The bowling team at Bob Jones is striking up a new rivalry among schools in northern Alabama, winning 8 games so far in this season. Among new things for the team is a brand new coach, Mr. Daniel Elegante.

His goals for this years season are “that we win as much as possible, that all the players have fun, that all the players represent Bob Jones well and that we get better over time,” Elegante said.

This year, coaching alongside Elegante is Coach Eddie Crews, who has helped tremendously in perfecting the technique the players practice and bowl with.

Brandon Crews, a member on the bowling team, said that Elegante, “brought a lot of energy to the team. [He] brought us up when we were staying down.”

With a new coach comes new benefits: playing for the team this year counts as a  physical education (PE) credit for students who want to gain a credit outside a generic gym class.

Team member Shandi Burrows said, “The PE credit is really why I joined. I did not want to take a PE class my last semester of high school and it seemed that bowling was my only option, but I fell in love with it. I’m not very good, but I’m actually thinking about joining a rec team in college because of my experience now.”

Joining the team is simple. Students do not have to go through a try-out for the team. All a student needs to do is let Elegante know he or she is interested in becoming a part of the team and bring a copy of his or her transcript and a physical. Once approved, all that is left to do is watch a sportsmanship video and then he or she is an official member of the team.

Burrows stated, “It’s been a fun season competing. Michaela Philip and I started halfway through the season which is a bummer, but it’s been fun so far. The team is good, we work well and keep each other motivated.”

Scholarships for bowling are surprisingly abundant and are readily accessible to any senior who wishes to gain a little extra money for their college education. Many of these scholarships are even awarded for just living in a certain area or having a certain GPA and being a part of the bowling community.

“I’m hoping to get a scholarship, but you have to have a really good average and I’m slowly working up to that,” said Burrows.