A whole new ball game for UJ students

Auckland Park Bowling Club in Montgomery Park has never seen a party the likes of the one held last Saturday.

University of Johannesburg students from different residences congregated on the bowling green to compete in an inter-residence bowling tournament in a new initiative organised by Barefoot Bowling South Africa.

Exuberant students laughed, danced and rolled the balls. And all the while beer flowed and music pumped from the deejay box.

Bowling has changed.

“We’ve simplified the game,” Rob Zimmerman, chairman of Barefoot Bowling SA explained while drinking up the festive atmosphere.

“There are no more proper umpires. Everyone takes their best shot at the marker, and depending on where the ball lands, points are awarded. And the really important thing is to have fun.”

Zimmerman wants people to view bowling as a fun team event, not as a dreary ‘old-person’s game.’

“Let’s face it, bowling has a bad rep. We organised this event to change the face of bowling. And it’s such an accessible sport. The jocks on the rugby field, the nerds perched in front of the PCs, the company receptionist, the CEO, everyone can play this.”

Vorendag men’s day house emerged victorious on the day in a nail-biting 34–29 final against Kanniedood men after hours on the bowling green.

“This is intense. I’m loving it,” Shane van der Westhuizen, who was part the winning trio at the end of the day said.

He was proud of his team’s attendance.

“We’re the biggest team here. We’ve got six guys bowling, and we’ve got 14 guys drinking. It’s great.”

The grand prize – R1 000 and four cases of beer – was collected amidst cheers and whoops. A prompt rendition of the Vorendag war cry was performed in honour of their victory.

Van der Westhuizen (whose residence nickname is Bubbles),Werner Neethling (Ysbeer) and Joseph Rachabedi (aptly named Champ) proudly collected the spoils of victory, while the runners-up from Kanniedood – Jeanot Beetge (Skaap), Darius du Plessis (Deuce) and Keagan Boys (Barcode) were quite satisfied with the four cases of beer they received for their efforts.

“The amazing thing about this sport is that within 10 to 15 minutes of playing, we usually have someone who’s able to play decently. These youngsters here have only been playing for a short while, and they’re looking very respectable,” Zimmerman said earlier.

“A lot of students in res are not used to contact sport and competitive sport. They’re looking for something social, something fun, and something that’s not excessively physical. Bowling is good exercise though. They’ll all have sore butts tomorrow,” he grinned, looking meaningfully at the exuberant students.

Fonny Meyeridricks from the Johannesburg Bowling Association said varsity bowling is only getting started. “This was a test-run,” he said.

“We’re going to have an inter-varsity bowling tournament. We’re starting at Tuks (University of Pretoria) on 5 June. Then we’ll move on to five other universities.”

There are 26 000 official bowlers in South Africa, as well as 8 000 unregistered players. It’s also the only sport in South Africa that has grown in the past two years. And on Saturday, as students expressed interest to join the bowling club, the numbers grew a little more.