“We have a bowling team?” If this was your reaction to reading the headline, you are not alone. With this being the first year for bowling to be a club sport for Plainview ISD, most people are unaware that there is a bowling team. With the success of this year’s team and the potential for bowlers to earn serious scholarship money for college, the popularity of bowling in Plainview could soon be on the rise.
In the first year for high school students from Plainview to compete as a team in bowling, Josh Lopez qualified for the state competition by having the second highest score at the regional meet. Josh will also have the opportunity to compete as a member of the All-District team in College Station on April 7th. As a team, the Bulldogs Bowling Team placed 4th out of approximately 22 teams in the district contest. With the season just completed, Sophomore Giovani Moreno is already looking forward to next season, “It was nice to be a part of the first official Plainview Bowling team. I think there is so much potential for us and I can’t wait to see how we’ll do next year.”
Bowling was a new venture for several of the members of the Bulldogs Bowling Team. “I started this season not knowing what I was doing,” says John Sebastian Beltran, “but I enjoyed bowling with my teammates and my coaches. I wouldn’t have this season any other way.” Jonathan Solis echoes the thoughts of his teammates, “This was my first ever season of bowling and I loved every minute of it. I started out pretty rough, but my team and my coaches helped me improve. I’m ready for next year!” Angel Estrada says, “At first I decided to try it out because one never knows, but I thought it would end up being boring and not fun. After the first day, it convinced me that this sport was actually interesting and fun! I ended up liking every moment and I don’t regret it.”
Bulldogs Bowling largely began with three individuals. Ryan Brundage, welding teacher at Plainview High School and school sponsor for the program, heard about high school bowling teams while at a bowling alley in Lubbock. Scott Clevenger had been coaching bowling for four years and had some students do well in the high school contests. Josh Lopez, currently a senior at Plainview High School, works at the Plainview Bowling Center. Once the idea of starting a bowling team started taking shape, these three began putting a plan in motion. They were unable to field a full team from Plainview last year, but Josh began asking his friends to come bowling and Mr. Brundage started recruiting welding students. Eventually they had enough bowlers to make a five-person boys varsity team this year. Both Ryan Brundage and Scott Clevenger are certified bowling coaches and are registered with SafeSport and RVP (Registered Volunteer Program). Brundage has a Level One coaching certification while Clevenger is a certified Bronze level coach.
Scott Clevenger, who helps coach the team, said, “Our goal working with these student athletes is to help them become well-rounded men and women, to offer support on and off the lanes. Bowling is secondary, real life is first.” Clevenger also expressed his desire for the program to expand to include a varsity girls team and JV teams. The students practice at Plainview Bowling Center on Friday afternoons at 4:30. Competitions are on Saturdays. Clevenger pointed out that members of the team are also on the baseball and soccer teams, so bowling does not interfere with other sports. Practices are all voluntary.
The team’s success is also due largely to the fact that they are able to practice at Plainview Bowling Center. The team expressed gratitude for Mark and Gwen Waters graciously allowing them to practice at the facility free of charge and helping them learn to bowl.
As for the scholarship money mentioned above, as students participate in youth bowling events they can receive scholarship money for college. One bowler recently graduated with $15,000 in scholarships all because of bowling. In addition to earning scholarship money, several colleges (including West Texas A&M) now offer bowling scholarships for students to compete at the college level.
Bulldogs Bowling Team:
Josh Lopez (Sr) – team captain – state qualifier and member of all-district team
Braylen Horn (Sr)
Daniel Pacheco (Jr)
Giovani Moreno (Soph)
Jonathan Soliz (Jr) District’s #1 most improved bowler
John Sebastian Beltran (Jr)
Angel Estrada (Jr) District’s #3 most improved bowler
Pictures of the Bowling Team can be found on the Plainview Athletics Facebook page: