Monday 29 November 2021
Bowling is more than pub sport
Bimber – Germany’s unknown world champion
Smoky restaurants, beer glasses, social gatherings: bowling is not exactly suspected of being a competitive sport in Germany. The 24-year-old world champion Alena Bimber is now competing and wants to improve the image of bowling. It’s a long way out of insignificance.
Alena Bimber recently became world champion again, but hardly anyone in Germany noticed. Bimber skittles in the women’s national team and has won the global title twice in tandem (U18 and U23). Bowling, some will ask – isn’t that the somewhat outdated sport in the back of a restaurant? “Unfortunately we, as sport bowlers, often encounter this derogatory prejudice,” says Bimber. “I then ask if he or she would like to try it himself – then you can feel the sore muscles the next day that bowling is a demanding competitive sport.”
Bimber skittles for the Rhineland-Palatinate Bundesliga club ESV Pirmasens. “I once took part in the club’s holiday program with my sister Alisa. And because we enjoyed bowling, we joined the ESV.” The 24-year-old trains twice a week, with a first division game on Sundays. The native of the Palatinate recently finished her studies as an industrial engineer. Sister Alisa skittles in the 1st team. Mother Petra is a regular player in the 2nd team in the 2nd Bundesliga.
What excites Alena Bimber about the sport? “I find the interplay of coordination, perseverance and skill fascinating,” she says. “I also think it’s a nice team discipline where everyone fights for everyone.” It’s easy to underestimate the sport. “But it’s not as easy as you imagine. Every throw requires concentration.” Many think they know skittles – and yet they often mean bowling. There is a striking difference: in bowling, ten pins are played instead of nine, and the ball has three holes for the fingers. Bowling is one of the oldest precision sports, but it suffers from problems with youngsters – also due to changed leisure habits.
World champion – and nobody notices
“Our sport struggles with a membership shortage – like many other fringe sports too,” says Sandra Hirsch, women’s national bowling coach. “The be-all and end-all of counteracting this shortage of young talent are committed and well-trained trainers,” she emphasizes. You can see very clearly that bowling clubs with good youth training would have an above-average number of young people.
“In general, there are a lot of problems with young talent, also because of the annoying image of our sport,” says Bimber. Your association is targeting it with holiday programs and advertising in schools. “Every sport needs new talent, otherwise it will die out.” Talents like Bimber: world cup winner singles and pair mixed (2012), vice world champion team and sprint (2013), world champion tandem (2015), vice world champion team (2018) and 2021 world champion tandem U23 and with the women’s national team. In October the selection in Poland won the World Cup final against the Czech Republic 7-1.
Popular like darts?
It was a triumph with little echo in Germany. “When another German athlete becomes world champion in his discipline, you can often see and hear it on all television programs,” says the 24-year-old. “That is not the case with bowling. You can be grateful for every newspaper article.” She hopes that bowling will one day receive such media coverage as the former fringe sport darts is today.
And Bimber himself? Hirsch predicts a good future for her. “Being able to play directly with the old hands and making the leap into the regular squad shows Alena’s talent,” says the national coach. But no athlete can live from talent alone. “She does everything for a steady increase in performance and her personality is also a role model for young players.” The 24-year-old will develop into a great support in the team, says Hirsch. “I’m very sure of that.”