Windermere bowling finds success and community in record-breaking season

Windermere High boys bowling team’s 2025 season is chock full of firsts. 

The Wolverines broke the school record with a 3,018 pin series Wednesday, Sept. 17. Junior bowler Ryan Martin threw 11 consecutive strikes to bowl a 299 game. One day later, junior Jacob Larson bowled his own 299 game against Lake Buena Vista and set the school record with a 700 series. 

The team won the Metro Championship for the first time in school history but didn’t stop there. 

Windermere won the District Championship for the first time and is sending the entire roster to states. 

“It really was terrific,” Windermere head coach Joe Amendola said. “I couldn’t be happier for the group of players I have right now. They work hard.”

Amendola said what sets this team apart from the rest is they are bowlers — as opposed to kids who joined the team. He only coaches them for three months of the year, but his players are active in bowling leagues, and when they have returned from each summer break, they have improved.

Amendola’s son is a freshman on the team, and it was a wonderful feeling to share the season with him, he said. He also is grateful for the parent support. They have spent Saturdays at the bowling alley watching their kids bowl multiple rounds, carried the heavy bowling bags and drove them all around town. 

On top of their talent, Amendola is fortunate to have encouraging players. They give one another tips on the lane conditions and advice on technical elements they could have done better and also support one another when they are upset. 

“Our biggest thing is that everybody on the team is a coach in a way, where they all work towards the same thing,” Amendola said.

When a player begins to hang his head down after a missed pin, his teammates are right there to pick him up. Everyone was high-fiving and encouraging one another to bowl success. 

“It’s fun,” Larson said. “I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t. Bowling is a sport where you need to really enjoy it to do bowling.” 

BOWLING COMMUNITY 

Larson said there’s a small group of people who make up high school bowling teams. It allows him to know what to expect from his competition but also make friends in the scene. 

Olympia girls bowling captain Jordan Canarte played soccer in middle school. The senior has been on the bowling team for two years. What stood out to her in bowling compared to soccer is the sportsmanship. 

“We cheer for the other teams, and you don’t see that in other sports,” she said. 

When Olympia and Windermere faced off in the Metro Championship, Canarte said they were cheering each other on throughout the whole night. She has enjoyed having that element of bowling during her career.

The two schools are tied together through bowling. They share a practice venue and home base at the Winter Garden Bowling Alley. 

The teams waited in lines together to bowl. The Wolverines and Titans were intertwined as they shared the lanes with each other and took turns practicing, finishing difficult spares in different set-ups. 

Even practices build up the bowling community. 

Canarte said the boys and girls teams practice together as one whole unit, but during games, they play on different lanes. That doesn’t stop them from encouraging each other. 

“When one of us is done, we go and we cheer on the other (team),” she said. 

People know the bowling team is fun and supportive, which is what has attracted more players to Olympia’s team, Sean Wells, the assistant coach said. His team is made up of people who have never been on a sports team in their life, but they had a desire to be a part of something that’s bigger than themselves. 

“They all come together and they’re all from different backgrounds and all from different walks of life,” Wells said. “They come together and they put the shirt on, and it’s the bowling team.”

Courtesy photo

COACHING THEM UP 

Windermere’s and Olympia’s team backgrounds are different. Amendola said his team comprises players who have been bowling for years and came to compete for their school. In stark contrast, some of the players on Wells’ team have never touched a bowling ball before. Wells had never even bowled competitively before he took on the assistant coaching role. To prepare he turned toward TikTok and YouTube. 

“I didn’t realize that bowling TikTok was as big as it is,” he said. 

The social media platform has thousands of videos from learning the game for a young child to breaking down the mechanics for high school, collegiate and professional bowlers. He watches the videos for inspiration and brings it back to practice for his players to try. 

If it doesn’t work, that’s OK; he’s just glad they tried something different than showing up to bowl some standard games. It’s important for them to try different techniques, because each person bowls in his or her own special way. There isn’t one uniform approach the whole team takes; it’s about fine-tuning what works for them. 

Wells also turns toward experienced coaches, including Amendola, for advice. He’s been coaching bowling for 14 years — nine at Ocoee High School before moving to Windermere.

“Coaching is a big part, because you start falling into bad habits without it,” Larson said. “This is one of the sports where you need coaching. If you don’t get it within the first six months or year, then you’re falling into bad habits.” 

In some ways, bowling is like basketball, Wells said. He doesn’t teach bowlers how to play hard and with intensity, but he focuses on the mechanics and mental side of it. 

While they play as a team, bowling is individually focused. Everyone steps onto the approach alone. It’s not like basketball, where you’re relying on four other players on the court to hold up to their role. That’s why the mental side of bowling is such an important component, Wells said. 

The encouragement from teammates helps to push the team to get out of their heads if they miss a shot. Wells jumps in during matches to tell players to question what adjustments they need to make. He quotes Ted Lasso — “Be a goldfish” — to remind them to have a short memory.

“Mistakes usually come from trying something that didn’t work,” he said. “You didn’t mean to make a mistake, but you did. Next play. Next frame.”