Mercyhurst University recently announced the creation of an all new sports team, the Women’s Varsity Bowling team. The creation of this women’s bowling team is lined up with the recently introduced new Director of Athletics on campus, Bradley Davis.

Upon the hire of Davis, a consulting firm working with Mercyhurst advised that the addition of a new team would a great boost to expand the athletics on campus. “It is exciting to introduce a new program,” said Davis. “There hasn’t been a new program introduced to Mercyhurst in 10 years. We’re excited to introduce a new program in a bowling-rich community like Erie. We’re also excited to introduce new opportunities for women athletes here at Mercyhurst University.”

The closest Mercyhurst was towards a new program was the announcement of heavyweight rowing last year.

That, however, is not a separate sport, but rather a new addition to the already existing rowing program.

For Davis, the perfect fit for the school was a bowling team. Bowling was a nice fit for the need to expand the sports program. The sport is different from most colleges around the Erie area.
The forthcoming Laker bowling squad will be the only collegiate team of its kind currently in the area. It also provides simplicity for the campus because there is no need to build a facility.

With bowling being quite popular in the area, there are three nearby bowling alleys ready to sign an agreement with the school, according to Davis.

To top off the wonderful addition the bowling team provides for the school, it works hand and hand with Title IX to provide women with a sports platform all their own. For the women’s bowling team, the premiere season will be 2019-2020. As of now, there are no registered team members, but formal recruiting will begin in preparation for the upcoming school year.
There will also be tryouts for anyone who holds a passion for bowling.

Ultimately, the announcement for the coach will also reveal the finalized home facility to the wider community. This facility will host the regular practices, as well as being the potential future home for tournaments hosted by Mercyhurst.

One final step in the works is finalizing the conference Mercyhurst bowling will fall under. Unfortunately, the current conference for the school, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, does not sponsor bowling. A conference request has been made by the Mercyhurst athletic department, but they are patiently waiting for the response.

Coinciding with the announcement of the women’s bowling program was also the formation of a bowling club here on campus. However, there is no collaboration or concrete connection, as both efforts are independent. The only connection between the varsity bowling team and the bowling club is the goal to strengthen Mercyhurst with the introduction of a new sport to the campus community.

In a way, the new team and the club will be expanding the world of sports and competition for Mercyhurst, starting at the club level being less competitive than the official Varsity team.
At this point, there is no men’s bowling team in the works currently at Mercyhurst.

The introduction of a women’s team is important to set the ground work for any future sports endeavors on Mercyhurst’s campus.