Bowling last had a presence at the UA during the early 1960s, a drought that will end this year as competitive bowling returns once again.

Cory Knop, a silver-level United States Bowling Congress certified coach, helped found the new club team, along with the help of John Sheed. Knop and Sheed both started with the help of new faculty club advisor Doug Reed, the director of the Racetrack Industry Program in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

After establishing interest and ties with the UA, the scouting began with searches through local Saturday bowling leagues that UA students participated in to find out exactly who would be interested in playing.

“”We kind of came together to talk about the possibility of this happening and finally we just said, ‘Let’s do this,'”” said Knop, an engineer at the UA Steward Observatory.

Club president Noah Boeder has bowled in leagues around Tucson with other students interested in playing for the UA. Now they will finally receive an opportunity to show what they can do in a competitive style for their school.

“”We are just looking to branch out and find some of those players that are interested and can play at a competitive level,”” Boeder said.

Those starting the club have noticed an increase in popularity, both nationally and locally, as high schools such as Sabino and Canyon Del Oro have already debuted competitive bowling teams of their own.

But now, as those high school students move on to the next level of education, so can their competitive bowling interests. Some students have already contacted the club and have shown interest in playing on the team.

“”I know there are some great high school bowling programs right here in Tucson so I was not worried about being able to have enough quality bowlers to start a team,”” Reed said in a press release.

The team holds practices at the Golden Pin Lanes at 1010 W. Miracle Mile every Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Professional Bowling Association hall-of-famer Pete Tountas, who co-owns the bowling alley, has allowed the club team to call Golden Pin Lanes its home. Open practices will be held by the team to give interested bowlers a chance to play.

The team will be divided into two sections, a competitive team and a social team, which will meet once a week. The competitive team is not full yet, mostly because both the coaches and Boeder know there are still more people out there interested in playing, Knop said.

The team will play in tournament competitions around the West Coast, including Las Vegas at the end of September, then in Oregon and California later this semester.

These tournaments can be quite costly for a team with such few sponsors. The funding, so far, has come from individuals paying their own way for a chance to play on the team, but in order for the team to continue booking travel plans for tournaments, more sponsors are needed and are asked to contact Doug Reed at dreed@ag.arizona.edu.

A formal inaugural meeting will be held Friday at 4 p.m. in the Steward Observatory building in room N204.

“”We are very excited for this opportunity and it is nice to have bowling back,”” Knop said.