High school bowling participation numbers up again
The 19 states offering high school varsity bowling combined for 45,064 participants, 6 percent higher than the 2005-06 total of 42,482. Ice hockey had 43,305 participants.
Since the 2000-01 season, bowling participation has more than doubled and the number of schools participating has nearly tripled. There were 20,976 total participants in the decade's first full season with boys competing in 828 schools and girls in 898.
For the first time in 2006-07, more than 2,000 schools offered boys and girls bowling programs. There were 2,137 schools and 23,705 boys' participants and 2,053 schools and 21,359 girls' participants.
States offering varsity bowling in 2006-07 were Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee with varsity boys and girls bowling, Washington and Iowa with girls bowling and Minnesota with adaptive bowling for students with physical or cognitive disabilities.
The United States Bowling Congress High School program works to continue this upward trend by guiding all levels of high school bowling, providing rules and instructional opportunities. USBC High School offers a free membership program, which enables coaches to nominate outstanding bowlers to the national Dexter/USBC High School All-American Team, and provides high-score recognition to student-athletes. Coaches also receive resource materials such as the USBC Coaches Guidebook and USBC High School Guide.
Many high schools choose to offer bowling programs because start-up and maintenance costs are inexpensive. Bowling also gives students an opportunity to become involved with their high schools, lays the foundation for a lifetime sport and helps athletes earn scholarships and bowl in college.
By Mark Miller USBC Communications