Who said that La Rochelle only shines sportingly in rugby and basketball? This year, the French senior + (from 54 years old) women’s bowling championships were held from June 13 to 16 in Châlons-en-Champagne and the La Rochelle club New Wave Bowling (NWB, the new wave of bowling, Editor’s note) distinguished himself very well in the over 64 category.
Cathy Roux and Isabelle Charbides, two licensees of the club based in Minimes, won in “doublets” for the second time in a row after their title won last year in the same category. Cathy Roux even achieved a double victory by winning the title of French champion over 64 years old individually, the third of her career after 2016 and 2019. “It’s especially my grandchildren who are super proud,” reacted the French champion, all smiles.
To win, La Rochelaise showed tenacity, knocking down an average of 183 pins in the six games played for the final. “I’m gutted. Over the three days of competition, I spent more than fourteen hours on the slopes and did hundreds of frames (another name for throwing, Editor’s note). Bowling requires physical, mental and technical skills. It’s a real sport,” she explains.
“With 214 members including 78 women, we have one of the most important clubs in France”
For Cathy Roux, bowling became a passion in 1987, when she and her husband began running the brand new Minimes bowling alley: “I became interested in the sport to find out what I was going to work in,” she explains. A year later, the New Wave Bowling club (which took this name a few years ago) was born and allowed Cathy Roux to become a member of the French Bowling and Quilles Sports Federation (FFBSQ).
At the World Cup in Vegas
Since 1988, the Rochelaise has come a long way, winning three French championship titles – as has been said – but also “three or four European championships”. She also recalls her participation in the 2019 World Cup in Las Vegas.
Jacqueline Coraux, the president of the club, is jubilant: “I am very happy because thanks to Cathy [Roux] and Isabelle [Charbides]the club is valued, put forward. Especially since with 214 members including 78 women, we have one of the most important clubs in France. La Rochelle is not just rugby,” she jokes.
Despite everything, the president concedes that bowling is not as considered as other sports in France. According to her, this is explained because “it is an expensive sport and too often relegated to the level of leisure”. However, Cathy Roux and Jacqueline Coraux do not give up and repeat: “as long as there are frames, there is hope”.
The rules
A match is played in several “lines” (or games). A line is made up of at least ten “frames”, that is to say ten throws that can go up to 12 if the player knocks down all the pins from the first throw to the tenth throw. This is the famous “strike”. To win, you have to knock down the most pins over all the games played.
