The sport matches the person. In the case of junior Haley May, co-captain of the girls’ bowling team, this proves to be true. Bowling is an unrecognized sport, despite the skill needed to excel in it. May is a quiet person, new to West Albany High School as of the 2025-2026 school year, and a generational shoo-in for the bowling team.
May said, “I started when I was six. My mom actually bowled when she was in high school, and my grandpa was her coach, so it’s kind of a family thing. They got me into it when I was little.”
May has been in bowling one way or another most of her life, but becoming a co-captain wasn’t quite her aspiration.
“I was kind of surprised at first.” May said, “We were at a tournament, and our coaches were given these papers, and they had to choose one to two captains per team, and you had to read it off and remember those things for upcoming tournaments. When my coach gave it to me, I was kind of like ‘woah’. It was kind of honorable.”
While it wasn’t what she planned, May has taken her role in stride. She leads by example in many cases and doesn’t put herself before her team.
“Being able to be the one to talk everyone through it… it’s kinda cool,” May said.
Along similar lines, May also works to keep the team on track. “It’s as simple as being able to talk and be calm while also being like, ‘ok, we need to focus,’” May said.
In practice, the bowling team splits into two lanes and competes with each other in friendly competition. Despite the mix of students from West Albany and South Albany High School, the team gets along with each other.
“A lot of the girls on the team don’t care about other sports or the rivalry… It’s cool because we get to talk about ‘oh, at school I’m doing this’ and ‘well, at my school I’m doing this,’” May said.
It’s the tight-knit group that really emphasizes May’s easy leading; the team doesn’t need a commander as much as they need a morale-booster, and May provides just that. During practice, the team makes an effort to cheer and celebrate each other’s accomplishments; they behave more like friends than a club. In sanctioned sports, leadership means attention and responsibility. In a club sport, like bowling, leadership looks like support and guidance.
