If you browse through Eastern’s course catalog, you will probably find what you’d expect: general education classes and a couple of electives. But if you look deeper, you can find some unexpected courses hiding among the pages.
Uniquely, Eastern’s students have the possibility of enrolling in a bowling class.
The class is run by the department of kinesiology, sport and recreation and is open as a class to anyone attending Eastern.
Easterns bowling class is a one credit hour class offered to students every year with multiple sessions to fit the schedules of those students either interested in the class or for those trying to get their final few credits to complete their degrees.
“I think it’s pretty fun,” said Michael Otzwirk, a senior geography and geology major. “It’s one of those sports that you can do it in whatever clothes you are in, and it makes it pretty easy to enter because of that fact [that] you can kind of just dress casually and play a sport, which is kind of unique.”
Bowling class is a lot like other classes. There are quizzes, study guides and much in-class participation.
“There’s a vocabulary that goes along with bowling,” said Mary Atteberry, who works as an instructor for one of the sections of bowling class. “You still need to learn terminology.”
This is Atteberry’s first year teaching the class.
The game of bowling has shown to have health benefits including weight loss, muscle straightening and muscle toning. Bowling can also help with developing hand eye coordination.
Atteberry’s class began this week bowling in league style. To start out the class, the bowlers get their shoes and are divided into their new groups based on their skill levels.
After some friendly teasing among the groups about their bowling abilities, the friendly competition begins to see who’s on their A game today.
The class teaches students the ins and outs of bowling like how to properly score a game. This is done the old fashion way, as the students must keep track of their scores on paper.
The class being more hands-on allows the students to bowl multiple games per person in each class. Bowling in small groups in class is also a big part of building students’ confidence not only in the classroom but for the real world.
The class at first glance might sound like a slacker’s paradise, but do not be fooled. Bowling class is just as much a class as it is a game. Atteberry teaches students the mathematics behind the sport because without being able to calculate scores and averages, there is no game.
“I’m liking it. I think that it’s a bit faster pace than how we have been doing it in the past,” said Riley Bauer, a senior English major.
Bauer is taking the class because it is a nice buffer for him between his English classes.
He is not the only one who feels this way.
“I like that it’s not my calculus class,” Otzwirk said. “It’s nice to have something that’s relaxing during the day as opposed to calculating numbers and derivatives.”
Because of Atteberry’s background in therapeutic recreation, for her class she has an adaptive bowling ball that has a handle and a spring release. Instead of putting your fingers into holes of the ball, users instead hold on to a retractable handle.
The adaptive bowling ball has been shown in the class to improve the ability to knock over pins for those who have been struggling.
Not only does Eastern offer a class on bowling, but EIU Lanes is a fully operational bowling alley and is open to anyone who is interested in playing.
For more details game prices and open hours, see the EIU Lanes page on the EIU website.
Gunnar Olson can be reached at 581-2812 or at gwolson2@eiu.edu.
