Hooked on bowling

By day, Pat Massengill is a part-time worker for the U.S. Census Bureau. By night, the 62-year-old Dalton resident is an avid bowler.

Massengill has been involved in seasonal bowling leagues in Dalton for more than 40 years and is currently bowling in a a summer league at Galaxy Bowling in Dalton, where she also works as an officer for the league.

She began bowling after her traveling softball team’s season ended one year, and her teammates asked her to join a bowling league.

Massengill has been hooked ever since.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Massengill said. “It’s good exercise, a stress reliever and we’re like a family here because we’ve bowled together for so long.”

Massengill currently bowls in a 12-team league that competes every Monday night. Her four-person team, Effie’s Gang — named after 83-year-old teammate Effie Ritchie — is currently in fourth place in the standings four weeks into the season.

She has a 164 scoring average and is one of the league’s more consistent female bowlers along with Ritchie, who has a 174 average.

“It’s a competitive league,” Massengill said. “What I like about it is we’ve got a handicap, so if someone who averages 130 bowls a 200, the person with a 160 average really has to step it up. It’s fun to compete, but we also enjoy socializing.”

In addition to competing, Massengill’s duties as an officer are to organize the league, collect fees and tally point totals and standings.

“She’s very involved in bowling,” said Allison Tucker, manager of Galaxy Bowling. “She’s pretty much involved in all our summer, fall and winter leagues and she’s real involved with the United States Bowling Congress. If anyone ever has any questions or concerns about the league, they go to her. She knows everything about the bowling industry.”

As a USBC member, Massengill participates annually in league-sanctioned national tournaments. Last week, she was in El Paso, Texas as part of one of 7,000 bowling teams competing, though her team didn’t place.

Massengill retired in 2008 from her full-time post as youth girls/special events coordinator for the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department and sees bowling as a way to stay active.

When she sees Ritchie continuing to bowl at a high level, it inspires her.

“She makes me feel like this is a sport you can continue to play in your later years,” she said. “That’s what I feel and I’m hoping I can still bowl when I’m 83 years old.”

Massengill is a bit off her game from past days, when she once bowled a 274. She bowled a 244 in this year’s winter league and her team won first place in the second half.

She still bowls with some of her softball teammates that talked her into taking up her new sport four decades ago, including Brenda Welch and Pam Higgins, her sister.

Massengill said that while her softball days are long gone, bowling allows her to keep a competitive edge.

“Sometimes bowling can be a little stressful,” she said. “It’s like any sport. Some days, you go out there and bowl and you’re incredible, picking up spares and high scores. Other days, it doesn’t matter how you throw or where you stand, you can’t hit the broad side of a red barn.”

Although competition is a big part of bowling leagues, the main goal is for everyone to enjoy each other’s company.

“Pat is a very enjoyable person,” Tucker said. “She’s very outgoing and has a wonderful personality. She can befriend anyone and makes them feel like they’re welcomed in what is considered the ‘bowling family.’

“No one has to worry as far as being new to the league, because there is no conflict of personality with her.”

“Average Joes & Jills” is a summer series highlighting adult athletes from the area who succeed in sports. If you have someone you’d like to suggest for the series, please send us a note at martykirkland@daltoncitizen.com.

Recreation

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Change of sports stuck for long haul

Site Map

Contact Us