For twelve years, I was an avid bowler. I have bowled in multiple leagues, been to state tournaments, won multiple trophies, and was on my high school’s varsity team for three years. It was sadly only three years because the school did not make a team until I was in tenth grade, even though there were people who were willing to coach and kids that wanted to play. However, when I would mention to classmates that I bowled they stated, “Well bowling isn’t a sport.” So, in turn, I had many arguments on why bowling is a sport and why they are wrong.
One of the dumbest reasons I heard for why bowling is not a sport is because “it isn’t in the Olympics.” Well, American football isn’t in the Olympics, so is that not a sport anymore? Bowlers have been fighting so hard for bowling to be in the Olympics, with multiple petitions going around on the internet. Plus, there are multiple bowlers from around the world! At Junior Gold, which is meant for youth bowlers, there were bowlers representing European countries. Then if you look at the Professional Bowlers Association, there are bowlers from Australia, England, Japan, Sweden, and many more. So, bowling could be in the Olympics because there are lots of foreign bowlers, so there would be competition.
Not being in the Olympics isn’t the only reason why bowling is said not to be a sport. My classmates would always state it is not physical enough which, in their minds, makes bowling not a sport. Well, there is a certain level of physical activity because you are constantly moving and throwing a heavy concrete ball with either one hand or two hands. Doing a minimum of three games takes a toll on your hands, your legs, and your arms. There have been multiple times when I got done with six games and my thumb would be ripped open, my legs were on fire, and my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I had to make sure to stretch out all of these body parts, otherwise, I would pull something, especially in my legs or in my shoulders. So yeah, bowling may not be as physical as football or soccer, but it is still physical, especially if you bowl on a competitive level.
Which brings me to the last reason why people state bowling isn’t a sport: they state that it is not on a professional level. If you look it up, there is the PBA, Professional Bowlers Association, and the WPBA, Women’s Professional Bowlers Association. In each association, there are multiple bowlers from different states and even different countries. Professional bowlers tour all around the United States and off-season to different countries, especially to Japan and South Korea. There are multiple male and female bowlers that do not make it to the T.V. finals, but are still professionals. There are multiple pages on the PBA website where you can look up past and present professional bowlers and all the events they have won.
Now, I’m not trying to say bowling can’t be a fun activity to do with friends and family but at the same time, there are just other people who take it more competitively. I never really go bowling with my friends because they always think I will get mad at them because they are bowling badly, which is wrong. If I am bowling with friends, I will put my competitiveness to the side to just have fun with my friends. If I am at a tournament, that is when I will become competitive, and only get mad if my teammate does not care. Of course, people can have their own opinion on if bowling is a sport, I just want people to reconsider before they try to have an argument.