How Bowling Club Survived the Pandemic
By Emily Choi
Included in the Spring 2021 Magazine
Photo courtesy of Emily Choi
When I came to Cornell, one of the most unexpected places became home: Helen Newman Lanes. Like countless others who mindlessly sign up, I took the bowling PE course freshman year. However, I didn’t expect that the instructor, Jon LaRock, would convince me to attend a bowling club meeting. I thought it couldn’t hurt to chuck a few balls down the lane and meet new people, so I went. Much to my surprise, I ended up meeting the community that became an integral part of my college experience.
Jared Martin, the president of bowling club, says that the most rewarding part of his job is ensuring that the club is a source of relaxation and social connection for the stressed out Cornell student. I can attest to the fact that anyone is welcomed to join regardless of skill level. The club members taught me everything I now know, from the four-step approach to curving the ball down the lane in that cool c-shape. They were very patient with my mistakes and were willing to help me fall in love with the process of growing with a sport. I had never liked sports before college, but the social aspect of the club helped me to work hard and take it seriously. My new bowling mates understood my clumsy and vibed with my silly. Best of all, they became friends who I spend time with off the lanes to this day.
Surprisingly, the social aspect of our club did not die down when the pandemic hit. Just like Cornell did with classes, we carried on with our festivities online. It was awkward at first to see each other over Zoom, constricted to our tiny rectangular cells. I was doubtful that a sports club would survive this online world. It’s not like we could get active and go to a lane to bowl together. While it wasn’t the same as being able to spend time together in person, it was still something. And that something was enough to keep each other in the loop.
To combat the problem of physical distance, we used our e-board meetings to brainstorm numerous virtual events in hopes of offering everyone a place of rest. We held midnight Friday specials, which included gaming, trivia, paint by numbers, baking, and movie nights.
The coolest thing that this experience entailed was Striking Convos with Bowling Pros. This series, started by our vice president Logan Leeds, gave us the opportunity to talk with panels of the world’s top televised pro bowlers. I got to meet the sports idols that I look up to, including Daria Pajak, Diana Zavjalova, Diandra Asbaty, Chris and Lynda Barnes, Verity Crawley, and Rocio Restrepo. It was absolutely mindblowing to be sitting in the same Zoom space with these modern legends as they talked about competing and winning both on and off the lanes.
All of these experiences would not have happened without the pandemic. I think we all tried harder to stay connected and it made me more excited about spending any kind of time with this community. The “blessing in disguise” aphorism truly applies to the unexpected joy I experienced as a bowling club member throughout the pandemic and online world.