Ellie Schuckman rolls her bowling bag into the Colonial Lanes Bowling Alley. Inside, children celebrate their birthday parties under the glow-in-the-dark lights. The sound of crashing pins surrounds Schuckman. After getting assigned a lane and studying the alley’s oil patterns, she takes her two balls — one blue and the other blue and gold — out of the bag. With loud pop music playing overhead, Schuckman puts on her wrist guard and lines herself up with the pins. For mostly everyone around, bowling is a leisure activity. But for Schuckman, bowling is a sport. It is an art. And it is an art that she wants to perfect. “For me, it’s really just competitive,” Schuckman said. “Even when I’m bowling with my friends I still want to do the best I …show more content…
Senior year I was named First Team All-County and Second Team all-North Jersey,” Schuckman said.
In college, Schuckman has joined her school’s club team where she has improved her average to its current 170. And she wants to continue to improve on that. “I understand where people come from, saying that it’s not a real sport. However, many don’t realize the skill it takes to truly succeed and how difficult bowling really is,” Schuckman said. “It’s not as easy as standing up there and throwing a ball at the pins.” According to Schuckman, each lane has its own feel that needs to be considered before releasing the ball down the alley.
“You have to worry about oil patterns, if you’re hitting your mark, if you’re knees are bent and if your arm swing is accurate. And as the game goes on, things change — oil pattern breaks down and you have to constantly adjust to everything you’re doing.”
The discipline that Schuckman has had to learn through the the intricacies of bowling has transferred to other aspects of her life, as well.
“Bowling has taught me a lot about leadership and competition and really just how to stay focused and think through any given situation,” Schuckman