Kristy Whitcher Turns Beginners into Bowlers at Peninsula

Kristy Whitcher’s pitch for players to join her team reads like a simple, old-school classified ad.

WANTED: Aspiring bowlers eager to learn from a pro. All skill levels are welcome. No experience necessary.

But Whitcher’s qualifications go far beyond what any ad could convey. She’s a 13-time Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour regional champion, a fourth-place finisher in the National Queens Tournament, and a Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame inductee who once bowled under the lights of ESPN. Whitcher now channels her passion into the Peninsula girls bowling team, turning the Hi-Joy bowling alley in Port Orchard into a proving ground for newcomers ready to learn the sport from a true pro.

The Seahawks’ 11-member squad is largely made up of newbies this year. For Whitcher, the fresh crop of beginners presents the perfect challenge for her and assistant coach/husband, Rick.

“I’ll take any girl who wants to bowl and make her a bowler,” she said after the team won their first match of the season against Timberline Nov. 12. “Everybody can bowl, but not everybody can be a bowler.”

Teaching her players to respect the game is key to Whitcher’s coaching style. Her instruction is known to be both technical and patient. Beginners learn lane etiquette and how to read the arrows and dots that help direct their aim. But Whitcher, who is in her eighth year coaching bowling at PHS, doesn’t go overboard with jargon, recognizing that, for many, bowling is brand-new.

“Some girls will love the technical side, and some just want to have fun,” Whitcher said. “Either way, both are great, and both have a place on this team. I’m adamant that the girls learn to bowl correctly. I love it when we get someone who’s never bowled before. They have no bad habits, so we can teach them the right way.”

Whitcher, 67, is a retired postmaster from the Belfair Post Office and would rather spend the “icky” Pacific Northwest winters promoting bowling than sitting at home. She started playing more than 55 years ago and is a longtime advocate of the sport.

But Whitcher has seen the writing on the wall: Bowling alleys across the country are shutting down, the bowling equipment industry is in hard times, and interest in the sport is waning.