Patel sees through his obstacles and looks to his goals for the end of the season. “I want to get better and improve my overall game. I would like to bowl at least a 160 by the end of the season.”
The team’s schedule for the upcoming two weeks consists of Morris Hills High School and Morristown High School. These are both home games and fans are encouraged to come to cheer on their fellow bowlers to come and find two victories after a hard loss to Montville bowling, who won the state championship last year.
As the school’s golf coach, as well, coaching bowling has been both familiar and fun. But above all, Soules says, “I’m just looking forward to getting better. We are a young program with a lot of inexperienced bowlers so we are working on improving their skills and bowling is just a fun activity overall.”
