Walk into Gilliam Lanes on a Monday at 4:30 p.m., and you will see a large group of high school students taking to the lanes.

But these students are not just hitting the bowling alley to fill their free time, they may just be becoming part of history.

Boys and girls from Whitko and Warsaw, with help from sponsors and Gilliam Lanes, have formed bowling teams that compete and represent their schools.

The first high school bowling teams formed in the Indiana during the 1999-2000 school year, and Warsaw was one of them.

The Warsaw squad formed when Phil Werner approached the folks at Gilliam and proposed the idea.

"Mike (Gilliam) and I went to a proprietor's meeting about it six years ago, and it was discussed," said Deb Gilliam, a representative of Gilliam Lanes. "At the time we had not had any interest, so we did not pursue it.

"Then the next year Phil Werner approached us and said he thought it was a great thing for the kids. He was so excited about it, and he deserves a lot of credit for being a catalyst to get the program started."

Werner became Warsaw's first coach, and the program grew from there.

"The first two years were rusty," said Gilliam. "It was definitely a learning process. We are getting better and better every year. Each year we fine tune and become more organized."

Now Gilliam Lanes sponsors a total of four teams (boys team and a girls team) from two schools. The teams practice on Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 a.m. each week.

With the addition of more bowlers come more coaches. This year's squads are headed by Glen Ransbottom and Max Julian.

"I asked Glen to coach because he is an avid sports nut," said Gilliam. "He also came up through our junior programs and worked for us for years. Now his son is of age to bowl on the team, and I thought he would be a good coach. I thought he was perfect for this.

Max is the father of three grown daughters and he is retired now. He works very well with kids, and he has the time to go to the meets."

But with the size of the teams increasing each year, the two head coaches need a little help. This season, they get that help from junior coaches Brenda Jaynes and Nate Morton as well as volunteer helpers Robin Fluke and Chris Curl. This year there are approximately 16 bowlers from Warsaw and 14 bowlers from Whitko.

The Warsaw and Whitko teams belong a six-team conference that also includes teams from Rochester, Tippecanoe Valley (who are sponsored by Quick Lanes in Rochester), Maconaquah and Peru (who call Riverside Fun Center their home). The teams participate in four meets at each center during their 12-match season.

But unlike IHSAA sanctioned sports, bowling is funded primarily by the bowling center in the community, in the case of Warsaw and Whitko, Gilliam Lanes in Warsaw.

"There is a lot of investment on the part of the proprietors," said Gilliam. "It is totally an undertaking on the part of the proprietor. It costs around $2,000 per school. That includes state dues, conference dues, scholarships, coaching fees, team shirts and things like that."

The teams do hold fundraising events to help with the cost of the programs.

"We held a bowl-a-thon earlier this season to help defray some of the expenses," said Gilliam. "We also have some corporate sponsors that donate to help out as well."

This year's corporate sponsors for both squads are DePuy, That Old House and Gilliam Lanes. Zimmer and the United Steelworkers Local 6805 sponsor the team from Warsaw, and Paragon Medical sponsors Whitko's team.

"We are always looking for corporate sponsors," said Gilliam. "Anything helps."

Eventually, Gilliam says, they would like to see bowling as an IHSAA-sanctioned sport.

"Because we would like to see it picked up by the IHSAA, we have followed all the IHSAA guidelines from the start," said Gilliam. "The kids have to maintain their grades and follow the same rules as the other athletes."

Warsaw and Whitko open the season Wednesday at Gilliam Lanes at 4:30 p.m. The bowlers then travel to Rochester for a meet Thursday evening.

2003-04 Bowling Schedule

Dec. 3 at Warsaw, Gilliam Lanes

Dec. 4 at Rochester, Quick Lanes

Dec. 11 at Peru, Riverside Fun Center

Dec. 18 at Rochester, Quick Lanes

Jan. 8 at Peru, Riverside Fun Center

Jan. 15 at Rochester, Quick Lanes

Jan. 21 at Warsaw, Gilliam Lanes

Jan. 29 at Peru, Riverside Fun Center

Feb. 5 at Rochester, Quick Lanes

Feb. 12 at Peru, Riverside Fun Center

Feb. 18 at Warsaw, Gilliam Lanes

Feb. 28 at Warsaw, Sectional

March 6 Regional (site TBA)

March 13 Semistate (site TBA)

March 20 State Finals (site TBA) [[In-content Ad]]