As the Yelm High School bowling team enters the 4A South Puget Sound League for the 2024-25 season, head coach Averie Ford is changing up her approach for her team in her second year.
The Tornados practiced Monday through Thursday last winter, but this year Ford is reducing practices to Tuesday through Thursday while using Mondays as a classroom day to focus on the fundamentals. Her goal with the move is to provide student athletes with knowledge and feedback outside of the raucous environment that a bowling alley presents.
“They’re really focusing on movement and the skill part of bowling instead of just throwing the ball down the lane,” Ford said. “We decided to take Mondays out of the bowling alley and stay at the school and focus on the education piece, learning the pin numbers, learning how to count the boards and arrows, and being able to sit down with them and talk to them about how to move their feet.”
The Tornados, who finished with a 4-10 record last season, expect the change to be effective as they prepare to face new competition. Junior Katelyn Wisniewski said the education piece will be important for bowlers of all experience levels.
“There’s a lot to bowling. It’s not just throwing a ball down a lane and hoping all goes well. It’s really complex, and a lot of people don’t know that,” she said.
The team, which features three newcomers, will compete without top bowler Miranda Hunt, who qualified for the 3A state tournament in each of her last two seasons. Ford is looking to Wisniewski and senior Glennah Wofford to fill both the production and leadership gaps left by Hunt, now a student at McPherson College.
“Katelyn is a huge leader, and I see it in school, too. She’s part of the leadership class. It seems like no matter who she’s around, she’s super encouraging,” Ford said. “She’s a really positive part of our team. I see her and Glennah as captains. They’re quiet leaders.”
Wisniewski narrowly missed out on a trip to Tukwila for the state competitions each of the last two years, and she’s determined to make that leap in her third year.
“I’ve been really close. I definitely need to calm down and take more steps,” she said. “I have to think, ‘OK, this is where I want to be. I want to end up at state. I want to do the best that I can.’ I just want to have a really good mindset when going into any practice, any match, and always keep a good attitude.”
Ford uses her years of competing in youth and adult bowling leagues to guide the Tornados. Wofford said the second-year coach has made the difference for her and her teammates.
“She’s actually been so great because she’s bowled all her life. She’s given a lot of tips, and she’s teaching us about how bowling works. It’s been really helpful,” she said.
Ford described herself as a coach that doesn’t sugarcoat anything with the athletes, and she tells them, particularly the three newcomers, to embrace failures and mistakes rather than let them bring their energy down.
“I let them just run up and throw the ball for a day or so, and then I said, ‘Tomorrow, we’re gonna work on your approach and the steps,’” she said. “I could tell they were getting a little frustrated, but I told them that they’re probably going to get worse before they get better and that frustration is normal and just encourage them through it. They’ve responded very well to it.”
The Tornados are anxious but excited to elevate to the 4A level, where they will face teams like Emerald Ridge and Rogers, which each sent seven bowlers to state last year.
Wisniewski said the 4A competition will be an opportunity for the girls to challenge themselves like never before.
“It’s like a new open door for us because we’ve been bowling in 3A, but we do not know what the teams are like. We just have to keep our energy up, and instead of comparing ourselves to other teams, we compare ourselves to ourselves.”
Yelm kicked off its season at Prairie Lanes with a 4A SPSL match against Bethel on Tuesday, Nov. 19, but results were not available before press time. The Tornados will host Spanaway Lake on Thursday, Nov. 21, before traveling to Rogers next week.
