Intramural activities are a highlight during the school year, and joining the ranks of iBall and iQuiz is the fabulous recent addition of iBowl. iBowl, or intramural bowling, takes place every Wednesday after school at Perfect Games. A number of teams gather each week to compete against each other to reach the highest composite pin count. Each team is limited to three members and they play their opponents in three games to determine the winner of each round. Though one might expect it to be strictly competitive, most players make new friends during the games. “iBowl seemed like a good way to bond with an elite group of Ames High’s finest students,” says senior Anna Kilzer. Competition plays a heavy part in the vibe, but all in all, most bowlers just go to have fun. “It’s a very lighthearted, fun atmosphere,” says senior Jayson Ochanpaugh. “And whether you win or lose, it’s fun to just play the game.” One thing about intramural sports that appeals to students is that you can participate on your own time and there’s not as much commitment as with a regular sport, plus most students join just to have fun. “No other sport requires as much mental and physical stamina as bowling,” says junior Kashaan Merchant. “It’s like combining the mental exercise of chess x10, and it’s more of a contact sport than football. We are our own cheerleaders.” Arguably one of the best parts of initially forming a team is choosing a name. This year, the monikers range from the generic to the nerdy to those that mock sayings such as “YOLO.” “We’re either ‘XXX-Men’ or ‘The Pickup Artists,’” says Merchant. “Our motto is ‘Spare No One.’” Bowling puns aside, some teams create full identities to back their names. “[We are] Team Rocket (blasts off at the speed of light!),” says Ochanpaugh, whose team has informally chosen members of the Pokemon-famed Team Rocket to become while bowling. In the end, iBowl seems to be here to stay. “I feel like this group speaks for Ames High and really shows everyone what we are made of,” says Kilzer. It forms important notions of teamwork and teaches that winning isn’t everything and just having fun is what truly matters.