Baldwin Wallace University athletics welcomed bowling as a new sport to the department this year.
The newly appointed coach, Maria Kreke, is a part-time professional bowler on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association tour and is now building a brand new sports team from the ground up.
“To me, the most important piece of the puzzle is having a team that can support you in and off the lanes,” Kreke said. “When you can turn around and your team is cheering for you no matter if you spare or if you struck, it makes you feel better about whatever it is that you did.” Abby Schuerger, a member of the women’s bowling team, said that the team’s bond with each other and with Kreke is very special.
“Every Tuesday we have a lesson with her,” Schuerger said. “The first thing we do is a mind, body and heart check-in. We’re there for each other.” Erin Yates, captain of the women’s bowling team, said that beyond the personal bond, the team also feels supported by the budget provided to the team by the university.
“I have more bowling balls than I thought I ever would have in my whole lifetime,” Yates said. “It really does make that difference when you’re D3 and don’t get scholarships for the sports here, but you’re getting everything and anything provided.”
Kreke said she began bowling at just five years old and has ever since. She said she had to bowl for the men’s team in high school because her school did not have a women’s team. Later, she decided to pursue bowling professionally post-college graduation.
“There’s a lot of my backstory that is a little bit unlike the typical backstory that a lot of people have when they come out into the professional bowling scene. My background is very non-traditional,” Kreke said. “I want to be able to give them what I didn’t have.”
BW’s women’s bowling team is NCAA sanctioned and USBC collegiate, while the men’s is solely USBC collegiate. This past weekend, the women’s bowling team had their very first NCAA tournament in Indiana.
“Since we’re brand new, we only have about six girls,” Kreke said. “You need five to compete, and we only took five with us. So every single one of them bowled the entire weekend. I think it was maybe one of the first times that they saw within themselves how capable that they can be at this sport. It was really cool to see.”
Schuerger said she encourages students to join the bowling team if they would like to learn a new sport.
“You really have to put your heart into it,” Schuerger said. “But I think for the experiences alone, if you want to try something new, I’d definitely encourage you to do it.”
