Bowled Over by Women COMPETITORS - bowling leagues at African American universities and colleges

Black Issues in Higher Education, June 7, 2001 by Craig T. Greenlee

HISTORICALLY BLACK SCHOOLS MAKE A NAME FOR THEMSELVES AS THE SPORT EXPANDS

Women's bowling at Black colleges is on a roll. And if this year is any indication, the best is yet to come. As relative newcomers, North Carolina A&T State University, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore and Southern University caused a stir this past season. Not only were all three ranked in the nation's top 20, but all advanced to sectional qualifying tournaments, where only the top four teams in each section earned a trip to the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships (IBC) held in Michigan in April.

N.C. A&T, fourth at the East Sectionals, was the only Black college team to make the national championships. The Aggies got off to a slow start, but played well enough to beat Florida State University in a consolation round for a 12th-place finish.

"Just to make it that far is an accomplishment in itself," says N.C. A&T captain Crystal Bailey, the team's only senior. "Just to be there among the top 16 at the nationals and then place -- that says a lot. Nobody knew anything about us before the tournament, but that's not the case anymore."

Maryland-Eastern Shore, the team that beat the Aggies for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rifle, was considered a strong candidate to get to the nationals. Instead, the Hawks faded and finished seventh in the West Sectionals. Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) runner-up Southern, which was ranked as high as 18th in the national polls, failed to put its best game together and wound up seventh in the Central Sectionals.

Women's collegiate bowling has the potential to expand its horizons because athletes can get scholarships for playing, just like other sports such as football, basketball, baseball and track. "Having those scholarships provides a huge incentive," says Southern coach Karen Couvillon. "As more young ladies learn that scholarships do exist, they're more likely to work on their games while still in high school.

"In this sport, size and strength doesn't matter. It's more about eye-hand coordination and the effort you put into it. Realistically, it takes three to four years for a novice to attain a competitive average. Anyone can do it, but it's a lot of work."

The MEAC and SWAC, the only historically Black college conferences in NCAA Division I, have taken the lead in embracing the game as viable means to meet Title IX mandates to provide equal opportunities for women in college athletics. Both leagues sanctioned bowling as a varsity sport in 1999.

Black colleges represent 20 of the 25 Division I schools whose bowling programs are recognized by the NCAA. Overall, 71 colleges have women's bowling teams, but most of those are club-level. They receive no financial support from their athletic departments. But the well-established club teams are able to provide scholarship packages that are on a par with their NCAA counterparts. NCAA teams can offer a maximum of five full scholarships, and each school has the latitude to decide how to best distribute those funds among their athletes.

When gender-equity issues surfaced in the mid-1990s, N.C. A&T's Vernon Stallings had a feeling that bowling could emerge as a credible college sport. Stallings, who retired from full-time coaching last year, is credited with building N.C. A&T's program over the last 20 years. Prior to 1996 when the school made bowling a varsity sport, Stallings directed N.C. A&T's club team that traveled frequently and competed against some of the premier clubs around the country.

"We were already in good shape when all the Title IX concerns came up," says Stallings, who still works with the team as an adviser and consultant. "A&T already had a program in place, so we didn't have to start from scratch like so many other schools."

While MEAC and SWAC members offer bowling scholarships, the individual schools have different visions for their programs. Some added bowling as a varsity sport solely as an inexpensive way to comply with gender-equity requirements. But other schools have grander designs of building teams capable of competing at the national level every year.

Competing nationally can be costly, mainly because of travel expenses. Getting a national ranking is a sure of way of getting national recognition. But to do so, it's necessary to play out of conference against top-tier programs at major tournaments. Budgets for bowling at HBCUs aren't hefty. The totals (not including salaries) run from $17,000 to $35,000 depending on the school.

"In some ways, the prospects for the future of bowling at Black colleges is kind of scary," says Maryland-Eastern Shore's Sharon Brummel, who was voted MEAC Coach of the Year. "Initially, administrators expected this to be a low-cost sport. But to compete nationally, they're finding out that the cost is more than they originally thought. So, there could be some schools who might pull out because of that."

NO LONGER JUST WEEKEND FUN

As a sport, bowling has started to shed its image as a game played strictly for weekend fun and recreation. Five years ago, it was an exhibition sport in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Later this year, a vote will be taken to determine if bowling will be added to the Olympic menu for 2008. Bowling USA, recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee, is the governing body for the collegiate version of the game.