Courtesy photoWhat sport requires balance, precision, consistency and a trusty ball with pins? It’s bowling, and the Cal Poly bowling club team is seeking to expand.
The team has been in existence for about five years, with two past captains before its current leader, mechanical engineering junior Kyle Vanden Berg, who’s been bowling for close to 15 years.
Most of the team’s members have bowled for at least 10 years, and traveling members have average scores of 215 to 230 out of 300.
“Everyone who joins the team is experienced,” says David VanMuyden, a civil engineering freshman. “It’s not the kind of sport where you can come to college and say, ‘Hey, I think I want to try it out.’ It’s not like throwing a Frisbee.”
Vanden Berg agrees with his teammate, saying, “It’s a hard sport to learn.”
The Mustangs, who finished 2006-07 ranked 40th in the country by CollegeBowling.com, practice at least twice on weekends, driving to Santa Maria’s Rancho Bowl for quality playing time. Though allowed to play at Mustang Lanes for free, the team is willing to make the drive and pay $1.75 a game 25 miles away.
“Mustang Lanes is in complete disrepair,” Vanden Berg explains.
The team receives $1,100 through Associated Students Inc. funding, which isn’t enough to cover all costs, including transportation and registration for competitions. As a result, members pay for their own equipment, as well as games, although vendors often give equipment discounts to collegiate teams.
Members don’t pay dues, but it costs $250 to register the team with the sanctioning body, the United States Bowling Commission (USBC).
The team competes in various collegiate tournaments, the registration fees for which range from $250 to $350. Most are against other western teams, usually from Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington. Regional tournaments are comprised of about 15 to 20 squads.
Two or three times a year, the team participates in national competitions – often held in Las Vegas – which may include nearly 60 teams from around the country.
The Mustangs, who won their first tournament in February 2007 at the San Jose Silicon Valley Classic, are now recruiting since nearly half of the team will be graduating next year.
Vanden Berg, who encourages interested students to e-mail him at kvandenb@calpoly.edu, hopes to encourage enough people to join by October, in time for the 2008-09 season’s first tournament.