Southern University Women’s Bowling is on a roll.
The team has won the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title for three seasons in a row. Head Coach Barry Doyle says winning subsequent titles has been “just as sweet as the first one.”
But this month, the Lady Jags are eyeing a bigger prize. The senior-led group is focused on a SWAC Women’s Bowling Tournament championship, a victory it hasn’t claimed since 2011.
The team heads to Arlington, Texas, March 21-23, to compete against conference rivals like Alabama State, which defeated Southern in the best-of-seven title match last season.
Team captain Jailyn Rogers, a senior herself, says the team is calling the championship tournament its “last ride.”
“Our goal is always the same: to win it all,” says Doyle, a lifelong bowler who’s been named the SWAC Bowling Coach of the Year three out of the four years he’s been head coach at Southern.
Typically seen as more of a hobby than a sport, there’s much more work and training that goes into bowling than meets the eye.
The Lady Jag bowlers train like any other Southern athlete to build up stamina. The team practices six days a week for two to three hours each session, focusing on core work, conditioning, running and lifting weights.
“Bowling isn’t slinging the ball down the lane and hoping that it strikes,” says Rogers, a First-team All-SWAC athlete who was recruited to Southern to bowl.
The Lady Jags practice hitting spares and strikes as many times as possible and performing drills, so the feeling comes naturally.
“It’s a lot of being able to repeat shots, which is the name of the game,” Doyle says.
Rogers adds, “Each tournament we go to has a different oil pattern on the lanes, and with that, you have to play it differently.”
With so much time together, the team has formed a tight-knit bond.
“These girls have become my sisters more than anybody,” Rogers says. “They’re like family.”
And with four out of the seven players being seniors, plus other seasoned athletes on the lineup, Doyle says the Lady Jags are feeling confident and focused heading into the championship tournament.
“The team is fired up, and they’re ready to go,” Doyle says.
The common goal is continuing to drive them, Rogers adds.
“Once we want it, we go get it. … We know that we have a strong team and a lot of talent,” she says. “We’re very diverse in how we play the lanes.” gojagsports.com
This article was originally published in the March 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.
