Taking a calculated step towards the foul line, Sophomore Erica Fong swings the bowling ball back and forth a few times for precision before she expertly bowls it at the gleaming pins in the back of the lane. A tense second passes before the ball strikes its targets and brings down all ten dual-colored pins, earning her a strike and loud cheers at Action Lanes Bowling Alley.
Fong has been bowling since she was nine years old as a casual family activity.
“I started noticing that I’m not that bad and that I really liked bowling,” Fong said. “My mom signed me up for a league and I’ve been bowling in the same league ever since.”
Fong has already attended several large competitions, including the Pepsi Youth, State, City and Grand Prix tournaments. Although Fong has only won one competition, the experience she gained as a bowler is invaluable.
“My biggest tournament was Grand Prix because it was my first. I was only about 11 years old and I was really shocked that I won,” Fong said. “But if I lose a competition, I know there is always next time and that I can practice more to get better.”
In the Grand Prix tournament, Fong stood alone against numerous other bowlers from all over California in a step-ladder battle to compete for first prize. Fong slowly worked herself up from fifth to first place, securing the number one spot in her first tournament.
“When I’m competing, I’m serious and people can see how I really bowl. I also get to have fun and just laugh a lot,” Fong said. “I had a band aid on my thumb once and when I was bowling, the band aid came off and landed in the middle of the lane. It was pretty funny and gross.”
In her league at Action Lanes, Fong is in the elite division, or the highest division, which allows bowlers to compete in tournaments. In the higher divisions, winners earn cash instead of trophies. The prize money that the young bowlers receive is put into savings accounts as part of a scholarship program and are not to be opened until the bowlers are 22 years old.
“I’m really happy with the money in my account right now,” Fong said. “I also don’t have another hobby so this is one of the reasons why I keep bowling. A lot of people don’t really bowl, but I find it interesting.”
To keep her bowling skills sharp, Fong practices every Saturday. She arrives at 9:30 a.m. at Action Lanes with her brother and begins the day with a ten minute practice session before she and her teammate begin to compete with others, making sure that they write down the scores after each game. After three games, the players turn in their score sheets.
“I was practicing once and the ball got stuck to my thumb,” Fong said. “I completely lost my balance and the ball went into the gutter.”
For Fong, tournaments and chances to show off her skills aren’t the only fun opportunities that she has.
As a high level bowler, Fong is not only able to earn money for her college fund but she is also allowed some room for creativity that other, lower level bowlers don’t get.
“We actually have our own shoes and bowling balls,” Fong said. “My ball is green and purple and smells like grape because I bought the scented kind.”