COLUMBUS — As high school bowling has continued to grow in Ohio with more than 400 schools involved overall, one consistent presence has been that of Centerville’s Greg Coulles.
The 72-year-old has been involved with the sport since its inception in 2000, starting the Ohio High School Bowling Coaches Association 10 years ago.
He started the high school program at Centerville and served as coach for eight seasons and has served as state tournament director except for the first two years of the program and continued under Ohio High School Athletic Association jurisdiction.
He also serves as marketing director at Beaver Vu Bowl in Beavercreek.
We talked with Coulles during the Division I state tournament in March and discussed the present and future of high school bowling:
SOB: How difficult was it to return to semi-normal this season following COVID?
COULLES: Not hard at all. Actually, we didn’t suffer really. We have about 400 boys and girls teams, which is about the middle of the pack as far as all the sports involving high school athletes. The only thing that is holding us back even more, for example, in South-Southeast, is number of bowling centers that are available. And in the Northwest and Toledo area, they’ve really not come on board yet.
SOB: Is there a reason for the Toledo area’s non-involvement?
COULLES: They have independent youth leagues that are pretty strong and the proprietors there feel that their kids are already bowling in those so why should they bowl for their high school. But that is breaking down. It certainly broke down in Cleveland, which was in the same situation when we first started.
SOB: Is there a possibility of a third division?
COULLES: Not until we increase the number of schools. We needed 150 to have an official sport. We had to go to 250 to go to two divisions. And we’re somewhere in the vicinity of 400, but I think we need at least 100 more to do that. They will do that automatically when they reach the number.
SOB: What kind of changes were implemented this year?
COULLES: After COVID we went to six players on roster, now back to eight, and they were limited to how many bowling balls they could bring in (three). But this year we returned to pre-COVID rules.
SOB: Are you looking at any changes for 2022-23?
COULLES: The format of this tournament is different than sectionals and districts. This is more of a head-to-head competitive venue where everyone bowls X number of games, then we cut the field in half and away we go. We are talking about the possibility of modifying the format of the state tournament, but it’s too early to talk about. We will have some conversations about it. We haven’t even looked at sectional-district format changes, but just some slight modifications at the state level.
SOB: Are you staying at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl for state tourney?
COULLES: OHSAA has a contract with Wayne Webb through next year and it is too early to open negotiations for after that time. I’m not sure what Wayne’s plans are in future. I know the OHSAA prefers a central location in the state and that’s why they are happy with Columbus. Only some bowling centers in Columbus are capable of running this because it is a disruptive tournament. You have adult leagues that have to pre-empted for two weeks, lots of facility changes. So if we would go somewhere else, we would need a facility that would be willing to do that. But we’ve had no discussions about that.
SOB: Some sectionals and districts used different pairing situations during the tournaments. Is that going to be standardized?
COULLES: Something the coaches association has done is using standardized patterns for the sectional and district tournaments. We went to the Kegel Co., the king of all oil patterns, and we asked them about a challenge pattern suitable for boys and girls. I gave them some parameters and they create a pattern. We often times will have area coaches test it and give us their opinions. The district boards have all approved the patterns, but the lanes that are used and the patterns are up to the boards. They have approved it because it came from the OHSAA source. Last year at state, we had one team on a pair of lanes with one individual, and they liked that. But it was decided this year to go back to the former way, and there has been no objection. Teams like to have another team on their pair because they feel it forces them to bowl a little better. Even though they are not bowling against that team, but it feels like it, it fires them up a little. We’re fortunate to have open pairs between, but in districts and sectionals that may not be the case. It’s always a facility question.
We had conversations about one team on a pair of lanes this year, but (coaches) liked having another team on the same pairs. There are advantages to having it that way with three bowlers on a lane, so it goes faster. But with COVID rules off, we just decided to go back to pre-COVID. But I’m open to it. I value opinions of coaches that I trust, whether they agree with me or not. But there has been no overwhelming sentiment that we need to change this. We didn’t have to go to one team on a pair with an individual; we elected to. We elected to because we wanted to make it as safe as possible.
There were 57 independent tournaments held during the season, sponsored by schools, and everyone had different formats. Sometimes proprietors want a say in how to do it, and you have to respect that.
SOB: Any changes you would like to see made in the future on high school level?
COULLES: This spring, we are going to get together and try to streamline the communication process to coaches. One change I would like to see is, when I first got involved in this, there used to be mandatory coaches meetings once a year, rules interpretation meetings, so we could discuss everything and we could gather input. Everyone had to be there. Then they went to online, and that was well before COVID. It’s good to do some things on line, but you can’t do communication on line, when they have to go just read the rules and hit the button that I’ve read it. There’s a 20-percent turnover in coaches every year. New coaches come in and don’t understand high school bowling. They are thinking about their Saturday morning youth leagues and how they operate, and it’s not the same. I don’t think bringing everyone together for a meeting is out of line. I think it’s absolutely essential.
SOB: The state mandates two regular games and two Baker System games for matches. There are conferences that go more. Do you see this becoming standardized?
COULLES: It’s standardized in the fact that it’s two and two required. But if a local conference wants to bowl more, more power to them. It’s primarily an after-school sport. But when do they have to be out of there for a center to do its business? Tournaments have the same freedom.
SOB: The number of tournaments run by high schools has grown significantly. Is this a good thing?
COULLES: Oh yeah. The best teams, the ones that continue to do well at the state finals, are teams that bowl tournaments. There are more and more schools that don’t even bowl head-to-head matches anymore. Why bowl against one school when you can bowl against 30? Conferences may have a minimum number of matches, but you have to give teams freedom to do things outside of the conferences. There are teams that bowl 10-to-12 tournaments. As long as they don’t bowl more than 24 events.
SOB: On oil patterns for matches. Some conferences put out more challenging patterns, others use house patterns. Does it help to bowl matches on more challenging patterns?
COULLES: Absolutely. Once the powers-that-be agree on a pattern for the district and sectional tournaments, we tell coaches they can use that pattern anytime they want to. We put it up before the end of November. If they want to run it for a tournament, head-to-head matches or practice, that’s their business. The state tournament, we have always held it until one week before. State finals will always be more challenging that a sectional or district tournament. That’s the way it has been.
SOB: Are you surprised by the growth of the sport?
COULLES: I was hired by the bowling proprietors to sell it. It’s a cheap date, let’s face it. Schools don’t have to buy equipment, the only uniform they are talking about it a polo shirt with their names on the back. When we started this, bowling centers were allowing them to bowl for free, but that had to stop sometime. Nothing’s free forever. That accelerated the growth. But your best programs are self-sufficient financially, raising money through tournaments and fund-raisers. The schools pay coaches’ salaries, lineage fees and tournaments. It’s a cheap date for the schools.
SOB: Some teams are varsity, other are clubs and some don’t even pay their coaches. Should they be considered a full-time varsity sport?
COULLES: Absolutely. I get emails from people all the time saying what do I need to do to become a varsity sport. There are fewer and fewer teams that are club and more that are varsity interscholastic sports. The athletic director has to say that it is an interscholastic sport even though it is a club in order to participate in an OHSAA tournament. There’s only so much people can do. If it is a club, it’s the job of a coach to fight to get that changed. I will assist where I can, but there is enough evidence to show it is a legitimate high school sport.
SOB: How much longer will you do this?
COULLES: I don’t know. I love it. I do other things too. I get a small stipend from proprietors to run the Ohio high school program, started the coaches association. I have a job at Beaver Vu, but when I leave, I will have more time to donate to this. I don’t have a staff, but there are other things I would like to do with this.