[00:00:15] Speaker A: Hello.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. Thanks for your time. We appreciate you listening. Wichita State has a significant addition to the athletic department that becomes official on July 1. Women's bowling will become an NCAA sport. So our guests are Holly Harris. Holly is the women's bowling coach at Wichita State. Piper reams is a senior. She is from Haysville. She was a member of the 2024 Shocker women's bowling team that won the program's 11th intercollegiate team championship in April in Louisville. So, Holly, let's go back to the basics. What do you tell people when they ask about this move?
Why? Why now? And what are the benefits?
[00:00:57] Speaker C: Yeah, we're really excited.
Why now?
The president and the athletic director met. They wanted to invest in women's bowling, and it was just the right time.
The program's still successful. NCAA bowling is growing, and so it was just important for us to shift and make this move. It's been a long, long time coming.
We're really excited. Lots of things are going to change, and we're still kind of learning what those things are.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: Sure. So, to give you a little background, NCAA women's bowling began in 2004. There's around 100 schools that compete. It encompasses division one, division two, and division three. Piper, from the standpoint of being an athlete, being a bowler at Wichita State, take us through the reactions as this became a real thing.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: It was very shocking at first, but it was nothing but exciting. And I think that it's a big step for not only us, but the university to be known as a sport now. And this isn't only for the people that are on the team now, but for everybody that's came before us. And I think it's a big step for the university and us.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: So let's take a short victory lap from winning the ITC in April. Piper, describe that scene, those days of bowling for Wichita State.
[00:02:21] Speaker A: Being there and getting to experience that was super cool. And I am so blessed for the teammates that I had and the journey that we had to get there.
Being on tv was so fun, and coming down to the last game to win it and throw nine strikes in a row was really exciting. And I think that we worked hard all year, and I think by winning that, it really showed everybody that we can do it.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: The 11th national title for the Shockers, holly. To win that national title, Wichita state defeated Jacksonville state, which a few weeks earlier had won the NCAA bowling tournament.
What did that result mean?
[00:03:04] Speaker C: I mean, I think back to Piper's point, it was cool for the girls to see that they can work hard and do hard things together. Together they did. There were some challenges throughout the year, and we got there, and so it was cool for them as far as what it means to beat Jacksonville State. We were able to win a match against a really good team. I think that gives us some confidence as we move towards the NCAA that we're going to be competitive. Our expectations haven't changed based on where we're playing. We're still going to work really hard. The expectation is still to be great and to bring home some championships. And so I think it just set us up that those don't have to change.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: Were you curious how you would match up against an NCAA team, or did you have a pretty good idea just from being in college bowling circles?
[00:03:51] Speaker C: Yeah. So bowling's pretty unique in that. In our intercollegiate team championships, where we have competed for the last 50 years, some NCAA schools are able to compete in that. So we've seen some of them throughout the year. We hadn't seen Jacksonville State up until the national tournament, but you can get a pretty good idea based on there's so many different stats that you can not necessarily have to play against a team to know how you stack up. And I think we knew it was going to be a challenge. We didn't walk into it thinking like, ah, this is easy. We got, this is going to be a piece of cake. We knew it was going to be a challenge, but we knew we were capable of being successful, too.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: So, Piper, do you see enough of NCAA bowlers throughout the year, even non collegiate competitions summer, that you had a good idea about what you were, what you were facing?
[00:04:41] Speaker A: I think you never really, like, fully understand who you're going up against. But I think knowing the bowling community and being in it for so long, I've seen a lot of these girls, and I know a lot of them, and I heard how NCAA works, and I keep up with the status. And I think with that, it was easier for us to have an ideal of how to go into this, which I think helped us win in the long run.
[00:05:03] Speaker C: I think, too, it's important to point out that there's no defense in bowling.
It's very much just us sticking to our game plan, I guess pretty similar to golf. You can't get in the way of somebody else. And so we focus a lot of times just staying within ourselves and knowing that we're prepared and we've done the work to get there. So bowling against other teams is really just how good. Can we stay in our game plan to be successful?
[00:05:31] Speaker B: So you get back from Louisville in April, celebrate for a day or two, then what happens to start preparing even further for this transition?
[00:05:42] Speaker C: Yeah, we ask a lot more questions.
