A remarkable thing about attending St. Scholastica Academy is all of the opportunities it awards to its students. On both an academic and an extracurricular level, there are numerous possibilities a student might choose to partake in. One such of these opportunities comes in the form of a team sport: bowling.
Oftentimes, bowling is not the first sport one might think of when it comes to competition. Plenty of people visit bowling alleys for casual get-togethers with their friends. However, bowling on a competitive level offers both rewards and challenges, a fact these girls are well aware of.
So how does a bowling team work, anyway? What are practices and matches like?
Bowling takes a great deal of determination and commitment. The team members practice several times a week, and attend many matches throughout their season. The team travels to Tangi Lanes in Hammond three times a week, either for practices or for games, and the coaches help develop the team’s skills, working particularly with newer members.
Image Credit: Peter Bertucci
There are ten members on the bowling team’s roster, although they are currently carrying eleven in total—Addie Altland, Katherine Amos, Jillian Bloodsworth, Eleanor Cantin, Gabby Falkenstein, Clare Goss, Shelby Jeanfreau, Taylor Jeanfreau, Jean Khor, and Mia Medina-Reed. The members ranked are from low to high. Meets are conducted in three games; the bowlers with a lower average from the SSA team compete against bowlers with a lower average from their competitor and the higher bowlers against the higher. The winner’s team receives a point, and the maximum number of points possible are 27. If a team receives 14 points or more, they win the match.
The bowling team was initially founded by Coach Peter Bertucci in the year 2006, with Coach John Glorioso joining three years ago and Coach Jeff Roberts joining this year. Bowling was created as an official sport, and the athletic director at the time, Coach Art, offered Bertucci a spot, because “the joke was that since [Bertucci] was from Chalmette, I already knew how to bowl.” Coach Bertucci agreed eagerly.
The challenge with starting a new bowling team comes in having to know how to teach the members to bowl. Thankfully, the girls from the first year already had some experience and an excellent coach to guide their way. Coach Bertucci did a lot of research to learn how to help the team grow in their knowledge of bowling.
Throughout the years, the bowling team continued to grow. In the year 2009, the team made it to the state finals and lost, before returning to state and winning in the years 2015 and 2017.
On March 19 of this year, the bowling team’s senior night, the team’s development was clear for all to see. The members of the team highlighted and cheered on their seniors—Addie Altland, Katherine Amos, Gabby Falkenstein, and Mia Medina-Reed—as they bowled for district, and they placed first. They are currently ranked fourth overall in the state.
The team returns to the playoffs this year, and their next match is April 3 at Lafayette. If they win that match, then they move on to the final four on April 10. The following day, April 11, is the singles competition, which the bowling team has four members put up for: Addie Altland, Gabby Falkenstein, Mia Medina-Reed, and Jillian Bloodsworth.
When asked if there was anything he desired for people to know about SSA bowling, Coach Peter Bertucci stated:
