OxfordPress.com

It started with a simple student request.

"We offer intramural bowling once a month and we had a group of students who said they wanted a club bowling team," said Michael Griest, coordinator for student activities at Urbana University. "Frankly, when I went to admissions with the idea, they had a lot of questions and some doubts, but here we are."

Urbana University will field a club bowling team in fall 2009. The Blue Knights likely will have two men's and two women's teams with approximately 32 total bowlers. They already are scheduling tournaments that will include such powerhouses as Wichita State, Morehead State, Wright State and Ohio State. Blue Knights head coach Phil Baker wouldn't have it any other way.

"I want to get as good as we can get as soon as we can get there," Baker said. "I want to get to the big tournaments so we can try to get ranked."

Getting ranked in the top 64 nationally, in order to qualify for the sectional tournament, is the first major goal for the club team. That's no small task for a first-year program from a school with an enrollment of about 1,500. Club and intercollegiate teams compete against each other regardless of size in college bowling.

"It's more about talent than numbers," Griest said. "And very few schools offer scholarships so that will help us."

Bowlers who make the Blue Knights team will qualify for up to $3,000 in scholarship money annually. The university also will pay for team travel expenses and uniforms, something many club teams have to pay for through fundraising.

"We haven't bowled a single game as a team and we already have equipment companies calling us, so the word is getting out," Griest said.

Baker did his part to spread the word at the Ohio State Bowling Championships earlier this month, talking up the Blue Knights' start-up program with as many state qualifiers that would listen.

But the Urbana recruiting effort isn't limited to the 18-and-under set.

"If you're 45 and you want to come back to school and take adult classes or get your MBA, you could bowl for us," Griest said. "You don't need to be a high school senior to bowl for us, you just need to be a good bowler who wants to go to school full time."

The coaches have already seen 20 hopefuls at a March 19 tryout and they expect to see several more during the university's junior/senior preview day April 24. Interested bowlers/students can visit www.urbana.edu to learn more about the private four-year liberal arts institution or call Griest at (937) 484-1262 with questions or to arrange a tryout.