From Gymnast to Bowler, McCall Excelling at Tulane

Tulane bowling sophomore Madison McCall has only bowled for four years and earned All-America honors as a true freshman last year. Her first love, however, was gymnastics.

She competed as a gymnast for 12 years before picking up bowling at age 15. She did both sports for a couple years but exchanged gym mats for bowling lanes when she realized her height was atypical for a gymnast.

"I didn't really fit the mold of a college gymnast," McCall said. "Most of them are really small and I'm just very tall. I got to a point where I couldn't really expand my skills. When bowling came along and I saw that I could grow in it and have the opportunity to go to college, I jumped on it."

Growing up in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, McCall would hang around the family entertainment center owned and operated by her parents. She decided to try her hand at bowling after seeing how fun it looked and how the sport had grown.

Soon her natural skills and athleticism caught the eyes of local professional bowlers who pointed out how good she could become with proper training. They gave her some equipment, and she followed and learned from what the pros did. She began traveling to local and regional tournaments where after a few months she started to find success with wins and tournament titles.

"When I started competing, I was just very average," McCall said. "I just went in with the mentality of having fun because I was so new to this. I would say it took me a season to get my feet wet and say, OK I can actually compete and do well. It gave me a lot of confidence when it came to recruiting situations and big tournaments like Junior Gold."

While gymnastics and bowling skills may not directly correlate, McCall sees at least some advantage to her gym background while on the lanes.

"Being a gymnast, I have good body awareness and know where my body is in space. I think that's really helped develop me as a bowler now," McCall said. "I built my bowling game differently than a normal person would have because I have that athletic background. I think it definitely helped me get to where I am today and in such a short period of time."

Everything about Tulane – the city, academics, athletics, coaches and teammates – influenced McCall's decision to join the Green Wave. She credits the coaches for helping her become an Honorable Mention All-American as a freshman. She adapted to bowling on a team for the first time and relishes the support her teammates provide, especially in key moments of a match.

Before the end of her four years at Tulane, McCall hopes to help the Green Wave reach the national championship tournament and to advance that goal by continuing to compete at the All-America level.

"The coaches helped me develop into the player I am today, and both of them influenced me and helped my game out so much more," McCall said. "I think everybody thrives when it comes to having teammates behind you and having your coaches' support behind you. It opened my eyes. I think it also contributed to my success to have such motivational teammates behind me."

From Gymnast to Bowler, McCall Excelling at Tulane

Players Mentioned

Madison McCall

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