Lake Highland is known as the “School of Opportunity,” providing many academic and athletic programs that will meet students’ interests. Despite the relatively new addition to LHPS, the Varsity Bowling team has had massive success competing against conference schools and out-of-conference schools. What makes the bowling team so good? Why are they striking out the competition?
Head Varsity Bowling Coach Robbie Lee has stepped up into the head coach position. Coach Lee is in his first year as head coach of the team, and changed Coach Lee has explained. Coach Lee explained his expectations for this team, “In the beginning, I was leery of having expectations. This was a building season.” He continued, “I don’t think anyone was expecting to be good, so we have been able to relax and get better comfortably.” Coach Lee was not shy about sharing what he enjoys as a head coach, saying, “It is a lot of fun to be able to chart the structure of practices and the kind of equipment we use.”
Some might wonder why Coach Lee decided to coach bowling. He responded, “Because I love bowling and working with students: I have been bowling my whole life.” All of his students love Mr. Lee whether it is in the art classroom or in the bowling alley. His positive energy helps his team move forward. He proved why everyone loves him when asked about his goals.“My goal this year is to get everybody a performance ball and good technique and help everyone have proper form,” Coach Lee says in a completely selfless manner, always putting his student-athletes first.
Having a new coach introduces a new style of coaching. With the new style of coaching, Mr. Lee’s team has responded well with a 3-1 start to the season. In practices, Coach Lee says, “…The team has been more open to instruction than I expected.” The team has been open to many things like building a better chemistry. “[We’re] focused on more and more of cheering each other on and seeing more and more fistbumps and saw Jack Lorensky get everyone pumped up people seem to be quicker to cheer each other on ” Coach Lee mentioned. Almost every team sets a goal at the start of the season, but Coach Lee had a different perspective on this idea. He offered, “It’s dangerous to set a record as your goal. It’s not healthy to set goals on wins and losses [because] you can’t control the other teams.” Instead, the team is driven by a different force. Coach Lee, “I don’t know if we have a single word aside from improvement and kicking your leg out we like to say hit your mark.” This is an important technique to use to get the best bowl possible.
Hitting your mark is something assistant Coach Mike Tyre has done his whole career. assistant Coach Tyre is a crucial part of this bowling team. Coach Lee had plenty of great things to say about his assistant when he noted, “The assistant Coach Mike Tyre is an avid bowler. He is a real student of the game, and he brings a lot of experience…He is terrific at watching someone bowl and helping them improve.” Coach Tyre is very important in practices as Coach Lee said, “…We have one lane where Coach Tyre works with athletes one-on-one.”
Coach Tyre has a long history of bowling. He admitted, “I’ve been around the sport of bowling my whole life. My dad was part owner of a local bowling alley in Miami where I grew up.” Coach Tyre took up bowling at a very young age “…And competed in leagues and tournaments through high school…Throughout the years it was tough to stay in that mode of competition with having a family to care for, but I would always bowl from time to time.” Coach Tyre was taken by surprise when he was first asked to coach Lake Highland, saying, “…Which was both excited and nervous, as I have never coached anyone other than my own family… [but] I’m SO happy that I made that decision to do it!” After making the decision to coach with Coach Lee, he has never looked back, “It’s been nothing short of amazing. Assisting Coach Lee with the team has been exciting, and they have adapted so well to the training and coaching we’re giving them. It is showing in their scores and their feedback.” Coach Tyre has loved what he has seen on this roster working hard in practice to the scores in games, “From our rising stars to our main roster, there has been a great improvement, and they will only get better.” Coach Tyre is most happy with how much fun this team has been having, elaborating on how “The team has been having a lot of fun competing, and I’m so proud of them and their improvements. This has been an absolute BLAST for me! I love the sport of Bowling, and I love this team. Go Highlanders!”
Varsity Bowling star Ajay Pandya, he was very straightforward but specific with his responses when asked about his goals for the season he said, “My goals for this season are to continue to improve my score, and also for the team to make it past districts.” He is a player who is very fond of Coach Lee. Pandya has this to say about Coach Lee, “Mr. Lee has been super helpful in helping me improve. He taught me the proper way to bowl, allowing me to curve the ball better.” He also loves how this team’s chemistry has improved this season, “The team this year is really fun. There are not as many seniors this year, but we are winning a ton of games this season.”
It is without a doubt that Lake Highland’s Varsity Bowling team should be more popular and known. The team has fought against undefeated teams and won despite not having as much experience. With the help of great coaches, the team has worked hard at every practice to improve their scores and results. Watch out for Varsity Bowling because they are striking out the competition.
