by Amanda Kovac |

“One advantage of bowling over golf is that you never lose a bowling ball,” Cheers star Nicholas Colasanto once said. In past years, a Liberty bowling team has been working towards state competition. This year, they are just as determined to reach that goal.

The team is headed by Coach Noel Adkins, a long time bowler. The Blue Jays bowling team has been around for three years now.

“The kids wanted to start a team and they needed a coach. They came to me,” Adkins said.

His only requirements were that a student had to be in high school, and must have a GPA higher than 2.5. The Blue Jays are currently trying to get the Liberty logo on their shirts, even though the team is not yet recognized as a school sport.

Currently the team is looking for a fifth member to compete with them.

“If you want to join, practice is every Thursday from 3:30 to 5:00. It’s fun,” team captain, junior Brian Garrett said.

Practice is held at Retro Bowl. There is a monthly fee of $15 dollars to bowl with the Blue Jays and it is open to anyone who meets the requirements.

Even though there is no bowling score requirement, students on the team have exceeded expectations.

“The highest I’ve bowled is a 270,” sophomore Brandin Sidebottom said.

“I’ve bowled 3 289’s,” Garrett said.

Even with such high scores and so much talent the Blue Jays are not the only bowling team lacking backing from the school.

“There’s only one team that’s connected to the school. It’s Oak Grove and they are part of the school. The other teams are just clubs,” Sidebottom said.

The students currently on the team would like to see more involvement from the school.

“Hopefully before I graduate next year the school will have become involved, but I don’t know if that will happen,” Garrett said.

Coach Noel believes that the students need to take more control of the situation.

“They would like for that to happen, but you have to have a sponsor to do that and it would take a lot more effort on the student’s part,” Adkins said.

All the present members of the Blue Jays also participated last year. The previous year during the qualifier for the state competition, the team placed sixth, just one place away from going to the state tournament.

“We were pretty good, but we didn’t end up at state, but now that we’ve got most of our sophomores and some juniors, we’re feeling really good. I feel like we’ve got a really good chance,” sophomore Kevin Novak said.

Even though they did not get the opportunity last year to go to state, this year they are even more determined, for the pride, the scholarships and possibly a trophy.