TERRE HAUTE —
The competition is fierce, yet friendly at the same time.
Just a bit of trash-talking can be heard, but it is all in good fun.
This fun atmosphere can be found for nearly 40 bowling teams in the Wabash Valley High School Travel League running from September through February.
In fact, in recent years the league has grown so large and with travel considerations to consider, it has been split into North and South divisions.
“We get new bowlers every year,” South Division director Dusty Derigo said. “Every year we get a handful of people that have never bowled in their lives. That’s fine with us, we’ll take them.
“We have a lot of kids that are not qualified, if you will, to participate in other sports. Not big enough for football, not tall enough for basketball, not quick enough for baseball, whatever. Bowling gives them an opportunity where they might not have any sporting activities to look forward to.”
The league even caters to a few physically challenged bowlers, including a pair of slightly autistic bowlers and another with a brain injury.
But don’t be deceived that this is just a warm and fuzzy fun league. The WVHSTL boasts many excellent bowlers too.
To wit, just a couple hours after he was interviewed on Dec. 17, Terre Haute South bowler Tyler Good rolled his first sanctioned 300 game at the Terre Haute Bowling Center.
Terre Haute North bowler Tanner Tuberosa fired a 297 game recently in a midweek spinoff of the WVHSTL, the Blue Chip North Conference league.
“I just enjoy the competition and the friendly atmosphere of the [volunteer] coaches,” Good said. “I’ve learned a lot. It’s just been a great experience. I’ve learned how to throw a hooking bowling ball.
“I’m wanting to go to Vincennes University and try out for the team there. They take 14 students there each year and there’s about 200 students that try out. So knock on wood, I’ll try to get in.”
Good, a senior at South, is a prime example of a novice bowler becoming a very good bowler in a span of about three years.
“[Good] came to us without much experience and now he’s a fantastic bowler,” Derigo said. “Very hardworking, very disciplined. He’s been accepted at Vincennes University. They have a great bowling program and he’s excited about that.
“He comes here after practice, he’ll bowl another three or four games on his own. Comes here through the week and bowls.”
The WVHSTL is a handicap league consisting of both boys and girls teams, four to a team, bowling on Saturday afternoons from September through January, then switch to Sunday afternoons in February.
Schools participating in the North Division are North, Northview, South Vermillion and Riverton Parke. South Division schools are South, North Central, Sullivan and West Vigo. One bowler each from Rockville and Marshall, Ill., also bowls in the league on another school’s team — which is allowed by league rules.
Bowling lanes utilized include Vigo Bowl, Terre Haute Bowling Center, Imperial Lanes, Patrick’s Lanes (Sullivan), Paradise Bowl (Clinton) and Brazilian Lanes (Brazil).
There are 23 teams in the North Division, so when they bowl somewhere other than Vigo Bowl or THBC, they have to bowl in two shifts. The South Division features 15 teams.
The cost is $14 per bowler per week with most of that money being re-invested in the form of college scholarships for the bowlers.
Once a month, both divisions will come together for a singles tournament.
“Anywhere from 80 to 100 bowlers bowl in the monthly singles tournaments,” North Division director Rhonda Smith said. “Marcy Martin, who is the coach at Northview, runs the singles tournament every month.
“Here the bowlers compete as individuals to earn college scholarship money. We awarded $24,000 in scholarships last year.”
Smith and Derigo estimated that one bowler, Cameron Bolinger, earned over $10,000 in scholarships by the time he graduated last year.
“Some have take home several hundred dollars, others earn a couple hundred dollars a year,” Derigo noted.
The aforementioned Blue Chip North Conference league bowls during the week from November through January. This is a five-player scratch league (no handicap), consisting of six boys and four girls teams.
Boys teams this year include North, South, Sullivan, North Central, South Vermillion and Riverton Parke. Girls teams are from North, South Vermillion, North Central and Riverton Parke,
While this is a more competitive league than the WVHSTL, most of the bowlers participate in both leagues.
These programs are not “officially” part of the schools’ athletic programs, designated club sports and not part of the IHSAA. However, bowlers are allowed by the schools to earn letters and chevrons.
Indiana High School Bowling [ihsb.org] conducts a four-week state tournament, including a sectional, regional, semistate and state final, just like its IHSAA counterpart. This year’s state tournament runs from the last week in January to the third week in February. IHSB has added 16 schools statewide this year, bringing its total schools participating to exactly 200.
“We try to get the word out to the youth bowlers in the Saturday morning leagues before they get to high school,” Derigo said. “We want high schoolers to know this opportunity is available to them.”
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