Inclusion, dancing and a competitive fire: Pueblo's unified spirit in the bowling alley
Luke Zahlmann
When COVID-19 isn't tampering with in-person schedules, Pueblo South High School students are read announcements each morning, including the upcoming athletics schedules and previous scores from Athletic Director Jarrett Sweckard.
This year, unified bowling — in its first year — finally made those same announcements worthwhile for the special needs students.
The sport was moved from being a CHSAA pilot activity to a fully-sanctioned sport a year ago.
Teachers and fellow students began to ask about practice or upcoming events and, if only temporarily, the same students who've often been left out of athletics were part of the thrill.
"Our kids (started) listening for the bowling announcement," South coach Raul Delgado said. "Students who didn't communicate as much were coming out of their shell. When (kids) are excited about something, they tend to do a little bit more."
Levi Martinez, as newly-named coach of Pueblo East's unified bowling team, is part of a Pueblo mission to include everyone, as are his fellow coaches including Delgado.
CHSAA brought together unified bowling, certifying the league and giving a true, full-season feeling with a regular season, regional and state title matchup.
East won the state title with 431 pins to second-place Pueblo Central's 389.
"There's a lot of excitement and togetherness," East freshman Ebony Padilla-Andrews said. "We did it all together as a team. I got to cheer my teammates on and they were pretty excited to see me do that for them. And it's really about our team being together and sticking together."
At AMF Belleview Lanes in Denver, the state championship atmosphere was present, albeit different.
Every member of each roster holds a competitive spirit. Winning is important, but not the end-all, be-all.
Teammates congratulated and supported each other, while opposing teams did the same. Gutter balls and strikes receive a similar reaction — the groups full of teenagers who haven't been able to compete know it's all relative compared to the experience and memories.
"The impact was huge," Central coach Darrion Hatchett said. "I could see it from the beginning. What I saw before bowling, to what I saw after bowling — it's such a huge difference. Before bowling, the kids weren't as social.
"Once we got into bowling, they got more social with one another and you could see it in the classroom (too)."
Several members of Pueblo's bowling squads would bowl every day. Coaches were more likely to close the alley down at night than skip a day.
The city is known for going all in, though.
Pueblo goes all in with unified bowling
Unified bowling has been in the works for a while.
CHSAA approved sanctioning the sport last year, with competition expected to start this year. COVID-19 pushed everything back, making a fall sport now an in-between-seasons sport in Season C.
Originally, there was slated to be roughly 40 teams according to Rick Macias, the D60 athletic director. That number dropped to around 27 once the season actually took place — five of them coming from Pueblo.
Before they could field a team, Macias and the city had to find a venue. Home matchups would need a place to play, as would one of the regionals if a local team qualified to host — which East eventually did.
During their search, Macias and company contacted Ben Gradishar of Big Daddy's Sunset Bowl.
Gradishar has already made an impact for schools with the hosting of special needs classes to the alley. He's a former special education teacher, as well.
When the district called, he offered the alley up as a new home for practice and events — free of charge.
With a venue in place, and prospective athletes ready, each school began to approve new coaching staffs and assemble its respective programs.
Those same programs all found success, too.
East's aforementioned state win was the sport's first, while Central and South were both in the state playoff field as well and took second and third, respectively. The three squads even traveled to Denver together, with the pride of "representing their school," Delgado said.
The memories from the state championship, alone, will stick in Padilla-Andrews' head. The league was put together to model the other leagues in the state, even those which aren't a unified sport.
It worked.
"The memories will never leave us" Martinez said. "First year building up this program, and being state champions is going to be what we remember, but the memories are going to be the best for us.
"(The kids are) more confident. They're cheering for everybody. Some kids are dancing. It's a great experience, it puts a big smile on your face to see the kids enjoy themselves."
Pueblo put all its cards on the table for bowling. The impact it's left is inspiring loftier goals now.
Expansion wanted in unified sports
Martinez' career as a unified bowling coach started as flawlessly as it could.
He wants to be one of many unified coaches though. Both unified basketball and volleyball join the list of three sports that are offered — in non-COVID times — for special needs athletes.
The number is one Martinez and his fellow coaches hope will rise.
"Now that we started the unified bowling league, we're going to (hopefully) be having more programs," Martinez said. "We're going to be opening up more advanced sporting events for the unified team, so it's a great opportunity. This was a great jump-start for the unified league."
Expansion will pay dividends for special needs athletes, no matter the sport. Bowling showed its impact this year, but many more could exemplify what sports mean.
Hatchett, the Central bowling coach, wants to make sure athletes who may even shy away from bowling are confident and make the leap.
"I want all the kids in Pueblo to not be nervous to come out and play and get involved," Hatchett said. "I think this year should show a lot about what the kids went through. Bowling brought everyone together a lot more.
"I want all the kids out there to shoot (their) shot. Have some fun."
The expansion is one Delgado hopes will stretch beyond school.
He's already begun to get club teams together, with the help of Gradishar once again, for out-of-season play.
Those club teams won't be limited to just high schoolers. Delgado's desire is to have an avenue for all ages — no special needs community deserves to be left off, regardless of age, he says.
The city's decided unified sports are a new ground needing to be breached and expounded.
Each student who now has a chance to participate is thanking them — listening closer to the announcements than ever.
"Special education, general education, they're one in the same," Delgado said. "Let's all get together and have fun."
Chieftain reporter Luke Zahlmann can be reached at lzahlmann@gannett.com or on Twitter: @lukezahlmann.