Lawrence High had an athletics tryout Wednesday that involved no stretching, running or passing. There were no whistles, no timeouts or even a clock — and certainly no physical contact.

Bowling season has arrived. Sort of.

This is the first year bowling has been a sanctioned sport in the Kansas High School Activities Assn. While other winter sports opened their seasons the first week in December, bowlers are still waiting. Schools were allowed to have tryouts this week, but official practices and meets won’t start until after winter break.

“It’s going to be a very long wait,” said South ninth-grader Jessica Wyatt, who owns a 148 average and had a high score of 196 during a three-day tryout that ended Wednesday at Royal Crest Lanes. “I’m ready for it.”

The Lawrence School District normally doesn’t allow freshmen to compete for high school teams. The exception, however, is for sports that are not offered at the junior-high level. That means Wyatt and West’s Tiffany Demaline likely will be bowling for LHS this winter.

Those two ninth-graders — and the other 11 girls who tried out — won’t know for sure who made the varsity team until Jan. 4 after first-semester grades are posted.

High school teams have six bowlers, and the top four scores count in a team’s total. LHS will field a varsity and junior varsity squad, so the Lions won’t have to make roster cuts on the girls side. Sixteen hopefuls tried out for the boys team.

Some of the top prospects for the LHS boys include seniors David Wyatt, Matt Wingert, Tyler Demaline and Brad Russell.

“We’re all right there at the top,” said Russell, who carries a 174 average and had a high score of 202 during tryouts. “It’s pretty even.”

Lawrence High bowling hopeful Skyler Workman takes part in tryouts for the new LHS bowling team. The sophomore auditioned Wednesday at Royal Crest Lanes, but he won't know if he made the team until next month.

Russell wasn’t worried about the fact the roster won’t be posted until next month.

“I have A’s in all my classes but one, so I’m not worried about eligibility,” he said. “I’m not worried about any of the other guys, either.”

Royal Crest Lanes office manager Randy Altman, the state director of the Young American Bowling Alliance, helped bowling become an official KSHSAA sport. Wichita schools have offered the sport for several years, while several Kansas City and Olathe schools came on board last year. With the KSHSAA adopting the sport this year, the number surged to 28 schools, including Lawrence, Free State and Oskaloosa. Altman expects the number to climb next year, with other schools — including Topeka and Manhattan — joining the mix.

“The biggest thing is it legitimizes the sport,” Altman said of KSHSAA’s recognizing bowling. “It’s a lifetime sport that anybody can compete in.

That fact might be one reason some sports fans don’t consider bowling a sport: Anybody can do it.

Wyatt said she hoped adding bowling to high school sports would help change that mind-set.

“I think it will make people realize it’s just like any sport,” she said. “People think it’s easy, but it’s a lot of work. It’s harder than it looks.”

The Lions will open their first season Jan. 20 at Olathe Northwest. LHS will be coached by Greg Farley, who missed Wednesday’s tryout because of an illness.

Free State coach Chuck Tracy could have some tough decisions to make when the Firebirds have their tryouts Jan. 4-6. Altman said a higher percentage of the city’s youth bowlers attend Free State and that the Firebirds “will be loaded.”

Tracy said he had 46 boys and 16 girls signed up for tryouts. The Firebirds open the season Jan. 11 at Royal Crest Lanes against Olathe South.