The 2008-2009 school year at Brandywine Middle/Senior High School introduced a new varsity sport to their athletic program.

Boys’ and girls’ varsity bowling became a reality for 19 students during the winter sports season.

The introduction of the program was a culmination of about a year’s discussion on whether or not there was an interest, where would we be able to host such a sport, where we would be able to compete and so on.

The Southwestern Michigan (Kalamazoo) Conference became the governing body for the new program.

Coach Jim Conrad was hired to be the first coach of the program.

Joey Armadillo’s became the new home for the team.

There were so many factors that came into play with the development of this program.
The willingness of volunteers to help with the new team, the enthusiasm and support of the bowling facility to have us there and accommodate the team, allowed the school board to realizing the potential for a new program fulfilling a desire for students to compete in another lifelong sport.

The first year got under way and developed into quite an exciting one at that.

The team tied the Michigan High School Athletic Association state record for a Bakers Game with a score of 299.

The boy’s team finished third in their division behind Portage Central and Paw Paw.
Five bowlers from the boys’ team finished in the top 25 of the MHSAA Regional and two went on to compete in the MHSAA State Finals.

All in all a very exciting first year.

The second year of the program begins with some changes.

Nothing locally as the coach returns for his second year, Joey Armadillo’s continues their support for the program with the use of their facility and the numbers for the team have stayed strong with 23 signed up to play.

The change is the formation of the new Southern Lake Michigan Bowling Conference for the 2009-2010 season.

The league will be the home for Allegan, Benton Harbor, Brandywine, Coloma (2007 girls state champions), New Buffalo and South Haven.

Most of the leagues playing dates are on Saturdays beginning the first weekend in December and rotate between the communities.

Everything indicates this should be another exciting year of bowling in southwest Michigan high school bowling.

Vance Stratton is athletic director at Brandywine High School.