Ever wanted to flex your bowling prowess in front of other schools?

Well, that’s exactly what Beaver Area High School’s Special Olympics Bowling team did December 3 and 6.

At a county-wide bowling tournament at Sims Bowling Lanes in Beaver Falls, Best Buddies and the special olympians put their bowling-skills to the test against other schools.

With students from Rochester, Beaver Falls, Central Valley, and of course, Beaver Area, the competition was a fierce battle for students to make their bowling skills known.

The competition was sponsored by Special Olympics, an international program of fitness and athletic competition for children and adults who have mental and often physical challenges, founded in 1968.

December 3 high school students, teachers, and faculty members alike jumped on a Frye transportation bus to travel to Sim’s Bowling Lanes for the practice competition.

My partner, Bella Pardue, and I had a grand time practicing our art in the skill of rolling balls into pins.

However, December 11 practice was over, and the real competition began.

As we got off the same bus we traveled Tuesday, I was amazed by the enormous number of students from all across Beaver County who were excitedly waiting to bowl.

This year was my first experience helping with the competition, and I was astounded at the sheer volume of students who attended.

Although it was hard to move in the packed Sims facility, I had much fun helping my friends Micah, Alyssa, and Micheal be the best bowlers they could be.

There were three competing members from BAHS on Friday: Micheal Johnston, Alyssa Patterson, and Micah Bechdel.

As for Dutch Ridge Elementary students, there were six younger bowling pros who accompanied us to the event.

Many seniors—such as myself—helped the bowlers Friday.

Quinn O’Leary, Samantha Gonzalez, Trevor Schmidt, Ryan Minnick, Megan Boyd, Ava Haverstock, Abby Russo, Lillian McClemmens and Genna Sisteck all participated in helping our best buddies bowlers. Juniors Ava Ramsey, Mia Hayweiser, and Max Carol also participated.

Gonzalez said the bowling field trip was “Incredibly rewarding to be a part of and very fun.”

The air of the event was filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and especially pride watching the teams compete for their respective schools.

BAHS PE teacher and sponsor for the Beaver Area bowlers Ms. Susan Pilarski stated that she was, “Excited to see our [Bobcat Buddies] partners with our kids. Then they started helping other students; that was awesome. I taught at Beaver Falls; my [current] kids were helping my old kids out. My heart was full.”

Although Beaver Area won medals for each of our athletes, the real medal that day was the friendships built with our buddies.