RANDOLPH — To help minimize spread of the coronavirus, Vermont high school bowling has gone virtual this winter.
No, nobody is running Wii bowling tournaments online. Teams are instead staying at their home lanes and bowling by solo. Scores are due each Saturday and then calculated, with results released by Monday.
The Hartford High bowling teams leads the state rankings through two weeks of Baker Play with 23 points.
“I personally think being by ourselves takes some fun out of it,” said Hurricanes coach Cean Lieberman. “I think there are certain kids who like we’ve gone virtual because they don’t have a score right there, in front of their face, that they need to beat. They don’t see a kid from another school bowling real well.
“I think a lot of these kids like being around the other kids, though, and have a tournament feeling on a weekly basis. There is anticipation from Wednesday to Monday morning to see how we do.”
Hartford has had to move bowling alleys because the Vermont government’s nonessential travel restrictions don’t allow the Hurricanes to cross the New Hampshire border to practice and compete at Claremont’s Maple Lanes. The team has relocated to Randolph’s Valley Bowl.
The other change for Lieberman’s squad has been the lack of practice time. Instead of the usual twice a week practices with matches on Saturday mornings, Hartford is using Mondays for individual scoring. Bakers, the team-oriented competition, are bowled on Wednesdays.
Teams are still scheduling matches, albeit virtually. This week the Hurricanes are in three-team match along with Springfield and Brattleboro. They’ll recieve results early next week.
“Bowling helps me get out of the house more because I am fully remote,” said Hartford sophomore Corinne George. “It’s basically my home away from home. It wouldn’t be good without bowling because I was remote for a semester before the season started up and my mental state dropped. This has helped a lot.
“The quiet’s nice, but it’s a change. It’s much better to have a crowd because you have the cheering and congratulations in person.”
Lieberman has made an effort to bring the fans the competition in real time by live-streaming all the Hurricanes’ action on Facebook Live. But the buzz in the alley during a typical match can’t be replicated.
Lieberman’s son, Cean Lieberman, is a junior for the Hurricanes and broke the state record for a two-game series in the first week of the season. After not stepping foot in an alley for seven months, he rolled a 267 and 278 for a 545-series.
He actually broke the state record for a two-game series once last season before a bowler from Randolph reset it with a 540. Cean Lieberman has now reclaimed the title.
The next goal for him is to win an individual championship, but he will have to wait another year. The state has opted not to hold an individual in-person tourney this season, so no true champion will be crowned.
Plans are in place to hold a virtual state championship, but no dates have been set.
“Kind of upset about that (individual championships) because I feel like I could’ve done something this year,” Cean Lieberman said on Wednesday before Hartford started its Baker series. “But, hey, there’s always next year. You just have to put this all aside and think about next year. Just have to keep grinding and hope I can do something next year.”
White River Valley coach Shannon Palone was wrapping up practice on Wednesday at Randolph’s Valley Bowl when Hartford was starting. The Wildcats were sidelined the first two weeks of the season because the school switched to remote learning due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Even with the return to the bowling lanes, Palone is without a handful of bowlers who are absent due to COVID-19 protocol. She doesn’t have the five athletes necessary to field a five-person Baker team so her squad was making up the first two weeks of scores with only four athletes.
She’s hoping to have most of her team back next week.
“It’s just what we have to do. It’s a different time. It’s not like we’re the only ones,” Palone said. “Right now, the kids get to bowl. That’s all that matters, truthfully.”
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.