I'm super lucky that I've had an abundance of support from people at the university, people in the athletic department, and other coaches in the industry that are like, hey, we did this ten years ago. Here's some helpful hints. If you have any questions, let me know. So it was, we got back, we celebrated for more than a few days, but then it was looking at all of the pieces next year, primarily a competition schedule and what that looks like, and making sure that scholarships are set, making sure that recruiting is still going down the same road that it's been going down, and then meeting the different people that we're going to work with next year as far as strength and conditioning and academic support and athletic training and getting all those people involved in what we're doing.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Piper, from a bowler's perspective, does anything change this summer?
[00:06:38] Speaker A: I don't know if anything changes this summer besides the scheduling, really, but it's still just focusing on putting the work in and doing what we did before, which is just practicing and working towards the same goal that we had last year.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: So, Holly, I guess defeating Jacksonville State would indicate the competition level is at least similar in some ways between ITC and NCAA overall. How would you compare the competition level? What will be different for Wichita State?
[00:07:11] Speaker C: I think the competition in the NCAA is higher. It's going to be a little bit more challenging. I think you're always going to have the top three or four in whatever realm you're competing in. Those top three or four don't change, but I think the middle section really does change. And on the ITC side, well, on the NCAA side, that middle section is just a step above what we've been competing against. So there'll be more competitive teams over there.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: So deeper in the NCAA.
[00:07:40] Speaker C: Yeah, deeper is a good word, right?
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Right. So, Piper, the season starts in October. Do you expect it to feel different or once you get out there, it's kind of the same sport you've been playing for a long time?
[00:07:52] Speaker A: I think once we get out there, it's always going to be the same sport that we were playing before. We still have the same end goal. We're still going to be working as a team. We still all want the same things. But other than that, just trying to adjust to the schedule changes and traveling to new places and just managing all that I think it's all going to be the same, and I'm super excited to see where that goes.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: So, Piper perfectly let us into the next question. Describe the schedule. How does it work? How is it different from what you have been doing?
[00:08:22] Speaker C: So, I think the first major difference is we have a very successful men's team here on our campus, too, and we've traveled with them to everything for the past 50 years. So, on the NCAA side, we will not be traveling with our men's team. It'll just be our women's team. And on the NCAA side, the tournaments are a little bit longer. We have been competing just Saturday and Sunday and against like 20 to 40 teams all at the same time. On the NCAA side, we're going to compete Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And while you're still bowling the whole field, which is going to be 20 to 30 teams ish, you're bowling individual matches against each team, too. So it's a combination of bowling the field and one on one matches the whole time.
Format wise, we're still bowling some baker games, which is where the whole team combines to bowl one game. We'll bowl some traditional games where every girl bowls their own game and the scores are added together. So format wise, it's still pretty similar. It's just a little bit longer, and then there's the component of head to head matches. And then traveling wise, it'll be a little bit different because we're not with our men's team. So it'll just be our, our small group. Traveling will probably take some more plane rides than we have in the past because our tournaments are further away.
Historically, we've competed regionally in the midwest, and now we're gonna be a little bit further out. We're gonna go to the east coast a few times and a little further south than we have before.
Yeah, I think that's mostly it.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: So, more head to head matchups. Why does NCAA bowling go with that approach?
[00:10:03] Speaker C: Easier to.
The only way to compile an RPI and the.
The way they determine the national championships at the end of the year, there's so many automatic qualifiers through conference championships, and then there's an at large selection also, and they use the RPI to determine the at large selection. So the head to head matchups help us get a bid into the national championships should we not win the conference.
[00:10:29] Speaker B: You mentioned the men's program. This is a good point to make sure clear. So men's bowling does not go NCAA because the NCAA does not have men's bowling. How will that change practices kind of the overall time spent with each other.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: The men's bowling team isn't going anywhere. They're still competing in their club, stuff that they have been for many years.
We won't practice at the same time as them anymore. We'll practice in the morning, they'll practice in the afternoon, but we're still using the same facility. So I imagine the friendships that have been formed through the teams, those are still going to be there in their individual time when they're practicing, it's still going to be at the same facility. So they're still going to be around each other a lot. So I think the friendships will still stay and be present. We just will be spending less time together as a whole.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: So becoming an NCAA program means you step into all the NCAA rules, guidelines, atmosphere, transfer portal. How big a part of NCAA bowling is it?
[00:11:36] Speaker C: It exists and I think it's growing every year at a much slower pace than the footballs and the basketballs and things like that.
I think there was certainly less than 100 people in the transfer portal for this year. Bowling's a lot smaller, so we see it, but it's not as. As big of a deal. You don't see like mass exoduses from teams.
