It’s back and better than ever! NJIT reinstituted men’s bowling as a club sport during the 2008-09 season. Now, the 2014-15 season is underway with a team and coaching staff working towards creating a strong name for the NJIT Highlanders Men’s Bowling Team.

In an interview with first-time head-coach, Casey Creutz says the team has improved exceptionally since the start of the season on October 4^th and “will undoubtedly become an extremely competitive team!”

The team average right now is 153.6 after competing in only one of three matches for the Eastern Intercollegiate Bowling Conferences (EBIC). “This does not represent our full potential,” says Coach Creutz, “and…past results do not guarantee future performance. The matches are not meant to be easy, so an average in the 150s is not the worst.”

In an effort to keep the team on track and focused on long-term goals, Coach Creutz expounds on off-season conditioning:

“My personal philosophy starts with practice, practice, practice. The more productive practice games you bowl, the better prepared you are for competitions. One thing I would advocate NOT to do is over-do any sort of gym regimen that leads to too much muscle mass. Contrary to what people think, you do not need big arms or legs to bowl well. Compare it to the new-age golfer: they are lean, cut and look to have better cardio workouts that build their endurance and allow them to compete for long periods of time. Each of our matches and tournaments can run between 5-7 hours, hence why these types of exercises are vital to our success.”

Team practices are held Mondays and Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm at the lanes of NJIT’s campus center basement, and on most Saturdays from 9am-11am at Majestic Lanes in Hopelawn, NJ.

Every new skill learned at practice is a new weapon to use against conference rivals, including Sacred Heart, TCNJ, William Paterson, St. John’s University, and the US Military Academy. Despite these, Coach Creutz knows the real arch-rival of the team: “…themselves. They are fighting themselves for the greater good of improving their game. The may get frustrated, but what athlete doesn’t? Bowling is no different than any other sport; once you are victorious in the battle against yourself, you’re half-way to complete victory.”

While the team has no set quantifiable goals for the season, there are many qualitative ones. The first is to familiarize each bowler with the correct physical mechanics. Coach also realizes that there are aspects of bowling that each member might not know right now that, once grasped, will help them be better bowlers. These include, but are not limited to, bowling BAL specifications, oil patterns and learning about the pin setters and oil machines.

Aside from learning techniques and skills, Coach Creutz’s greatest goal for this season is to “create a presence for the team on campus and let NJIT know that their bowling team is to be taken seriously and so should the sport.”

This year is sure to be the year that NJIT’s men’s bowling team will be a force to be reckoned with! Stay updated with your fellow Highlanders and refer to NJIT’s athletic website for more information, details, rosters, and schedules. For further questions or comments about the team or if you are interested in joining, log onto www.njithighlanders.com.