Women's Bowling
Posted: Thu May 18, 2023 11:44 am
Well, we're adding Women's Bowling, so I did a bit of research on it. The OVC doesn't sponsor women's bowling as a sport. There are a few conferences that do have bowling, as well as the possibility of going independent. In NCAA Women's Bowling, Div I, II, and III all compete together, and the "powerhouse" programs are all across the divisions...Nebraska, Vanderbilt, McKendree, Stephen F. Austin. McKendree, just down the road a bit from us, won NCAA national championships in 2017 and 2022 and are currently ranked #1 in the country: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/bowling/n ... owling-rpi
Conference-wise, I don't believe we are allowed to join a lower-division conference (GLVC has bowling), and the closest DI conference would be the Southland Bowling League (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southland_Bowling_League), but most of the teams are in the Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana area, plus Valparaiso (IN), Vanderbilt (TN), and Youngstown State.
Looking at who else has bowling in the area, I think we might be best-off going independent, but mostly playing lower division teams, with occasional matchups with some of the Southland Bowling teams. Teams in the DII GLVC that have bowling are: Lewis University (Romeoville, IL), Maryville University (St. Louis), McKendree (Lebanon, IL), Quincy University, Upper Iowa (Fayette, IA), Central Missouri (Warrensburg, MO), and Newman University (Wichita, KS). The DIII College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin also has bowling at Aurora, Illinois Wesleyan, North Central College, Augustana College, Elmhurst University, Carthage (WI), Marian (WI), and Carroll (WI).
Wisconsin-Whitewater and Minnesota State both compete as independents.
So, there's a TON of schools within a few hours of us that have bowling. Here's McKendree's schedule from this last season (started in late October, ran through late November, picked up again in early January and ran through late April): https://mckbearcats.com/sports/womens-bowling/schedule
And here's Quincy University's: https://quhawks.com/sports/womens-bowling/schedule
I'd imagine they'll probably play local "classics" (small tournaments) at College City Bowl, but I wonder if they may try to resurrect the bowling alley in the Union at some point down the road.
Conference-wise, I don't believe we are allowed to join a lower-division conference (GLVC has bowling), and the closest DI conference would be the Southland Bowling League (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southland_Bowling_League), but most of the teams are in the Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana area, plus Valparaiso (IN), Vanderbilt (TN), and Youngstown State.
Looking at who else has bowling in the area, I think we might be best-off going independent, but mostly playing lower division teams, with occasional matchups with some of the Southland Bowling teams. Teams in the DII GLVC that have bowling are: Lewis University (Romeoville, IL), Maryville University (St. Louis), McKendree (Lebanon, IL), Quincy University, Upper Iowa (Fayette, IA), Central Missouri (Warrensburg, MO), and Newman University (Wichita, KS). The DIII College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin also has bowling at Aurora, Illinois Wesleyan, North Central College, Augustana College, Elmhurst University, Carthage (WI), Marian (WI), and Carroll (WI).
Wisconsin-Whitewater and Minnesota State both compete as independents.
So, there's a TON of schools within a few hours of us that have bowling. Here's McKendree's schedule from this last season (started in late October, ran through late November, picked up again in early January and ran through late April): https://mckbearcats.com/sports/womens-bowling/schedule
And here's Quincy University's: https://quhawks.com/sports/womens-bowling/schedule
I'd imagine they'll probably play local "classics" (small tournaments) at College City Bowl, but I wonder if they may try to resurrect the bowling alley in the Union at some point down the road.