By Paul Silverfarb
Sentinel Editor
Wayne Gioffre is used to pacing back and forth quite a bit during the season. As a coach for the Greenwich High School football team, he’s on the field during practice and in the booth during games—but pacing nervously back and forth wherever you find him.
But that’s nothing compared to the walking he does during matches with his Greenwich High bowling team. During any given Tuesday, Gioffre can be seen watching his varsity squad on one side of the Nutmeg Lanes bowling alley and then immediately running to the other side of the building to support another player on the junior varsity squad. Then it’s back to another group of GHS athletes to cheer on someone’s successful round.
That’s a lot of walking, but the GHS head coach couldn’t be happier about it.
“Every year it’s a great mix of multi-sport athletes and kids that have never played a sport before in their lives,” Gioffre said. “And they all get along so well. For them it’s a lot of fun. The higher you go up on the level, the skill is better. Our varsity kids are very competitive and take it very seriously. There’s a lot of pressure on them to bowl well.”
This year’s bowling squad is 31 members strong, which means more groups to watch during match, but it’s music to Gioffre’s ears. He remembers the days when Big Red had only eight members on the roster and he would have to run around trying to recruit anybody to try the sport.
“We don’t have that problem anymore,” Gioffre said. “As you go down, there are kids that are just developing, and because they are bowling against other kids that are just developing, it’s not quite as pressure-packed. Regardless, they have a great time.”
“It’s amazing for me to see how, unlike in football and other sports, teams cheer other teams on when they do really well,” Gioffre added. “That’s what makes it really fun. It’s a great experience for the kids and certainly myself. I have been doing this for a dozen years now and each year I am just amazed with the camaraderie the kids have for each other.”
With the lack of lanes in the state, competing on the bowling squad is quite different from most sports. The Cardinals compete every Tuesday during the winter season at Nutmeg Lanes in Fairfield. In addition, the 31 members of the GHS bowling team travel up to Fairfield on Monday to prepare for their contest.
“Monday’s are huge for us,” Gioffre said. “The developing kids continue to work on their muscle memory and the varsity kids get prepared for the match the next day.”
While it appears that Big Red only has one day of practice to get ready for its matches on Tuesday, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Big Red’s bowlers truly enjoy the time they spend with one another and it shows throughout the week, as they still find their way up to Fairfield several more times in the week to hone in their skills.
“We may only be up here on Mondays, but these are up here four or five days a week,” Gioffre said. “Bowling gets infectious. They come up together, come up as a group and they just work so well together and gel. They become a team. They want to improve and take time out of their days after school to come up here on their free time, using their own money, getting their own equipment to improve and get better. From the first day, when I was worried if we were going to have a decent varsity team to now, it’s like night and day.
“We’re extremely competitive, we’re right in the race for winning the league and if we continue going on the route that we are going, I see nothing but great things for us in the months to come.”
Leading the way will be tri-captains Blake Guerrieri, Yoshi Motokawa and Dylan Pollack.
“This team is great,” Guerrieri said. “It’s been a long journey for the bowling team, and we’ve come a long way as a program. We’ve been doing a really good job this year, only having one loss. We are looking good and have a pretty good-looking set squad. We have a great relationship with each other. Whenever a player gets a strike, we always give out hand shakes and high-fives.”
Guerrieri is a multi-sport athlete who has worked on his craft to become a force in the bowling community.
“He’s actually one of the top 10 bowlers in the league,” Gioffre said. “I think through doing other sports like football, he knows how to handle pressure. Because he can handle pressure, in situations where matches are tight, he doesn’t tighten up. And that’s great. The fact that he is loose keeps the rest of the team loose.”
Another who improved his game throughout the season is Motokawa. He’s a sophomore and one of the top bowlers in the league.
“Because he’s become so good, he demands respect from the team,” Gioffre said. “The team really tries to emulate the way that he conducts himself. In turn, he’s become a very good leader.”
Pollack is one of those people Gioffre believes has been bitten by the bowling bug.
“Anything I ask of him, I know it’s taken care of,” Gioffre said. “That’s one of those the things that you really count on as a coach, especially with your captains.
“It’s a great feeling to being a captain on this team,” Pollack said. “It’s good to have the title and it’s fun to be around everybody here. We all get along really well together. We did well last year and expect to do the same this year. We have some high expectations here, so we are expected to win a lot.”
Antonio DeLorenzo started out as just an average bowler last year and Gioffre said that he’s improved so much that he’s now joining both Motokawa and Guerrieri in the starting lineup. Gioffre said that the fact that Antonio has been so consistent this season, he has also made the team more consistent.
Another returning varsity athlete is Kyle Kelly, who, like DeLorenzo, has worked extremely hard throughout the offseason to go from an average bowler to one of the top on the team this year.
“It’s a blast here, coming out here every week bowling with friends,” Kelly said. “We are really competitive and are determined to do well, but it’s a nice feeling to do this with your good friends. We need to keep up those strikes and spares.”
Rounding out the starting varsity roster is Rob Migliorino.
“It’s a great time here,” Migliorino said. “We enjoy ourselves. It’s a great bond and every time we get strikes, we cheer on our teammates. We see a lot of talent with the underclassmen, so it’s nice to know that when we leave, they will keep on rolling.”
Migliorino, who bowls in other leagues during the year on weekends, has improved his game due mainly to the number of times he’s competed.
“At the beginning of the year, I thought we were a little unfocused and I don’t think we were playing as well as I hoped we would,” Guerrieri said. “Now it’s all coming together and we are all bowling really well.”
Gioffre believes that the strength of the team is the chemistry and how they care for each other, both in and out of the bowling alley. Whether they are driving up to Fairfield on their personal time or cheering during the matches on game day, Gioffre couldn’t be happier with the respect they show for one another.
“While the chemistry is there, I still think they need to work on their consistency,” Gioffre said. “That comes with time. I think that if they become a little more consistent in picking up their spares and focusing, we should be doing good things in a tough league.”
And a tough league is an understatement. Gone are the days where only a select few squads had a chance for a league championship. In addition to Greenwich, who is currently tied for second in the league, the Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe combined team is one of the teams to beat, as they have possibly four or five bowlers that will compete at the collegiate level.
“We really just need to put our heads into it and really focus,” Pollack said. “We need to work together instead of working on individual scores. We need to focus on total scores.”
Throw into the mix is Fairfield Prep, St. Joseph High School and Notre Dame-Fairfield, just to name a few, and Greenwich High has some work to do if they are going to fight for a conference crown.
“Usually when we go bowl in the state championship, the top two or three teams are from this league,” Gioffre said. “So, more than likely, if you win this league, you’re probably winning the state championship as well.”
