The WSU Bowling Club is on probation for the academic year after failing to compete in three tournaments and raising the required amount of money.

Bowling Club President Megan Wittenberg said they only participated in two competitions, due to a lack of fundraising. She said she wants the club to have a better standing with WSU and University Recreation, adding that the team is working on fundraisers and traveling to more than three tournaments.

“This year, I just want to build the team up and get us off probation,” Wittenberg said. “I will say we’re definitely looking a lot better than last year.”

To meet fundraising requirements, the club hosted a Dad’s Weekend tournament, and has been working parking shifts for home football games.

The club will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, and Scottsdale, Arizona, to meet the competition requirements. The club’s eight-member travel team will go to the tournaments and will compete in black slacks and matching jerseys. The team is composed of top players from the club who are asked to join the travel group.

“We’re cooler than you think,” Wittenberg said.

To pay for travel, the team uses money from fundraising and a few members pay money out of pocket to purchase equipment.

Some members have a bag, each holding three bowling balls and a personal pair of bowling shoes at practice. A three-ball bag with shoes can cost around $800, Wittenberg said.

A junior studying elementary education, Wittenberg has been a member of the team since her freshman year, and was vice president last year. She said bowling is a way to relax and de-stress.

“This is a place where I can come and relieve all of my stress and not have any worries,” she said. “Because I’m surrounded by a group of people who share the same passion as me, there’s no negativity, only positivity. It’s my escape from reality.”

Vice President Jarrod Hammond, a junior mechanical engineering major, said the whole bowling team comes together as a family, even if some of the members competed against each other as rivals before coming to WSU.

Bowling is one of the few UREC clubs to practice off-campus. The club can be found every Monday on lanes seven and eight in Zeppoz. Wittenberg said she has worked out a deal with the business in order to practice twice a week.

Members of the team bowl on Zeppoz leagues for free practices, and if there are not enough people currently on the leagues, the club will pay the hourly rates.

Wittenberg said the club will continue working to improve its status and be taken off probation.

“I do think the team did a total 180 this year,” she said. “I believe we’ll be on a lot better standing with UREC than we were last year.”