With WW1 in the midst of all of this, no real mention of collegiate bowling appeared until the 1940’s, when several tournaments were conducted in the Midwest and East coast. Between 1966-1967, the American Bowling Congress and Women’s International Bowling Congress had their own collegiate programs. Over the next 10 years, ABC and WIBC would merge their programs to form the ABC & WIBC Collegiate Division, appointing an individual to oversee the operations. Throughout the years, the College Bowling “industry” has grown immensely, with over 4100 student athletes, 220 college and university intercollegiate bowling teams compete in more than 180 certified tournaments each year, and nearly 100 colleges and universities across the country offer bowling scholarships.

As the number of women's collegiate programs exceeded the required 40 for National College Athletic Association (NCAA) championship sport status, the NCAA officially recognized women's bowling as a championship sport in the 2003-04 season. The NCAA originally granted women's bowling "emerging sport" status on Sept. 1, 1994 to help institutions provide greater opportunities for female student-athletes in athletics and to comply with Title IX guidelines and requirements for revenue distribution, minimum financial aid awards, minimum sports-sponsorship and player distribution numbers.

Picture credited by NCAA 2023 Women’s Championships

Jennifer Loredo from Fresno, CA