Catching up with Bowling Team Leaders

Danjer Garcia

The winter season for sports has been going great for our raider teams who have represented us to the best of their abilities throughout the season. As the winter season for bowling is coming to a close, I decided to catch up with the captain of the boys’ team, as well as the coach for the girls’ bowling team. Both Ms. Woodley and Aavinaash Rampersad kindly responded to questions regarding how their team is performing this season and their opinions on certain aspects of team building.

When asked about the leadership on the girls’ team, Ms. Woodley shared, “Girls work together to lead and motivate each other.” Caitlyn Cucchia is a returning bowler who found success in the past and wrapped up her senior year in the middle of the pack.

I was interested in what response Ms. Woodley would provide in reference to what she thinks makes a good leader for her team. To this, she responded, “Someone who can guide the team and refocus them when things get hard and a player gets in a rut.”

“The best thing about bowling is how each bowler supports their team and other competitors” is what Woodley proudly responded after being asked what the best thing about her sport and/or coaching was. Ms. Woodley believes that “The way that the players help each other to compete as a team and as individuals working to improve is what makes bowling fun”.

The girls’ bowling team finished in the middle of the pack this season with hopes to grow in the future.

Students always wonder what a sports team does in practices in order to excel in their respective sports, to which Ms. Woodley responded, “ We work on delivery and consistency with each practice and game.”

Ms. Woodley provided some encouraging words to her team as she responded, “I expect players to bring their best every day and be able to let a bad frame go instead of snowballing…That focused and intentional practice pays off,” after being asked about what she expects from her team and what should the players take away from this season of bowling.

To learn more about the boys’ side of bowling, I reached out to bowling team captain, Aavinaash Rampersad. Aavinaash showed his leadership skills by affirming what he thinks makes a good leader for his team by sharing, “I believe that a good leader in bowling is someone who is reliable and tries to be helpful throughout the season.”

Aavinaash has had great success this season, with High Series at the County Tournament and ranking 8th at the State Sectional Tournament, what he sees as making bowling a unique sport is that “there is no right way to do anything.”

Aavinaash is very optimistic about his team’s placement in the season but feels like his team could have performed better. He noted, “I believe our team will be ranked second this season because we have underperformed when facing the team in first place. I believe that our team is the best in our division but the stats prove otherwise.”

He shares inspiring words to his teammates as he answers what he expects from his team, asserting, “ I expect my teammates to have fun while bowling and enjoy themselves because I feel like people bowl their best when they're having fun.”

Our interaction ended with Aavinaash sharing a story of his teammates, making a point on what he wants his teammates to take away from this season. Aavinaash announces, “What I want my teammates to take away from this season is that anything [can be done] as long as you put your mind to it. An example of this is how two of our players have [gotten] so much better this season than when they started. One of these players is Kelvin Quevedo who scored over 200 in just his first year with the team. Another player is Fintan Ludy who had multiple nights where he got a 600 series which means he averaged over 200 in three games.”

With great leaders leading the bowling teams, surely both teams have represented CPHS at the highest level. With encouraging words from Ms. Woodley and Aavinaash Rampersad, the whole team will undoubtedly finish the season off with outstanding accomplishments.