Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Jeff Brown: Viterbo rolling a strike with bowling program
Has Viterbo University, long known for its successful basketball, soccer and baseball programs, taken a header and fallen off the edge? Or, is the athletic leadership — and overall administration — positioning itself for what could be a perfect game for college students?
We’re not talking about baseball’s version of a perfect game, either. Instead, we’re talking about bowling. Yes, bowling.
The braintrust at Viterbo is taking a chance by offering men’s and women’s bowling as a varsity — yes, an intercollegiate sport — beginning in the fall of 2009. While this may seem like a bit of a reach, Viterbo athletic director Barry Fried, along with Pla-Mor Lanes owner Dick Zierke, explained how and why it all came about during a media conference Tuesday morning.
This partnership between Viterbo and Zierke, who owns Pla-Mor Lanes, didn’t happen by chance, nor did the plan to add two varsity sports to Viterbo’s lineup happen on a whim.
Bowling is growing at a rate faster than any sport in America, and yes, this may be “cutting edge,” as Fried put it, but maybe it’s not as big of a stretch as you may think. In fact, maybe Viterbo could be onto something here.
Strikes may be something that more than the V-Hawks’ baseball coaches are talking about. Bowling coaches are about to join the mix.
“By offering varsity men’s and women’s bowling, it will give students a chance to compete at the next level,” Fried said. “Viterbo has always been about working and partnering with the community, and this is another chance to collaborate with the community.”
Nice words and all, and it’s true. Take a look at the Amie L. Mathy Center and the partnership that Viterbo has with the
La Crosse Boys and Girls Club and you get a feeling that this cooperation thing works for both Viterbo and the community. Knowing what Zierke has done for bowling in this community, there is no reason to believe the V-Hawks and their new bowling home — Pla-Mor — won’t enjoy the same fruitful relationship.
“I think this is huge for the community,” Zierke said. “These kids (youth bowlers) get to the point where they go off to school and they ask, ‘Do they (colleges) have a bowling program?’ Now, the opportunity is here to stay right at home to go to school and bowl for a college program.”
While the programs are a little more than a year away from knocking down the pins, there is a lane of success to follow. Tomah High School has fielded a boys and girls varsity bowling team — yes, kids can earn a letter in bowling — for the past two years.
It’s been highly successful, too, said Tomah activities director Tom Curran.
“We have always had a club team, but the kids involved were looking for an opportunity for two things. One, they could earn a varsity letter for their participation, and two, I think it’s another way of giving the WIAA a little bit of a push in this direction (of adding bowling as a WIAA sanctioned sport),” Curran said.
“It has given our kids what they were looking for, which is a way to represent their school than than their club. We are very happy with it. It kind of hits a different group of people, a group of kids that doesn’t really get involved in other sports.”
It’s no secret that Viterbo is in the business of education, and Fried said school president Rick Artman’s strategic plan of attracting students from all sectors includes athletics. And athletics no longer means just volleyball, basketball, soccer or baseball.
It means bowling.
UW-Whitewater athletic director Paul Plinski is well aware of this, and what the sport can mean to a college’s athletic program. UW-Whitewater elevated its women’s club bowling team from club status to varsity status in 2004.
The number of bowlers had grown from 10 to 12 on the club team to 22 on the varsity team.
“We were the first varsity team in the state of Wisconsin,” Plinski said. “We made the move for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, to want to continue to expand opportunities for female sport participation. That was our No. 1 goal. And for the economic goals and interest on our campus, it was the best option. The startup costs for bowling are very reasonable. We felt given all the variables, it put us in the best position to add a sport.”
So when you come across a job ad for a bowling coach at Viterbo, don’t laugh. And when you hear about a collegiate bowling tournament behing hosted by Viterbo at Pla-Mor Lanes in a year or so, don’t shake your head.
Fried and Zierke may have thrown a strike.
Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403, or at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com
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