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If there’s an art to bowling, such as the grace of the swinging back foot or the smooth callback of a gutter-hugging glider, it’s of the learned variety.
Like all competitive endeavors, bowling is about the honing of skills through the repetition of movement. Casually, it looks free flowing, but every action is rigidly guided. The clattering of pins is the only satisfactory result, and success is determined by a bowler hitting a series of marks, a checkpoint referendum that allows little room for spontaneity. The lack of flexibility makes the sport less artful, say, than basketball or football, and action-reaction is replaced by muscle memory and concentration.
Shelly Reniff and her pre-teen son Kameron relish the sport for the competition, and they’ve found success after immersing themselves in the activity. After taking first place at a state family bowling tournament in May, the Houma duo travelled to Columbus, Ohio, last month for the 2013 QuibicaAMF International Family Tournament, in which they placed 14 of more than 30 teams.
“Kam bowled over his average every game, but I did bad,” Shelly said. “He was our anchor.
“It was truly amazing. The people we met were really nice. We made a lot of new friends and just had a really good time.”
After the tournament, the bowling enthusiast had the opportunity to mingle with touring members of the Professional Bowlers Association.
Championships aren’t foreign to Shelly, assistant coach of the Vandebilt Catholic High School girls bowling squad that won the state championship in April.
The Grand Rapids native moved to Houma two years ago with her immediate family as her husband took advantage of a career opportunity.
“Bowling is a great family sport,” she said, “unlike softball,” which tends to exclude children from the diamond. “I love it.” She said this amid bowling roughly 300 games over 12 days. Her high score was Nov. 8, 2012, a 299 that was missing one 3-pin.
Kameron began bowling only recently. A bowler in two leagues, the 12-year-old typically averages a 98, though he raised it to 130 during the state tournament. With the national tournament looming he said he was “excited, except for the flying.” At the national tournament, he again averaged 130.
Most people asked, Kameron included, cited competition as the reason they bowl. The indoor sport reached the high-school varsity level locally a few years ago when Vandebilt began offering the LHSAA-sanctioned activity. Berwick, Central Catholic, E.D. White, Ellender, H.L. Bourgeois, Morgan City, South Lafourche, South Terrebonne and Terrebonne now have local teams.
Creole Lanes night manager Matt Blanchard said the alley has noticed an uptick in popularity in recent years attributable to the number of local schools playing at a varsity level, but also to the Kids Bowl Free program and the area’s lack of entertainment variety.
“I think it’s becoming more popular than the night-club scene,” said Blanchard, also a league bowler who rolled a perfect game last month. Alcohol is served, and after dark on the weekends the black lights are turned on to produce a neon glow on bowlers’ balls, lanes and attire during Cosmic Bowling. The house doesn’t have a set closing time.
Creole Lanes participates in the national Kids Bowl Free program, which began June 2 and ends Aug. 2. The summer offering offers two free games of bowling every day for six days a week to people 18 and younger, potentially making bowling a habit. An employee estimated Creole Lanes averages 400 such coupons each day and said official numbers won’t be prepared until the program ends.
Vandebilt Catholic senior Colleen Cheramie, the state female singles champion in 2012 and runner-up this year, said she sees more and more of her peers taking up the sport. She attributes the bowling’s allure to the mingling of sport and leisure.
“It’s a competitive sport, but at the same time you have the chance to interact with other people,” Cheramie said between bowls during an adult-child league match. “And it’s addicting.”
Austin Blanchard, 13, an honors student at Lacache Middle, called bowling his passion. He bowls four to five times a week, he said, and boasts a 224 high score. Austin is autistic. “It’s not work if you enjoy it,” he said. “I like everything about it.”
The testimonials go on and on. Brian Bass Jr., 7, has taken enough interest in the sport over two years that his father brings him to bowl a couple times a week for paternal bonding. Twelve-year-old Donald Bourg has bowled for nine years, averages between 140 and 150, needs to improve his “curve” and has a favorite personalized ball named “Skully.” Wayne Deroche plays in an adult-youth league with his sister, niece and nephew, citing it as a favorite family activity.
“You don’t have to worry about flicking the channel,” said Deroche, 52, who added the sport is always played under ideal weather conditions. “It’s not too hot, and it’s not too cold.”
Landon Lottinger, whose Cajun Independent League team Mark It Zero’s uniforms are graced by the immortal Walter Sobchak (“This is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.”), said he has bowled for 20-plus years primarily because of the competition. As of now Mark It Zero is hanging around the middle of the pack in league play, the 25-year-old concedes, because they came out too quickly and are “battling our handicap.”
Cynics may muse that a sport that does not include running, jumping, fighting or swinging a club at a pea-sized ball does not need to have the proverbial playing field leveled further. Bowling, however, is nuanced, and handicapping scores maintains the populist vibe and emits magnetism for beginners. As such, the sport emphasizes self-improvement and opportunity, which also factors into the sport’s growth.
More than 70 million people bowled at least one game in 2012, according to a report by the Michigan firm Sandy Hansell and Associates.
Scattered among the various skill levels are the intense competitors like Shelly, who work hard to perfect their crafts. “I see myself as an average bowler,” the state champion said.
Wearing a uniform to match Kameron’s, Shelly showcases the six balls in her rolling suitcase. One is scented cranberry, another is apple and a third is Fruity Pebble-esque. Each serves a different purpose, with her more “aggressive” balls able to bite back against the slicker lanes and the latent throws applicable on drier surfaces. It takes experience to learn what ball should be used on which lane and the ability to adjust midgame, which is what Kameron is in the process of learning.
Shelly also employs a strategy that could be perceived as a quirk. Before her throws, she brings the ball close to her face and appears to kiss it. Instead, however, she is blowing air into the thumbhole to increase the stickiness of her grip. The tactic is implemented gradually, as she begins games with tape on her thumb and removes it as her appendage swells. Breathy friction makes up for the remaining empty space in the hole.
It’s a learned strategy among the wisdom she imparts on Vandebilt students and, now, her son. Perhaps more importantly, though, is the ability to learn how to learn attained from repetition.
“Practice, practice, practice. Every day,” she said.
–editor@gumboguide.com
Shelly Reniff readies a throw at Creole Lanes. She and her 12-year-old son Kameron placed first in a state family bowling tournament, garnering an invite to nationals, where they finished 14th of more than 30 teams last month.
Kameron Reniff makes a backhanded toss toward his 10-pin goal.
Vandebilt Catholic senior Colleen Cheramie, the state singles champion in 2012 and runner-up this year, focuses as she prepares to bowl.
Seven-year-old Brian Bass Jr prepares to throw his multi-colored ball down the lane. Brian has bowled for two years, and his father brings him to the bowling alley about two times a week.
