Varsity bowler Dallas Driver was 10 years old when his older sister Jordan started teaching him the fundamentals of the game. Driver enjoyed watching his sister compete through his local youth program in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and seeing her compete in events such as the Pepsi Series inspired him to take up the sport.

“My sister was in a bowling program when we lived in Kentucky and I would always go watch her,” Driver said. “She was pretty good for her age group. I got into bowling the following year, and I’ve made a lot of new friends through the sport. She competed in a local Pepsi tournament and she was about six pins away from advancing to the next level.”

Driver stopped bowling for a few years after moving to Illinois. However, he reignited the flame after meeting future Hub teammate Tyler Johnson in eighth grade. Johnson encouraged Driver to sign up for the boys bowling program at Rochelle Township High School his freshman year, and he’s since spent the last four years as a member of Rochelle’s varsity team.

“Tyler told me about the bowling program here and I got back into the sport my freshman year,” Driver said. “I’ve been bowling ever since… I’ve made a lot of friends and I’ve met some good people through bowling. I like that you don’t have to be the biggest person to excel at the game and I like that anybody can bowl. It takes time and effort like most things in life. I also like the team aspect of the game.”

Now two matches into his senior season, Driver is one of three players who have represented Rochelle’s varsity team over the last four years including Johnson and senior Brady Shank. Driver’s play helped the Hubs advance to the sectional level this past season for the first time since the IHSA changed its postseason formatting in 2013.

With many returning players, Driver said that he and his teammates are more than capable than replicating the success they achieved last winter.

“Our goals have been to get past regionals and to bowl better than we did last year,” Driver said. “I want to try earning more conference points than I did last year and I want to rank among the top 10 bowlers in our conference… We know what we have to score in order to make the state tournament, and if we can make the sectional again, we won’t have as many nerves as we did last year.”

Driver boasts a career-high 259 game as well as a career-best 676 series. He said most of his progressions have come from gaining more experience on the varsity team, and he also said his experience has helped him understand that bowling is just as much a team sport as it is an individual sport.

The Hubs picked up their first team conference points of the season against LaSalle-Peru on Thursday, and Driver will be looking to continue stepping up for his team when Rochelle faces Sterling and Geneseo this coming week.

“I’d say I was below average compared to the other players during my freshman year,” Driver said. “We didn’t have that great of a team, but I’ve improved a lot over the last two years. I feel like I’ve developed a better understanding of how to throw the ball, and I understand how to be a better teammate. I didn’t know how bowling could be a team sport, but it really becomes a team sport when everybody gets going and we’re all having a fun time.”