It's like one or two every so often.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: You mentioned NCAA play. Describe how that works. How many spots are there? Those kind of things.
[00:12:14] Speaker C: Like on the team.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: On the. In the field?
[00:12:17] Speaker C: In the field? Tournament field, yes, in the field. We'll have, some of the smaller tournaments will be like twelve to 16 teams, and some of the larger ones will get up into like the thirties of 30 to 35 teams, I believe so. A little bit smaller than what we've been competing in, but the fields are similar size.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: So Piper, in your experience in the top young bowlers, top high school bowlers, how do they view being an NCAA program versus being in the ITC?
[00:12:51] Speaker A: It seems like the kids that are coming up from high school now prefer to look for an NCAA school. So I think that transitioning to be an NCAA school now is going to help our program.
And I think with the whole transfer portal stuff, I think it's going to allow people to see us as a bigger option also. Not only do we have an amazing program, but now that we're in c a, there's a lot of cool things that come with that. And I think the kids from high school that are coming up are really excited for that.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Holly, how has that played out in your experience? How has recruiting changed since the time you've been able to tell people this is happening.
[00:13:30] Speaker C: Yeah, we're part of the conversations. Whereas before we were still trying to recruit those top players. But the NCAA schools, they offer so many more resources for these student athletes to be successful in their athletic endeavors and in their academic endeavors. So before I would approach people and some of them would just kind of shut the door and be like, you're not an NCAA school. So we're not going to talk anymore. So now I've been able to start some conversations, continue those conversations, get people to come out on visits and see the campus and things along those lines. I think it's going to take a year or two before we start seeing the fruits of that labor because it was just like a pretty short window from recruiting in bowling usually is like two years out. So when we announced in September that we were transitioning in 24 25, a lot of places, us included, were kind of already done recruiting for the 24 25 season. So now we've been able to dig into the 25 26 season and now recently the 26 27 season. And so I think we'll start seeing, hopefully some of the good stuff with the NCAA transition.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: NCAA bowling has five scholarships. They can be divided up. Holly, you mentioned resources, and Piper, you can weigh in on this, too. What kind of things do you. What are you talking about when you talk about resources available to bowlers?
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Having a dedicated athletic trainer in a training room where they can go when they're injured or preventing injuries and rehabbing injuries, having that is huge. The academic support that they're going to get from the student athlete center here is huge. On the club side. We've been able to provide those resources for them, but it's always been kind of like with what the university is providing to all of the students where now they have those resources for just the student athletes.
So they'll have strength and conditioning, they'll have nutrition support, they'll have academic support, the athletic training support, and probably more support that we don't even know about yet. A lot of it is, we're asking a lot of questions and getting a lot of really good answers and still kind of learning what this move all entails. It's exciting for the transition to actually happen for July 1, to finally be here, because for so long it's been like, well, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. And I've been able to talk to the girls about, here are the things that are going to happen, and now it's really happening. So to feel those tangibly is going to be really cool.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Piper, from your perspective, anything in particular you're looking forward to as far as support resources that you'll be able to take advantage of starting in July?
[00:16:21] Speaker A: I think the academic help is going to be very useful on a different scale than what we had before, and I'm really excited for the nutrition and health. I think it's all going to be super exciting and new, and I'm excited to take advantage of those resources.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: So around 100 schools compete in women's bowling. Holly, who are the national powers? Who should shocker fans be paying attention to?
[00:16:43] Speaker C: Lucky for us, we're part of Conference USA, and Conference USA has, I think, eight of the top 20 teams, and that could be even more.
The big ones are Jacksonville State, obviously, they were in the national champion, won the national championship. Arkansas State, also in Conference USA. Runners up. Youngstown State, also in Conference USA. In the Final Four.
Sam Houston, also in the Conference USA. Also in the Final Four. Vanderbilt's great. Nebraska is great. There's a lot of just really talented schools that we're excited to see more often.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: So you mentioned Conference USA. All the final four bowlers in the NCAA tournament were all from that conference. What does it mean to be in a conference? Do you see those schools more often? There's a conference tournament at the end of the season. I know. What's the importance? How should people think about that?
