Bowling continues to press to gain ‘Olympics’ respect’

Sports journalist Scotty Jenkins is a strong advocate for bowling to have a spot in the Summer Olympics lineup.

 

“Bowling is one of the most popular sports that still hasn’t made the Olympic stage,” Jenkins said. “Bowling is an extremely inclusive sport. Of course, it also takes a ton of time and skill to reach mastery. But the most compelling case for bowling is its popularity.” 

 

The International Bowling Federation, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, reports that 114 countries offer competitive bowling leagues – for adults as well as juniors.

“Bowling is simply too big to not be featured in the Olympic Games. It’s time that bowling receives the legitimacy as a sport that it deserves,” Jenkins stated.

 

The late Rich Carrubba, a commentator for bowlingball.com, a giant online merchandiser of bowling gear, said bowling was a “demonstration sport” at the Summer Olympics in 1988 at Seoul, South Korea. “Unfortunately, only 20 nations competed in bowling, and the events were never adequately covered by television, and professional bowlers were not allowed to compete,” Carrubba said.

“Although bowling has been the Number One participatory sport for many years, bowling requires use of an expensive-to-construct and an expensive-to-operate facility,” Carrubba added.

 

“Bowling simply does not have the media traction, corporate financial support and political clout to penetrate the International Olympic Committee (IOC),” Carrubba said.

Bowling must overcome the perception that it is “merely a recreation,” he added.

 

The sport of bowling is still in the midst of an upheaval, according to Lucas Wiseman, a sports journalist from Huntsville, Ala. Two-handed bowling has emerged as a new technique.

The first professional bowler to abandon the traditional one-handed grip and find success as a two-handed roller in 2009 was Jason Belmonte of Orange, New South Wales, Australia.

With his odd-looking approach to the foul line, Belmonte has won 31 Professional Bowling Association (PBA) titles (seventh most all-time), including a record 15 major championships; and he is only one of eight bowlers in PBA tour history to achieve 30 wins.

 

“There are some who cry foul, claiming the two-handed approach is cheating or illegal. The United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the sport’s national governing body, studied this issue early on and determined there are no rules violations using the two-handed approach,” Wiseman reported.

“Some traditionalists,” including Brian Voss (shown below) who has won 25 PBA titles as a one-hander, “say two-handed bowling is taking the sport in a dire direction that will cause irreparable harm to the sport.”

 

Begging to disagree, Walter Ray Williams Jr. (shown below), who has won 47 PBA titles as a one-hander, said he became enamored by the success of two-handed bowlers and the increased amount of spin they can put on the ball.

 

Del Warren (shown below), vice president of the Kegel Training Center in Lake Wales, Fla., said the two-handed approach is now part of the youth bowling coaching strategy.

 

“The more I have learned about biomechanics and where energy comes from the body to the bowling ball, the more I think using two hands is a very economical way to bowl,” Warren said.

Belmonte and junior bowlers demonstrate the two-handed grip.

 

Maybe bowling should refocus on trying to talk its way into the Winter Olympics sports lineup. Afterall, it’s been traditionally an indoor sport played during the bleak months of winter. Bowlers and curlers are basically cut from the same cloth.

The field is certainly less crowded. There are 32 categories of Summer Olympics sports, compared to only 15 during the Winter Olympics.

There is a slight hitch, however, in that all of the current Winter Games are played on ice or snow. Hmmm.