Rolling towards the season.

The bowling team is rolling right into their season, with senior Austin Hale as their main bowler.

Coach Lenny Raley has some hope for how well the season will go. Hale has a main goal of keeping the sport of bowling alive and running.

Raley believes that the season will progress well. “We’ve had two good years of success since I have taken over; not bragging on me, but these kids have really done a good job,” Raley said. “I’m always concerned about coming back, who will come back, and what they’ll do, but we’ve got several that have come back, and we’ve added some new kids,” Raley said. He is looking forward to the people who are coming back, for this team’s season.

Raley feels as if the most difficult part about bowling is the mental side. “Just like most sports, it’s all mental and that’s one of the most difficult parts. It’s so mental that you can work on your technique and form and practice, practice, practice, but sometimes just stepping up and doing it at the right time is a lot,” Raley said. “I try to talk a lot about confidence and just rolling the ball and getting to the next one, forget the last one.You do have to have good technique, but handling yourself and being the best you can be when it’s needed most; that’s what it’s all about.”  When compared to former years, Raley believes that it is hard to know where this team stands because they are all so young, but he believes in his heart they can do well. 

 Raley has high hopes for this year’s season and thinks the team can accomplish a lot. “When you’ve been on top, you want to stay on top, and we’ve had tremendous success. We finished in the top eight last year in the state, and so we’re definitely one to repeat that, or do better than that,” Raley said.

Hale feels that this season will go well. “I think that the team that we have now is similar to last year,” Hale said. Hale said the players this year are only going to get better with more experience. “We had around three or four good bowlers then. One of them left, and we got two more in place that show a lot of potential, and they just need someone to work with them and give them some hints, help, and just coach them throughout the year,” Hale said. He said the main thing he looks forward to is making it to the region this year.

What got Hale started on bowling, was being around it all of his life. “I grew up in several different bowling alleys. I have two parents that bowl that are also pretty good. Being in a bowling alley for as long as I have been makes you want to bowl more, so I kind of just started,” Hale said. With Hale being a senior, he is expected to step into a role of leadership, and he plans to do that by helping the kids in any way he can. “In the past years, I have seen several different leaders, so I have an idea of what they should be like and from my own parents’ opinions on what a leader should be like. So, I am going to fit those parts and include everyone on the team, make everyone feel involved, and give everyone equal amounts of attention as everyone else. I am probably going to speak of tough love, really act like that coach that they need, and give them help where I see, or fix things that I see need fixing,” Hale said. 

The most difficult thing about bowling, for Hale, is consistency. “ In order to be perfect in this, you have to be perfect, like throwing the same line, same ball, every time. Twelve times in a row. Perfect game. Consistency is definitely probably the hardest part,” Hale said.

Hale said that his main message is that bowling is not a dead sport. “There is a lot of stuff, a lot of future in bowling. There are some sports that are a little better, but bowling has been in my heart my entire life, so it is just something that they need to look out for. Here come the Chargers,” Hale said.

There will be a game tomorrow, Nov. 9, against Seneca at 3:30 p.m., at home (Fern Bowl).