In a League of Her Own
As a young girl on a bowling league, all Donna Slane wanted to do was someday be good enough to play on the same team as her mother.
Years later, her drive and determination to achieve that childhood goal led her to a professional bowling career.
Today Slane is one of the top female bowlers in the Quad Cities and in Iowa, boasting lifetime statistics of ten perfect games and three 800 series. Because of her professional connections within the sport, Slane was named in December to serve as the first head coach of St. Ambrose University’s new varsity bowling team.
For Slane, her love of bowling grew from a favorite family activity, as it does for many people who bowl simply for recreation. Slane says the sport is so popular because “pretty much anyone can bowl. There are no physical limitations.”
While everyone can play, those who undertake bowling as a professional sport take it to the next level and develop skill, coordination, and undergo years of training. In light of its growing popularity, many high schools and colleges have embraced this “new” sport. Click here for Bowling facts.
Although the NCAA recognized bowling in 2003 as an official championship sport, the first intercollegiate tournament was held in 1916. Today, the United States Bowling Congress reports that 2,700 student-athletes currently compete on 180 college and university intercollegiate bowling teams.
When St. Ambrose started recruiting in the spring, “we were hoping to maybe have 20 to 30 kids,” Slane says. “The response ended up being overwhelming.”
Nearly 40 students – of which 90 percent are first-year students – have been recruited for the 2009-10 season. To say the least, Slane is thrilled.
That early recruiting success, she says, is due to “a tremendous commitment by the school. The scholarships we offered were a big drawing point for potential recruits.”
The team practices three times a week at Bowlmor Lanes in Davenport in preparation for a nine tournament season that begins Oct. 3 in Wauwatosa, Wis. The only “home” tournament will be Dec. 5-6 at Town & Country Bowl in Rock Island, Ill.
So what can be expected of an inaugural team? Slane issues a cautious, but optimistic, assessment: “The competition we’re going to hit will be at schools with an established program, but we have some talented players.”
Her hopes are to finish at least in the middle of the pack, she says, “but landing in the top three would be awesome.”
Bowling Facts
Collegiate
- 180 colleges and universities have teams. Nearly 100 of them offer
scholarships. - Latest numbers: 91 men's teams, 77 women's teams, 52 mixed teams
- 1,789 male bowlers; 835 female bowlers
High School
- Over the last decade, bowling has been the fastest-growing high school
sport nationwide. - A decade ago, only four states recognized bowling as a varsity sport. Today,
19 states offer varsity bowling, and another 27 offer it at the club level. - In 2007-08, more than 52,000 student-athletes competed in high school
bowling at the varsity level. This represented a 10 percent increase from
the previous school year. Since the 2000-01 school year, high school
bowling participation nationwide has more than doubled while the number of schools sponsoring teams has nearly tripled.
Source: USBC