Young bowlers get rolling

Hardin County’s elementary students have a new extracurricular opportunity this year, and it has generated a great deal of interest in the children. There is now a competitive bowling league for students in grades three through five at the Savannah Bowling Center.

There are approximately 130 students playing on teams, which represent all the elementary schools from the county except two.

The teams have been practicing for two weeks, and the first matches were played on Tuesday afternoon. The league will continue through May 6.

The league is the fulfillment of a dream for bowling center owners and high school bowling coaches David and Jennifer Channell. Both are passionate about the sport and are dedicated to helping young students improve. Their hard work has paid off in recent years as they are annual competitors at the state tournament and have been named Tennessee’s bowling coaches of the year several times. The bowling coaches see the leagues as a way to improve their programs.

“We realized we needed to get younger kids involved with bowling for the future of our sport in high school bowling. We usually don’t get to work with the kids until they are in eighth or ninth grade,” commented Channell.

Channell has been surprised and gratified by the amount of enthusiasm generated by the leagues, stating that several children have come in to bowl in addition to their practice sessions. However, he stresses that he did not begin the league to increase business. “We have had several people coming in for extra practice, but we didn’t do this to make more money. We did this to build up our high school program.”

He recounted his recent conversation about the elementary league with the bowling coach from one of Hardin County’s toughest competitors, White Station High School. “He said he is never going to beat us with this going!” Channell said with a smile.

Channell is committed to continuing the leagues next year when several of the smaller schools will be consolidated into two large schools. He plans to have separate boys’ and girls’ teams, and he wants to have as many teams as the center can accommodate. He also plans to start practice and competition earlier in the year, possibly in February.

The young bowlers have been very eager to begin play. “Everyone I have talked to is excited and ready to kick this off. It ought to be a blast,” Channell stated.