The bowling season has recently started, so today, I will be interviewing Ryan Grapkowski, one of this year’s bowling team captains, about his bowling journey and his insights into this year’s season.
- When did you start bowling?
When I was younger I would bowl for fun with my family and friends, but it wasn’t until 9th grade, when I joined Oratory’s Bowling Team that I started Bowling competitively. This is also when I started participating in league bowling and tournaments.
2. What encouraged you to join?
I joined Oratory Prep’s Bowling team in 9th grade, my second year at Oratory. I was encouraged to join by the older students who were already on the team. They told me how much fun they were having and how they were trying to recruit more students to join the team and keep up their positive legacy. I thought this was a great opportunity to try something new, even though I was still a beginner bowler. I continue this legacy in hope of inspiring more and more students to join our school’s bowling team.
3. Did you face any problems on your sports journey?
I have faced a few problems throughout my sports journey including joining a new sports team as a beginner and not knowing many people on the team, but I have worked hard and continue this hard work to overcome them.
4. How do you feel about yourself now?
As a senior who has been on the bowling team since 9th grade, and a captain of the team for the past two years, I feel like I have improved greatly in both my bowling and leadership skills. Currently, I have an average of about 150 per game and a high game of 246 which is a large improvement from my freshman year. If I was to look back at my last four years on the bowling team I would say that I have been very successful and feel very proud of myself and what I have accomplished.
5. How do you feel about your team?
This year I am the captain along with Keegan Murphy. I am very excited for a fun and successful season. We got a few new players and our returning guys are improving greatly. I think that our team is going to do very well this year and we have great potential.
6. What goals have you set this year?
One major goal I have for the bowling team this year is to win our division and get a banner for Oratory which has not happened in a long time. Other than that, I hope to have a fun and successful season where everyone on the team improves.
7. What do you believe the team needs to succeed this year?
I believe the team needs to work on focusing more on bowling and not getting distracted. I think the team has almost all the skills they need to be successful, we just have to put it all together.
8. Is there anything you want to improve from last year?
I hope to continue to improve my bowling average per game as well as increase my high game score from last year. Overall, I hope to improve the team and leave them with everything they need to succeed in the upcoming years after I graduate.