[00:17:39] Speaker C: We're not going to have any conference matches or conference meets or anything like that in bowling. The conference, for us, there's just going to be a conference tournament at the end of the year, and the winner of that conference tournament will get an automatic bid to the NCAA national championships. And then the rest of the field is compromised of at large selection. So we'll bowl all those teams at the end of the year. We'll bowl them throughout the year, too, and then we'll bowl to see who goes to the national championships. We get to be in a conference that is very competitive, that is seeing a lot of. At a lot of teams qualifying for the national championships and having a really good competition right before the national championships is huge for our season.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: So just like basketball, baseball, volleyball, you will accumulate RPI points, strength of schedule. All those things matter in bowling, just like they do in other sports.
[00:18:33] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Okay. All right, Piper, give us your background in bowling. And I guess I'm interested from the standpoint, we know bowling, high school bowling has really grown in recent years in Kansas. I think there are almost 100 and Kansas high schools, almost everybody in the Wichita area has bowling teams. You'd have to give Wichita State bowling credit for helping the growth of the sport. Take us back to your start. How did you get into bowling and why? Has it been something you stuck with?
[00:18:59] Speaker A: Yeah, I started bowling when I was two. I grew up in a bowling alley.
My parents bowled, my grandparents bowled. So I've been around it my whole life. And when I finally got old enough to really understand the sport, I fell in love with it.
It's something that I took into high school, and then now I'm here doing it in college, and I wouldn't have chosen any other sport. And I'm just grateful that I get so many opportunities and people don't understand that bowling is the only sport that you can start to win scholarship money at the age of five, which I think is a pretty big deal. And I'm very excited to have started at such a young age and understand the basics of it.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Now, how would you describe how the sport has grown among your peers, people of your age? What have you seen over the last ten or 15 years?
[00:19:58] Speaker A: I mean, with the transitioning between, like, being one handed, being two handed, being right handed, being left handed from various lane types like synthetic or wood or string pins.
There's a lot that's changed, and I think that it's only going to grow from here, and it's really cool to see the transitions that have been made, and I'm excited to be a part of it.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: So, Holly's shocker women's bowling going NCAA, does that bump up the prominence of the sport in this state?
[00:20:33] Speaker C: Certainly. Certainly. I think it helps us.
Helps us catch the average shocker fan or just the average college athletics fan. Now, we're in podcasts like this that the volleyball team and the basketball team are also part of, and we're in the same website as them, and we're promoted in the same way that they are, similar ways that they are. And so more people, there's more eyes on us, and that's huge for us as a program, and I think for the sport of bowling, because we do have such a successful fan base prior to. I am hopeful that it will be easy to have more fans jump in, and maybe if they're a fan of the bowling team, they'll take their kids bowling or have their kids birthday party at a bowling center. And I think that's how so many kids fall in love with it. You've got the kids like Piper that fall in love with it because they're parents and their grandparents, and it's been a family thing for a long time. And I'm seeing plenty more when I ask the same question in recruiting things like, well, what got you started? Well, I went to a birthday party when I was seven, and it was just really fun. Or I participated in the Kids bowl free program when I was nine, and it was really fun. And parents know nothing about bowling, but these kids are really good because they fell in love with something when they were little.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: So, Holly, you mentioned you have like almost around 50 years of really successful bowling alums. Former shockers. What has their reaction to this move been?
[00:22:03] Speaker C: They're all so excited. This has been a long time coming. We've wanted this for a long time.
And so it's been cool to hear from them. I've heard from a lot of them coming back, like, oh, my gosh, this is so cool. Tell me more about it. How can, how can we help? How can we be supportive?
And you just get the sense of pride from them, too, that, like, we finally did it. We made it to the NCAA side. We've made it into the athletic department, and everybody's just so excited and so anxious for what that means for us.
[00:22:42] Speaker B: Wichita State women's bowling joining the NCAA in July Piper reams, Holly Harris, thank you for your time.
[00:22:49] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:23:05] Speaker D: Great insight, as always. Thanks for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University Strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can always find more Roundhouse
[email protected].
[00:23:22] Speaker E: Down to a three two pitch with two men on, two outs in the 9th.
The stretch by Tyler Green. Here it comes. Suck him out. A no hitter for Tyler Green.
A spike three call on the outside corner. And Tyler Green has pitched the fourth no hitter in Wichita state history, the second in as many years as he joins fellow classmate Charlie Jindrome as the author of a Wichita State no Hitter and in the process struck out a career high 13, including all three outs in the 9th inning. Tyler Green completes a no hitter and Wichita State defeats New Mexico twelve to nothing.
