ON TO BOWLING AND THE FIRST FEW ALUMNI LEAGUES
I felt that there was a need to expand the sports
that our alumni were participating in, to get more Xaverians together in ways
other than just basketball and golf. I felt that too much importance was given
to these two sports when there were a lot of other sports that many of our
alumni could also play. I thought that there must be a large number of alumni
out there who were just like me: neither into basketball nor golf but who played
other games that have not yet been developed by the Association into venues for
participation and interaction.
That's when I thought of bowling.
I played it. I knew Xaverians who played it. It was
fun. It is popular, though admittedly not as popular as basketball and golf. Yet
I was certain that there were a large number of alumni who also liked the game,
and that it would be highly possible to attract teams from the different batches
to participate in an AAXS sponsored tournament, or better yet, a full league.
Like basketball and golf, it would provide another venue where alumni, both
young and old, could get to know each other. To expand the interaction from just
basketball and golf was the goal, so to speak. The basketball players and
golfers all knew each other very well now, thank you very much. Now let's get
the bowlers together for a change.
So sometime in the mid-1990's I proposed to the then incumbent AAXS board the possibility of including bowling in its sports calendar, and that with their support and recognition, it may spur some interest in the game from our fellow alumni. Thankfully, the board, led by former President Dobbin Tan ('81) and former VP for Sports Joseph Whang ('74), gave the approval to – if you'll pardon the pun -- start the ball rolling.