High Life / A WEEKLY FORUM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS : Bowling Scores a Little Respect : Sports: After spending some time on the lanes, a Sunny Hills student changes her mind about the activity that had seemed more like a carnival game.

Bowling has never been considered the sport of champions.

When a father and son head outside to toss the ball around, they don’t mean a bowling ball.

And while Muhammad Ali and Joe Namath have become international celebrities, most don’t know the name of the guy who tossed all those strikes at the World Bowling Championship.

And a professional bowler on a box of Wheaties these days? Forget it.

Bowlers don’t get much respect--and until a few weeks ago, when I began taking bowling as a physical education course at Sunny Hills High School, I really had no respect for them either.

But after spending some time on the lanes, I now look at the bowler in an entirely new light.

Pitching a ball at 10 wooden pins seems more like a carnival game than an actual sport, but I have come to realize that it’s not as easy as it appears.

I confess I registered for bowling to escape the torture of a regular P.E. class, which has always held an unspoken horror for me.

I smugly reasoned that any P.E. class that didn’t require a change of clothes or a shower was worth a try.

I had never bowled before, had absolutely no concept of scoring and didn’t even realize until a week had passed in class that my two middle fingers were supposed to go in those little holes in the ball.

On the first day of class, I walked into Carter Bowl in Fullerton half expecting to be crowned Queen Bowler of the World.

After years of struggling with such sports as soccer and volleyball, I was positive that I had finally found the type of activity that really suited my non-athletic nature.

Students grouped into “league” teams of three were assigned lanes and found bowling balls among the racks that line the alley. Then the games unceremoniously began.

Suddenly, I found that I was slightly less successful than I had counted on.

I bowled a 9.

Honest to goodness, I earned 9 points out of a possible 300. I knocked down nine pins in an entire game, 10 whole frames.

A few people snidely asked me if my eyes had been shut. “It’s impossible to get a 9 unless you’re trying to,” they all said.

Personally, I didn’t find it that funny.

Of course, I received advice from every would-be bowling expert around. “Keep your wrist straight,” they told me. “Take five steps and then toss it. Watch the middle arrow, the middle arrow. And whatever you do, keep the ball low to the ground.”

No matter how carefully I aimed or how hard I threw, the ball simply refused to knock down pins.

I threw gutter ball after gutter ball until, finally, my bowling partners began plotting ways to get me off their team. After all, this was a competition, and I was bringing down the team score.

After the teacher watched me bowl a gutter ball, he handed me a pamphlet that explained the sport’s correct techniques.

I studied the pamphlet and the next time the class met, I was prepared for a complete turnaround.

At each successive class meeting, I have knocked down a few more pins, gotten some spares and even a few strikes.

Last Friday, I broke the 100 mark. Though my score of 105 may not seem like much to those who achieve a 200 with ease, for me it was a momentous occasion.

I can’t wait until tomorrow.