The Whiteoak varsity boys and girls bowling team opened their season on Monday at Highland Lanes in Hillsboro where they took on Hillsboro, Lynchburg-Clay, Fairfield and Wilmington.
The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats are both coached by Charles Nace and will feature four senior boys and one senior girl.
Whiteoak is one of two first year programs in the county and as such is looking to build the program from the ground up.
When asked how he became involved in the startup program Nace said, “I have asked them for years to get bowling at Whiteoak. I always told them that if they would then I would volunteer to coach. I have bowled for a long time.”
Despite the 2017-2018 season being the first for Wildcat bowling, they are able to put together varsity squads for both boys and girls competition. There are a total of eight girls and seven boys that will compete for Whiteoak this season.
“I know that the school has tried to get a couple of other sports started and were not getting the turnout. They were not sure how many kids we would have come out. But, we have had enough for a varsity team for both boys and girls,” Nace said.
Nace is hopeful of growing the program in the future, “Hopefully, with re-involvement and kids getting to see that they can come out and participate we can have enough in the next few years to have a junior varsity for both girls and boys too.”
The Whiteoak coach is realistic about his team this season, “For a lot of kids, other than bowling with a parent or a friend, it is the first time they have bowled a game with any type of actual structure. So, we are just taking it step by step.”
“Bowling is just about being consistent and being able to repeat a motion over and over. Once we get them to where they can repeat the motion we will be able to build from there,” Nace said.
Charles sees strengths in both the boys and girls teams, “On the boys side we have four seniors and on the girls side we have a lot of freshmen. So, where the boys’ team will probably be a little stronger competition wise this year. For the future, the girls getting this knowledge now are going to be a stronger team in a couple years.”
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
