Get your bowling shoes ready, because the Unified Bowling season is here! On Oct. 18, LSE’s Unified Bowling, which started eight years ago, began their season. This team is a great opportunity for students with, and without Special-Education needs, to participate in a fun high school sport.
This year’s season consists of four duels, one conference championship, districts and the state tournament. During the Unified Bowling duels, there will be five teams of three to five players who will compete against five teams from the opposing school.
Teams consist of five students, however this may change depending on the number of students participating. This year, there will be a team of students with a mix of all ages, grades and levels.
Unified Bowling Assistant Coach Seth Walker, who is also a Special Education teacher at LSE, is looking forward to this year and working with bowlers new to the team.
“We got a lot of new freshmen and I think we’re going to have a lot of good talent,” Walker said.
Unified Bowling is an exciting activity for the students who participate, but it’s also a pretty competitive sport. In fact, the team won districts before and they’ve made it to state many times.
First year Unified Bowling team member and LSE junior, Mia McChargue believes that this team gives the athletes involved a greater sense of belonging.
“The feeling of inclusion and being to a part of something is very important,” McChargue said.
From new opportunities to learning experiences, there are many things that make Unified Bowling so important to the players, but the friendships that they make really come out on top.
“They get to kind of form a bond and then you get to see the athletes and the partners talking to each other in the hallways throughout the rest of the year,” Walker said.
Since Covid-19, the number of Unified Bowling members at LSE has dipped slightly, but they are always looking for new students to participate.
If you’re interested in becoming a part of the Unified Bowling team, or if you would like to watch an LSE bowling duel at a local bowling alley, you can email Head Coach Tyler Mathers, or Assistant Coach Walker for more information. Because, as Mathers says, “It gets really boring when you [have to] sit in a classroom all day, and you’d rather go bowling.”
