Bowling was the No. 1 choice in a recent survey of member schools on new sports to consider. The SCISA has 103 members, 75 of which sponsor athletic programs.
"We were looking for other sports opportunities since kids don't all play football, basketball and baseball," said SCISA Athletic Director Mike Fanning. "I have a friend in Mississippi (a varsity state) who said bowling was real popular there so it was one of those things where we said let's start it and see how it goes.
"Some kids are looking for that niche and this might be it. We also are trying to provide the kids more lifetime activities and bowling is clearly a lifetime activity."
The SCISA joins Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee with varsity boys and girls bowling, Washington and Iowa with girls bowling and Minnesota with adaptive bowling for students with physical or cognitive disabilities.
"We'll approach this first year trying to set up some regional activities, then have a statewide event," Fanning said. "We'll start slow. If we can get a half-dozen or dozen schools involved, that's a realistic goal this first year."
Preparation and practice for South Carolina schools choosing to add bowling will be held in October and November with regional competitions set for December and January and a state tournament slated for February at a site to be determined.
Bowling is the fastest growing high school sport in this decade according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. In the 2006-07 season, the 19 states offering statewide high school varsity bowling combined for 45,064 participants, 6 percent higher than the 2005-06 total of 42,482. Ice hockey had 43,305.
Broadway Sports Center
Jamestown Bowling Company
Tonawanda Bowling Center
Town Edge Bowling Center
Transit Lanes
