The McDowell Girls Bowling Team consists of 11 girls from McDowell and Fairview High School. These girls work on their game every practice from 3:20 to 5 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. The girls get there and get right to work on warming up. They start practice with foul line and one step drills and slowly work their way to a full approach.
There are often girls helping each other out all of practice. The girls are really encouraging and supportive of their teammates. They are a talented group of girls with many different personalities and experiences that they bring to the team.
McDowell Girls Bowling Coach, Odester “Beaver” Clark, says, “I don’t run practice, I know they know what to do. I just make sure they are working on what they need to. Though I do help when they need it.”
Every week from the beginning of December until the middle of February there are bowling matches. They are held at Eastland Bowl from 3:45 p.m. until around 6 p.m..
The team is split up into three different groups: The A team which is the top three bowlers based on their averages, the B team which is the next three bowlers and then the C team who compete to raise their averages to move up to the A and B teams.
During a match, each girl bowls three matches and the team can earn up to 28 points total, which is based off of matches won and total pin fall.
The team has been consistently good over the years, and have attracted new players each year. Freshman Isabella Zonna says, “I always try to bring the others up when they’re down and the other girls are always so kind to me.”
The team has interconnected conversations even though some of the team members come from the Fairview school district and others come from Millcreek.
Senior Taylor Kretz says, ”I connect well with others due to personalities matching one another.”
Every player on the team has their own goals for themselves. Junior bowler Jodie Chandley says, “My goal is to put forth my best bowling and not give up.”
All their goals are well thought out and personal to themselves.
“My goal is to work on my release to further improve my bowling,” Zonna says.
But collectively they all work together to become the best they can be. Goals are important to have. They push the team and individuals to work harder to meet them.
There girls also enjoy the diverse athletic backgrounds on the team. Jenna Szklenski, Emiko Munekata, Erica Munekata and Malia Sommers are also on the Fairview tennis team. Emiko and Erica are also a part of the Fairview Track and Field team.
Szklenski is on Fairview’s Softball team. Grace Fiorelli is on McDowell’s Unified Bocce. Zonna is a part of McDowell´s Marching Band as well as McDowell’s Track and Field team.
It’s important to highlight the things the girls do outside of bowling because all these sports have prepared them and helped them to be better teammates.
The team has a lot of memorable moments already. The girls are excited for Regionals and States because they say that is always the most memorable part of the season. The freshman and sophomore girls say spending time with the other girls during practice and matches is the most memorable.
“Bowling with the C team on Wednesdays is my favorite, the girls are amazing. We all cheer each other on and it’s really a wonderful environment,” Zonna says.
Coach Beaver says he enjoys coming to practice to see all of his bowlers’ smiling faces and Jodie Chandley appreciates inside jokes they create like when they all listen to “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake to prepare for regional competitions.
Coach Jay Chandley says, “…seeing their scores improve from their hard work never fails to put a smile on my face.”
