“I bowl because it’s just a competition against yourself, so the emphasis is on self improvement and not the quality of your opponent,” junior Josh Brown said. “Bowling is a sport where I can really feel one with myself and just tune out the things around me.” The sport of bowling is one of America’s fastest growing sports, with high schools all over the country forming bowling teams. Its popularity at Ames High is growing fast. “I thought bowling was something that old, fat people did,” Brown said. “I was really wrong. Everyone can enjoy bowling, not just fat, old people.” A regular game of bowling consists of 10 frames, and two rolls per frame to knock all the pins down. If the bowler rolls a strike, they get ten pins added onto there next two ball rolls. “I’ve been bowling for a while now, and I still don’t understand how to keep score.” Brown said. “I just try to be like Alex Ortiz and bowl a perfect game every time, that way the only counting I have to do is to 300.” The development of a high school bowling team in Ames is yet to be discussed, but schools such as Fort Dodge, Des Moines Hoover and Des Moines Lincoln that have bowling teams, so it should not take long for Ames High to follow suit. “Bowling would be the single greatest Ames High School sport of all time,” Brown said. “I think it would be a popular sport to do because you don’t have to be strong or fast to bowl, you have to have confidence and be consistent.” Ames High may not have a bowling team, yet. There is, however, an intramural bowling league. I-Bowl, as it is called, is sponsored by Ames High teacher Shelli Hassebrock and it meets on Tuesdays at 4 o’clock at 21st Century bowling. “There is a wide range of people that go to I-bowl,” senior Tony Chung said. “It’s cool because everyone is there for the same reason that I am. Bowling.” I-Bowl is in a team league format, with each team consisting of 3 bowlers and each bowler bowling 3 games. The total number of pins decides the winning team. Individual statistics are kept by computer and each week a print out of the team standings and top 4 people in each individual category are set out on all of the tables at the bowling alley. “I-Bowl makes Tuesdays worth getting up for,” senior Tony Chung said. “If I knew that I couldn’t go bowling after school on Tuesdays, I just wouldn’t get out of bed, because my day wouldn’t have meaning.”