As time goes on, the selection of sports at schools increases.  One of the sports that is fairly new to schools is bowling.  Pella added bowling as a sport for the 2015/16 season, according to the Pella Dutch Bowling website, and the team has grown each year, with the girls’ team especially growing this year.  

“I think that the team has grown because bowling is an easy sport to pick up, and it is not a major commitment, with practices once a week for an hour and a half,” said senior Braden Rowe, who joined the team as a sophomore.

Currently, both boys and girls have full varsity and junior varsity teams. 

“It makes me feel happy that a lot of people want to do bowling in their free time because it really is a fun sport to do, said sophomore Maria Pronina. This is her second season with the bowling team.  

The bowling team as a whole has had ups and downs this season, but each member has their own goals and victories. 

“My season has been good so far,” said Rowe.  “I’ve bowled several bests, and a highlight was bowling a 190 against PC.”

Sophomore Anna DeNooy said, “A highlight of my season would be breaking the school record as a team and getting on the leaderboard individually.”

So far, the Pella Dutch have bowled against six other schools this season: Centerville, Norwalk, Davis County, Oskaloosa, Pella Christian, and Knoxville. 

“Our most challenging competitor is probably Davis County this season,” said Rowe, “with their team being large with lots of talented bowlers.”

The team only has a few more meets before their state qualifying meets.  But although this season is shortly coming to a close, there is always next season to look forward to.  Many people have joined the team because they liked bowling before, and this is just an opportunity to bowl competitively and to improve their skills. 

“I decided to join bowling this year again because it is a fun sport,” said sophomore Emily VanderMolen.  This is her second year on the team. She said that she has made many new friends, and that she likes bowling because “bowling has great sportsmanship and there is always something to do and work on.”

DeNooy said that it is a fun and welcoming environment.  “I enjoy being on the bowling team because I love bowling and practice and meets are so fun and my team is great!” 

Pronina also enjoys the close bond the team has, which they show “by cheering on with each other and having a great time!” 

“We have a great group of girls and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come since the start,” said senior Sierra VanderWeerdt. “It’s hard to believe it’s my last year of bowling already but I wouldn’t want my last season to be any other way.”