Alter grad leads effort to revive UD Bowling Club

A group of local students is working to bring Dayton Flyers bowling back.

Alter graduate Mark Edsall is spearheading an effort to revive bowling on campus with the recent addition of the UD Bowling Club. Edsall is not alone in his effort as he is joined by fellow Knights teammate Megan Spears, Miamisburg graduate Ryan Dehart and Centerville alum Lawrence Corbett – all now current UD students.

“After bowling in high school, there was a huge void last year, when I was a freshman,” Edsall said. “There are a lot of people, like me, who bowled in high school and really miss it.”

Edsall considered attending Marian University in Indiana and bowling on the Knights collegiate team but chose the University of Dayton because of its strong academic programs. But while there are plenty of challenges for him in the classroom, the Washington Township resident misses the challenges that bowling provides.

Bowling is not new to the University of Dayton as the Flyers were competing decades ago. The University of Dayton collegiate team faced off against Gonzaga at National Recreation – which was located on Brown Street – in 1940. Greater Dayton USBC Hall of Fame member

Kurt Gostel taught bowling and coached the UD team in the mid 1960s. Kennedy Union has housed bowling lanes for decades – used for classes, leagues and recreation. Edsall hopes to increase the lane use substantially with the new club.

In the club’s firstyear, organizers had hoped to attract 10 members and have already surpassed that with 13 and counting – a mix of experienced and rookie bowlers.

“I’d say about 60 percent of them have bowled before and 40 percent are brand new,” Edsall said. “Wewant to have different training based on their experience.”

From building on the basics to adapting to difficult oil patterns, the club will offer a wide variety of opportunities to its members. Down the road, Edsall would like tohave the opportunity to compete against other clubs.

Edsall, 19, recently completed the United States Bowling Congress Coaching Certification Level I program. No stranger to hard work, the electrical engineering and computer technology student plans to continue in the USBC coaching program and become a bronze level coach.

“After I get a feel for coaching, in about a year or so, I definitely want to work on getting my bronze certification,” he said.

While the campus is currently at level four on their COVID-19 safety alert system – with all students utilizing fully remote learning while staying in their on-campus residences – Edsall is hopeful that he will be able to get the UD Bowling Club underway in the near future.