Through the haze of smoke and dancing disco lights, a weighted, three socket ball smashes into the dirty white pins at the end of the alley. A glance to the left reveals someone celebrating a strike with trendy pop music blaring in the background.
For some people this is their picture of bowling, thinking it is only a recreational sport.-áFor the 12 members of Ball State's men's club bowling team, the sport has taken on a competitive edge.
"When somebody is bowling all five team members are standing right there on the lanes cheering on their teammate, bringing a lot of enthusiasm," sophomore Jason Burns said. "It's always pretty hectic, but there is no smoking, no drinking during competitions."
Last year, the team competed in 12 tournaments, traveling to New Jersey over Christmas break and Nebraska during spring finals week. About 30 teams play in the tournaments on average, Jeremy Binkerd, the captain, said.
The Cardinals finished third in three of the tournaments, and were ranked as high as No. 47 in the nation, which allowed them to qualify for the 32-team Association of Collegiate Unions Internationals tournament where it finished fourth.
There are two ways to qualify for the postseason in club bowling. The Intercollegiate Bowling Championship and the ACUI, which is like the National Invitational Tournament in college basketball, Binkerd said.
With the recent success of the program, the team is gaining respect internationally.
"I get e-mails from Canada wanting to know about the program and we're not varsity," coach Doug Gibson said. "It's nice because I've been with it forever. It's nice that people not only want to come to school here, but they want to bowl."
Some of the success might be connected with the guidelines Gibson sets for his players.
"We act like we are [NCAA]," Gibson said. "You have to get at least a 2.0 and take 12 credit hours to be able to bowl for the team. You can't just come here and take one class and expect to bowl."
Four starters from the first team are back from last year, giving the team strong bowlers to build around for the future.
"We have the potential to be a top-20 team," Gibson said. "We have 12 solid athletes.-áWe have a good nucleus with Jeremy [Binkerd] coming back and Jason Burns, who was our number one bowler last year."
This year the team hopes to make it to the IBC.
"We have a lot more bowlers this year coming out," Jason Burns, a sophomore, said.-á"Last year we had just seven or eight bowlers, but this year we have two teams so we're a lot deeper.-áIf we have one person struggling on the A team somebody can be brought off the B team."
The team has its first tournament in Wauwatosa, Wis. this weekend.-áIt will also co-host a tournament in Indianapolis on Oct. 12 and 13...2*-¼H-¦IClubbowling 10.4DNEditorial..2SORT-á+â-ä2AUDT
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