Wanna bowl?

by Acrivi Coromelas

Staff Writer

Or, how to spend an hour a week down at the local lanes and get course credit for it

Did you skip out on cosmic bowling because you threw too many gutter balls? Have you ever dazzled dates with your bowling ability (or lack thereof)? Do you like bowling or just want to learn? Do you own a pair of stolen bowling shoes? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you should know Grinnell offers a Bowling Activity class where you can earn a credit while you bowl.
For the first half of the second semester, the Physical Education department offers a bowling class. Because the department picks up the cost of games and shoe rentals, students do not pay an activity fee. Students meet for one hour on Wednesdays or Fridays at the Bowladrome on State Street. Last year, the Bowladrome installed a computerized scoring system, so knowing how to add is not a prerequisite for the course. Students simply can watch their strikes and spares score themselves, never needing to learn how to score a game.
Andy Hamilton has taught Bowling Activity for the past nine years. He begins each class teaching the fundamentals of bowling. During the rest of the sessions, students bowl.
“It is an activity class,” Hamilton explained, “so the idea is they learn by playing.”
But, why does Grinnell offer a bowling course? After all, it is not academically rigorous. The Physical Education department offers many athletic/activity courses. Hamilton explained that the general purpose of these courses is to introduce students to new activities, in hopes of promoting life-long physical activity. Since few people ever are formally taught the mechanics of bowling, and because bowling can be played throughout one’s life, the course is a perfect fit for an activity course.
However, many students do not take bowling for life-long fitness. Rather, many bowl for its fun. Given its causal nature in which students socialize, are active, and learn skills, it is quite popular.
“I’m a terrible bowler and wanted to improve my skills,” said Terrill Legueri ‘05. “It’s a great way to spend Fridays and it’s really fun. “Bowling for a credit is the best idea the college has ever come up with.”
Some students like Becky Ohman ’06 take the course simply because they love the game.
“I used to bowl a lot in high school. I took the course because I really missed playing,” Ohman explained.
This semester, 45 people take the course, but at times the enrollment can reach 55 to 60. Even your non-traditional athletes enroll in the course.
“I enjoy teaching bowling because the students who take the class really represent a cross-section of the student body,” Hamilton explained. “Often times I’ll get to know students in the bowling class, whom I would have not normally been introduced to through my normal work in P.E. and athletics.”
Students who take the class come from expansive bowling backgrounds. Some have bowled in leagues, some just a few times, and some students have taken the course repeatedly. The skill level, in regards to score, ranges from approximately 65-170. Each year a few students break 200, but no one has hit a perfect 300. Maybe the highlight of this semester of bowling will be a perfect game.