In The Huddle

by Jose Zavala of SPM

On a Wednesday evening at a Phoenix bowling alley, only one person could be seen hurling a ball down the lanes. That person was Shane Valleau.

The sophomore, who is entering his second year with ASU’s bowling club, was bowling consecutive strikes with what looked like relative ease. While his teammates were scheduled to join him for practice later, Valleau said he started to show up first for practices after picking up a tip from one of the seniors from last year’s squad, All-American Brian Makan.

“He told me that when he was a freshman he was always the first one there and the last one to leave,” Valleau said. “That’s how I always try to be.”

With the loss of all their senior starters from last year, Valleau and his teammates will need to keep a strong work ethic if they hope to make it to nationals again. They understand that they are in a rebuilding stage this year, especially since most of the returning members are only in their second year with the team.

Junior Jory Koizumi and senior Dori Jaffess are two of the returning female bowlers from last year’s team.

Like most of the team, Koizumi said that making it to the nationals was the most exciting part about last season.

“We got to the second elimination and we almost won,” Koizumi said. “We pretty much threw our hearts on the lane but we didn’t come through.”

Currently, there are four girls on the team and they are hoping to recruit one more so they can have their own women’s team.

“I’m looking forward to actually having a girls’ team because me and Jory have never had a chance to participate in that,” Jaffess said.

The team is coached by Jordan Nassberg. In previous years, Nassberg has had the honor of being named one of the top 100 coaches in the world by Bowlers Journal International. His assistant is pro bowler Michael Haugen, Jr.

Nassberg has had to work hard to keep taking the team to nationals, especially since he has not received support from the school and he has never had a top 100 recruit on the team.

“If the school supported us, we’d be a top three team every year, no matter what,” Nassberg said. “Without that, I’m still finding a way to take people that wouldn’t even be on the roster of the other 15 teams there. I’m using them as starters to get to nationals every year. That’s the greatest thrill for me.”

For information on how to join the team, contact Jordan Nassberg at 480-283-3131.