Averie Ford grew up bowling in her home state of Alaska, using the ball and pins as an outlet. Now, she is the new bowling coach at Yelm High School, where she also works as a student resource officer (SRO).
In her first coaching position, Ford, who was named the new coach on Oct. 18, aims to help develop her student athletes’ bowling skills and also allow the sport to be an escape for them like it was for her as a youth.
“Bowling was my outlet when I was causing some trouble,” said Ford, who began bowling at the age of 9. “The bowling alley was one place that I enjoyed being. I dealt with some anger as a kid, and the rack of pins was like a punching bag for me.”
As one of the SROs at Yelm High School, Ford has built valuable relationships with students. In taking the coaching job, she yearned to continue connecting with students while also scratching her bowling itch as she said she hasn’t bowled competitively in years. She competed in youth/adult leagues with her father and even earned scholarships through bowling competitions.
“Having the relationships with the kids [as an SRO] and adding to it on a different level with the bowling team is exciting,” Ford said.
The season kicked off with a team meeting and practice on Monday, Oct. 30 followed by three days of practice at Prairie Lanes. On her first day meeting with the 15 members of the team, she explained her expectations for the season and what the girls can expect from her.
“I flat out told them that during practice, I do not care about their score. That has nothing to do with our practice right now,” she said. “It’s all about getting your form correct. The improvement that I’ve seen in those few practices has been super encouraging.”
Ford said that the girls have embraced her as their new coach so far. She even received positive feedback from some of them during the first week of practice.
“I had one of the players come up to me and thank me for coaching her, so that made me feel really good,” she said. “I had another individual thank me for helping them learn the bowling knowledge part of it. It’s been extremely positive so far.”
To learn more about coaching, Ford reached out to Yelm head football coach Jason Ronquillo as he coaches her two sons, Jacob and Nathan. She sought out advice from Ronquillo, whom she credited for running the football program smoothly.
“His communication with the parents and the players spoke volumes to me, so I went to him and just got some behind-the-scenes advice,” she said. “That’s what was stressing me out the most because I have bowling knowledge, so how do I coach? I never really thought about the type of pressure that a head coach has, no matter what sport. But I’m up for a challenge, and I’m just excited to get better each year.”
Ford said she was initially hesitant to take the job as she works as an SRO, a City of Yelm police officer, is a mother of four and is soon to be a first-time grandmother.
“My whole family was super encouraging about it. They know how much I love bowling, even though I haven’t jumped back into a league,” she said. “It seemed like so much to take on at first, but the more I get involved, and the more I realize how much work it is, the more excited I am to take this on for years to come.”
The Yelm bowling team opens the season with a road match against Gig Harbor at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 at Tower Lanes in Tacoma.
