These efforts came to early fruition in March 1996, when I -- together with Joseph, Jeffrey Kho ('77), and Raymund Tan ('77) -- organized the very first alumni bowling league at SM Megamall Bowling Lanes in Mandaluyong held every Tuesday evening for twelve weeks running. Participation was encouraging, as thirteen batches joined that very first year, and I deemed this turnout a moderate success for Xavier bowling. At the conclusion of this tournament Batch '82 emerged as the first champion in Xavier alumni bowling history. (see chart for the complete list of champions and host batches)

The second year of the league: we grew from thirteen to fourteen participating teams. Modest growth, but growth nonetheless, and it was encouraging to see our efforts go unwasted. The same kind of interaction that the other sports had developed among Xavier alumni was also increasing in the alumni bowling league. This was 1997, and again the league was held on Thursday nights at SM Megamall, with Batch '72 winning this year's championship.

For the third year, I had to beg off from chairing the organizing committee because of time and work constraints. I just had too much on my hands then, so I had to let it go, albeit I was still involved with the committee, just not as much as before. But by this time there were others who had seen the potential of the still-young alumni bowling league and they had taken up the cudgels to see to the continuing development of Xavier alumni bowling. Joseph's successor as VP for Sports at this time was Samson Lim ('81), and he came up with the idea that this annual bowling league be hosted like the alumni homecoming: different batches will organize and host the league every year in succeeding order. This way, no one group will have to burn themselves out with the effort of running the show year after year. This was a great idea to ensure the continuance of the league. So in 1998, the league's third year, Batch '71 took the reins and organized another successful season once more held on Thursday nights at SM Megamall. Batch '81 took the championship home for this year.

An important development in Xavier alumni bowling history came at the conclusion of the 1998 season: the AAXS Bowling Club was organized and established sometime in August of that year. The Club was organized to oversee and manage the operations of the annual bowling league, such as assigning and coordinating with the hosting batch, and to be the independent authority behind any problems that may arise during the league. Later on, the Club's responsibilities would include coming up with other bowling-related activities for the rest of the year. The first set of Bowling Club officers were Alvin Tang ('71), President; myself as Vice President; Raymund Tan ('77), Secretary; Philip Laude ('81), Treasurer; Edward Chan ('70), PRO; and Edison Go ('74), Tournament Director.

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