A bowler steps up to the lane and takes a deep breath. They start slow, then speed up as they  walk forward. They swing their arm and release the ball at the right angle for it to curve. As it rolls down the lane, their breathing deepens as they watch the ball hit the pins. The pins fall, hitting one another until all of them hit the ground. Their mind registers that they just got a strike. They walk back to their seat with a relieved mind, ready to go again. 

   As the Nixa High School bowling season approaches, the athletes practice more than ever to prepare for the season and to face their opponents. 

   Junior Cameron Burger has been bowling for six or seven years. While the season approaches, he is practicing every other day in order to be ready for the approaching season. 

   “I think my main goal is to practice with my teammates and help them better their bowling for this season,”  Burger said. 

   Head bowling coach David Evans bowled in his youth and in high school before continuing his career in bowling. He now has been in a bowling league for 25 years. Evans has been coaching at Nixa for five years and can not wait for his sixth. 

   “I became a coach really out of necessity. In 2015 the coach had stepped down and nobody was stepping up to do it,” Evans said. “My daughter was a sophomore at the time and was coming off of a surgery that had pretty much wiped out her freshman season. When it was apparent that no one was going to do it, I volunteered so that she and the other kids would have the opportunity to compete.” 

   Bowling has been around for centuries. From learning basics to practicing to get the perfect score, athletes work hard.   

   “…Bowling is so much more than just picking up a ball and rolling down the lane,” Evans said. “Balls are made different and can be drilled differently. Lanes can be oiled differently and bowlers all throw the ball differently. Each one of those things change how you approach your shot as well as how you make your adjustments.”

   Leah Cody is a junior at NHS and has been bowling for two and a half years. After Leah experienced an injury she wanted to try something new. As the new season gets closer, she is looking forward to meeting with new friends and reuniting with old ones. 

   “I think my main goal for this year is to help lead my team,” Cody said. 

   Kickapoo and Glendale are Nixas biggest competitors in the district. The season starts in January and the athletes are getting prepared to achieve their goals. Nixa did not win any bowling championships in previous years.

   Being short a few pins the past years has not been a setback but a motivation to come back and show other schools what the team has to offer this year. 

   “I think we will actually do pretty good, we are on track to win state this year,” Cody said.