As the snow melts and we say goodbye to winter, we also say goodbye to winter sports.

This season will forever be a memorable one and it is one for the books; although the bowler’s main goal was to make it to states, sadly, they were unable to accomplish that goal. On the bright side, they won a significant amount of games this year compared to years past. The team went 6-6 in the regular season. They also successfully beat northern which was one of the team’s goals this season.

“Although we’ve beaten them plenty of times in previous years, it still always feels good to take down a rival. However, when it comes to northern, it’s not just a rivalry, it’s a battle for Eastbrook because we practice and play next to each other at the same lanes,” senior Peyton Price said.

Coming into the season, the boys did not have high hopes and many people doubted FHC; however, many players improved a lot because of Coach’s focus on improving bowling mechanics and getting a better understanding of the game.

“I feel like we accomplished a lot of what we started out to do this season. Along the way, we had a number of ups and downs but the teams looked like they had fun while building better relationships with their teammates and athletes from other teams,” Coach Tarabek stated.

This year, the team had incredible team chemistry. It was a unique group of bowlers as the majority of the players were juniors. Everyone on varsity bonded very well together and they also made close friends with both the girls varsity bowling team and the boys JV team. Going to Subway after matches was a way for all three teams to bond and from now on it will be a bowling tradition.

“It tastes good and it is a fun way for the team to come together after a loss or to celebrate a win. We all enjoy footlongs and get them every time,” junior Wes Baldwin said.

Other teams across the conference acknowledged how different the team was this year–in a good way. Changing the culture was one of Tarabek’s goals this season and he achieved it.

Coach Tarabek commented on this fact by saying, “The feedback from other coaches in the conference was very positive as to where the team progressed to this year and it is very encouraging to see the progress we are making as a team and changing the culture from where it was to be a positive, winning program. One coach even said that FHC has not represented itself this well in a long time.”

Coach Jerry Tarabek had one final message for the team: “Overall I was very happy to have the opportunity to meet everyone and get the chance to help many of them meet their goals and improve this season. A lot has changed in High School bowling since I last coached and I had to learn how to navigate a few things I did not have in the past but thanks to a supportive athletic department with Jonathan Goei [AD] and his assistant Carol Sprys it was a great way to get back into coaching at this level.”

Tarabek is already looking forward to the next season already. Because he is losing seven seniors this year he said, “We have some rebuilding to do next season. We will reinforce mechanics again next season as we continue to build the winning culture and work to winning the conference and move on to state competitions in years ahead.”

There has been a lot of growth in this team skill wise and even becoming a better friend to one another. Bowling bonds is something overlooked but those friendships will last forever. Great job this season, boys and onto next year!