The Alley Cats

Did I tell you I'm in a bowling club?

Well, I am.

It's just a small group of girls getting together to enjoy a great, all-american game. A once-a-month thing where we come together and work to improve our skill at a game revered particularly in the upper Midwest region of the country as a source of entertainment during the long 6-month winters. Just a casual affair at the lanes.

We're called the Alley Cats.

My friend Ashley started the club. When she was at a garage sale somewhere in Connecticut, she happened upon a trophy featuring a bronze woman with a mid-calf length skirt and a bowling ball in her hand. Her form was expert. And Ash knew she must have it. And that she needed a bowling club for it to belong to.

So, after only positive feedback from a dozen other girls, she started that club.

The Alley Cats.

The group is composed mostly of women who, in general, like to bowl, but who may not consider themselves very good bowlers. Most of the members claimed an excitement to improve their game.

I say most because I do not belong to that mentality. I happen to be a lovely bowler with great form and decent skill. I'd like to get better, but I do consider myself to be a good bowler already. I got because I actually love bowling and want to go back to my younger years when I played more frequently. And this is my outlet.

And Ashley decided that, to make this club fun and worthwhile, the trophy would be awarded at the end of each club meeting to the girl with the best combined score after two games.

I'm not allowed to compete for the trophy most months.

It was a stipulation when I talked Ashley into letting me be part of the club. I'm there to enjoy the camaraderie with the women, improve my own skills, and give tips and pointers to anyone in want.

I'm the unofficial Coach of the Alley Cats.

The Mama Cat of the Alley Cats, if you will.

So I'm not able to play for the trophy - yet. I'm determined to help all the others get so good that they can rival me in scoring, so that I may yet earn that beloved prize one day.

But our inaugural club meeting was just last week, and we aren't there quite yet. Though a number of the girls were better than they proclaimed. And in the end, my roommate won the trophy that night, so it sits on our mantle - a trophy shared between us.

And I can't wait until 5 months from now, when our monthly meeting at the lanes becomes recognized by the other patrons, who wait and watch to see - who will be the Top Cat tonight? Who will take home the trophy?

They'll know us as the Alley Cats.