Bowling has played a new ‘roll’ in junior John Fischer’s life, leading to him and his friends creating a non-school sponsored team.

“[Lafayette Bowling] started [when] me and my friends started to bowl. We started going in the summer of our freshman year because there was a deal that everyone under the age of 16 would get two free games. Eventually, we all went almost every day and we started getting into it. We started trying to learn how to bowl well,” Fischer said.

Fischer and the rest of the team only started the group this year because they weren’t experienced enough before.

“When we started bowling, we weren’t good enough to really compete. So we didn’t start a team in the high school league until this year,” he said.

While LHS had a school-sponsored bowling team in 2018, Fischer and his friends created their team through the West County Lanes’ high school league. Lafayette Bowling Coach Derek Bader said the team could form because two Eureka students joined the team.

“The current high school bowling program at West County Lanes pulls in kids from five different main schools, Lafayette, Marquette, Eureka, Parkway West, Parkway South, plus some private and home school kids as well,” Bader said. “This year, we had enough kids to create a Lafayette team when combined with Eureka kids.”

Bader, a bowler with 40 years of experience, met the members of the team from other bowling leagues.

“I got to know the Lafayette kids through bowling leagues over the past year and had a good connection with them. My style of coaching works well with how they think, so again a really good fit,” he said.

The team of seven plays in the Mid-America High School Bowling League (MAHS) Central Conference. This league includes other high schools in the area.

“We compete in the MAHS Central Conference which includes Lafayette, Marquette, Parkway West, CBC, Kirkwood, Lindbergh, De Smet, Chaminade and Vianney,” Bader said. “We meet every Sunday to bowl as a team and each week is at a different alley.”

They compete in this league throughout the school year.

“Bowling is not like football where it’s only fall. The actual high school league lasts from September to basically the end of the school year,” Fischer said.

During the year, the team is given many opportunities to play in tournaments organized by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).

“We have some USBC-sanctioned state tournaments, where you bowl squads, duos and solos and then your score is your average and you get placed in a certain division, so that you’re playing people around your average. The USBC run all the leagues and keeps all your scores and averages. All your scores for all the tournaments and leagues will be under your name and ID,” Fischer said.

Tournaments give him opportunities to connect with other bowlers

“[My favorite part] has been bowling in actual tournaments against other kids from around Missouri because it’s fun. You get to see people from different parts of Missouri. It’s good to meet new people and have fun,” Fischer said.

However, his most memorable bowling experience was during the regular season.

“My favorite moment was bowling against Parkway West for the 1st place position [in the league],” Fischer said.

In their first season, Bader has seen immense growth on the team.

“Over the year, I’ve seen improvement both in the actual bowling and in their mental approach to the game. For most of these kids, this is the first time they’ve bowled in a highly competitive league, so learning how to approach the game in a number of situations has been extremely important both when they’re doing well and struggling,” Bader said.