SPORTS
“MY HANDS
WERE SHAKING,
EVERYONE STOPPED
BOWLING AND
CROWDED
AROUND.”
Kyle Schellberg
JIM ALCORN; BOWLING PINS: DMITRIY TERESCHENKO/GETTY IMAGES/HERMERA
bowled two perfect games
in his career
will be in the Olympics in 2020 and that
will boost the popularity up. But, from
when I was 11 to 12 bowling in Bowler
City, there were probably 35 to 40 teams
in leagues, now there are 15 to 20.
There’s definitely a decline in bowlers.”
Oppido expressed his belief that the
Huskies would have a full boys team,
and not just a coed team for this winter.
Schellberg keeps his game fresh by
going to Bowler City a few times a week
to bowl five games a day. He owns nine
15-pound balls, and his own black-andgold shoes and special bowling socks
that he breaks out for good luck. Over
the summer, he participated in the biggest youth tournament in the country,
201magazine.com
the Junior Gold in Indianapolis, placing
230th out of 1,400 bowlers.
After Dumont, well, there are not that
many options for an elite bowler like
Schellberg at the college level. Bowling
is classified as a club sport in college,
not an NCAA sport, but there are big
schools – Ohio State is one – that have
programs. William Paterson has a
strong team.
“The William Paterson coach knows
me and I can go practice with the team
here and there, but since it’s not an
NCAA sport, college coaches don’t really
reach out,” Schellberg says. “You have
to promote yourself on YouTube and
stuff like that.”
Schellberg says he can always just
turn pro, which one does merely by
entering a professional tournament.
He is also considering studying criminal justice with the idea of becoming a
police officer. It’s hard not to see Schellberg, who comes across as bright and
personable, being just fine however the
pins fall.
“Kyle does the right thing in the classroom and always shines a positive light
on the Dumont community,” Oppido
says. “He has a very bright future ahead
of him as he continues his bowling
career after high school and is going to
be very successful in life.” ●
– DARREN COOPER
(201) FAMILY | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
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