Bowling the ball down the lane to watch all the pins fall over is somewhat of an art that not many people can perfect, even after years of practice. Most people might not even know that their own school has a group of boys that go out and compete for their school on the bowling team, and although the bowlers probably know this, it doesn’t stop them from having fun every season.

The Niles West Boys Bowling team is not one of the most popular sports in the school, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable for the boys on the team who are ecstatic to get back out on the lanes.

“I like high school bowling because it’s an interest to me and even if it isn’t the most popular sport in the school, we are still pretty good and are competitive with it, and It’s always good to see the guys, most of which I haven’t seen since last year,” senior Paul Hardin said.

“Overall, we look to do what we did two years ago and look to put ourselves in a position to maybe reach state this year. As we have a varsity of all seniors, we are all in this year. My favorite memory from the last couple years is when we made it to sectionals my Sophomore year with a 1000 (Average of 200 per player) in our last game at regional,” Hardin said.

All of the team members are excited to get back into the swing of things and return to the bowling lanes this upcoming season.

“What I’m looking forward to most in the season is getting my average up and pushing to state and compete with all the best schools in the area and what I enjoy most about bowling on a high school team is the excitement and competitiveness of every player in the conference,” senior Eric Dunker said.

The players on the squad all have their own set of goals to achieve this season, while some are personal; most are for the benefit of the team.

“My team goals for the season go along with my personal ones, and they are to push to state and get first place in any tournament. I feel that it’s gonna be a good way to end off. A specific individual goal is to push to state individually if the team can’t and also shoot high averages and possibly another perfect game,” senior Robbie Calalay said.

Although it might not be as talked about compared to teams like basketball and soccer, the boys bowling team is defiantly a team that can make a name for themselves and a force to be reckoned with in the Central Suburban League South this upcoming season and should be exciting to keep up with going forth.