Bowling for PE, to Strike a Balance

As other students hoist their chins above unrelenting steel bars or huff and puff their way around a track, Capistrano Valley High School upperclassmen this year will have a less laborious option for completing physical education credits: bowling.

Looking for ways to attract increasingly sedentary teens to sports, Capistrano Unified School District’s Board of Trustees last week voted to institute a semester-long bowling class this fall, taking a liberal view of the pastime’s physical requirements.

The class will count for one semester of PE credit of the four semesters Capistrano Unified students are required to take. None of the surrounding districts--Saddleback Valley, Irvine or Newport-Mesa unifieds--offer bowling as a class. Nor will the class be offered at the Capistrano district’s other high school campuses.

Bowling may not be common in high schools, but it’s joining a decidedly maverick Capistrano Unified curriculum. Students there get PE credit for kayaking, dance and an aerobics and weightlifting regimen held at a nearby fitness center.

“We try to get away from just always doing the same activity,” said Debbie Cunningham, physical education department chair at Capistrano Valley High School. “You have to change with the times and find things kids are excited about.”

Teacher Bill Steinriede, who proposed the course, said he wanted to increase students’ opportunities to excel in sports.

“Not all kids like push-ups and running,” Steinriede said. “It’s important that kids enjoy PE.”

Hooking teenagers on the fun of physical activity is necessary to encourage lifelong exercise and prevent obesity and other medical problems, Cunningham said.

“Our focus is to get kids to buy into nutrition and exercise as a lifetime activity,” Cunningham said.

It’s the district’s job to guide students to physical fitness with the same fervor with which they pursue academic prowess, said Patrick Levens, the district’s executive director for secondary instruction.

“The real purpose of PE is not about wearing kids down,” he said. “It’s about body maintenance. There is a direct correlation between a healthy body and a healthy mind.”

District officials began updating Capistrano Unified’s physical education course offerings last year following a shift in state physical education frameworks, Levens said.

“We want to give students exposure to real-life activities they can use beyond high school, ones that can be taken up as a hobby or as physical exercise,” he said. “Bowling is one of those things.”

Two days a week, for two hours a day, 50 students will meet at Saddleback Lanes in Mission Viejo to hone their skill at ball selection, pin-hitting accuracy, lane etiquette and score keeping. They’ll also learn the game’s history and get tips from professional bowlers Steinriede has tapped to visit the class.

At $1 a day, the course will cost participants about $35 for the semester. The fee includes shoe and lane rental. Students who can’t afford the fee will probably be aided by Parent Teacher Assn. funds, Levens said.

The lessons will be anchored by a weekly, hourlong cardiovascular workout, Cunningham said.

Still, some students may take the class to avoid more strenuous physical activity, Levens said.

“There will certainly be some kids who, in the light of day, are not truly going to benefit from this,” he said. “To them, it’s a way of taking a semester’s worth of PE and not having to go out and get all sweaty.”

But not in his class, Steinriede said.

“They’re not just going to sit, drink Pepsi and bowl,” Steinriede said. “It’s not a vending machine-type sport.”