A new campus bowling club seeks to give Hillsdale students a chance to bowl together more often and improve their technique. 

The club’s president, junior Kirsten Lopez, said he hopes to have bowling nights at Hillsdale Lanes or Litchfield Lates in Jonesville every other week, open to around 20 to 30 students. 

“We’re going to open up spots and they can come and bowl for free,” Lopez said. “We’ll pay for shoes. We’ll pay for lane time. And if we have sufficient funds, also pay for food and drink like pizzas and sodas and stuff like that, similar to what SAB does for their bowling night, but we want to have this on a more consistent basis.” 

The club’s secretary, senior Lauren Gergens, is a certified level 1 United States Bowling Congress coach, a credential she earned while working as the director of youth activities for a bowling alley in California. 

“I ran youth bowling leagues, which is why I became a bowling coach,” Gergens said. “I got paid to become a coach so that I could teach children how to bowl.” 

At Hillsdale, Gergens said she plans to use her skills to help bowlers in the club understand the scoring system and improve their technique.

Junior Kaeleigh Otting, the club’s vice president, said having a bowling coach will encourage students to give the sport a shot. “A lot of people have said that part of why they don’t go bowling often here is because they just simply don’t know how and they’re bad at it, and they don’t want to go and do something they’re bad at,” Otting said. 

She said the students she’s told about the club have been enthusiastic to come and learn. 

Otting and her sister, who is a freshman this year, bowled competitively in high school. 

“Bowling in southern Michigan is actually a pretty big deal,” Otting said. “I’m from Kalamazoo, so I would come down to Coldwater sometimes to go bowling for tournaments, and Jackson actually is where they have regionals.” 

Lopez, on the other hand, didn’t find his passion for bowling until he and Otting started dating. 

“We would go on bowling dates, and I got really mad that she kept beating me,” Lopez said. “So then I bought a bowling ball, got trained by one of the bowling alley owners on how to bowl, and within like two weeks I ended up beating her.” 

Lopez said that while bowling is gaining popularity as an event activity, the community aspect is declining.

“There’s actually a decline in bowling leagues and communities where people know who they’re  bowling with every single week,” Lopez said. “And we’re trying to kind of bring that aspect back.”

Students who are interested in joining the club when it launches can contact any of the board members for more information.