The Apopka High School Bowling Team has a long and very successful history. Last year, the men’s team won state and both teams broke numerous county and state records. Will this year’s team live up to previous expectations?
There are many differences between bowling and other sports. A main distinction is that bowling is completely indoors and requires a special facility to play. The indoor part is great, but that means that our team can’t practice on campus. You may think that is a negative (I sure did) but Mr. Jenkins, a dean and coach of our bowling teams explained that our bowlers are actually very lucky. He explained that Apopka is one of the few cities that has a bowling alley close to the school. Having a separate facility, while sometimes costly, has some benefits, as he later stated, “You can go after school right there and for an hour and a half to two hours. You get to go bowling and you can drink Coke and eat french fries while you’re doing your own thing together.”
However, drinking Coke and eating french fries aren’t the only things on the minds of our teams. Both teams are working to protect their legacy. The Blue and White interviewed Chase Robbins, a senior at Apopka High School, to ask about the previous teams. “Last year everyone on that team was averaging above 230… we broke countless county and district records. I think we broke one state record as well.” This means our bowlers obviously have a lot to live up to, but Chase isn’t worried; in fact he has a plan: “If we can win Kegel, we can win districts. If we can win districts, we can win states and so on.”
Trophies and beating records aren’t the only things that these students are playing for. In an interview with APK Senior Destini Courtney, she told me about how some members are playing to get scholarships, too. However, the more common link between everyone is the love of the sport itself, Destini later explained her career in bowling “I had turned down a lot of sports. I tried basketball, soccer, football, hockey, so when I found bowling I found that I really liked it.” Similarly Junior and member of the Bowling Team Olivia Hodge stated, “What makes it different for me is the absolute support that it has, it’s a huge community.”
So it seems that our bowling team has everything needed to succeed this year. And if the people interviewed are any indication, they’ll be dominating this season.
