The sound of bowling pins being knocked down could still have been heard at Village Bowl until March 25. That changed when it announced the postponement of its bowling leagues on Facebook due to COVID-19.
Village Bowl did not offer comments when reached out by The Daily Republic.
It posted on Facebook, “Remainder of league seasons are put on hold as each league can decide how they would like to finish.” End-of-season awards will still be awarded.
“I was kind of disappointed. It takes another part of my normal life away,” said Bill Nebelsick, who bowls every Monday in the Universal league.
Village Bowl had already canceled its youth leagues on March 20. The South Dakota USBC announced the cancelations of the 2020 Open, as well as the women’s and youth state tournaments. The women’s state tournament was scheduled to be played in Mitchell.
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During its closure, Village Bowl will undergo a “deep cleaning,” according to signs posted on its doors. Meanwhile, Nebelsick said his 14-team league hasn’t discussed how or when it plans to conclude its season.
Nebelsick continued to bowl every Monday, including on the Universal league’s final day on March 23 when 11 of the 14 teams showed up. He cited two of the absences were due to teams social distancing, as they were told they’d be able to make up their games at a later date.
“It was really nice. It’s nice to go out and do that to socialize,” Nebelsick said before the postponement. “… It’s nice to have some normalcy with all the (stuff) that’s going on.”
According to Nebelsick, the bowlers started to bump elbows instead of shaking hands after good shots. He didn’t notice any other differences in how the league ran, though.
“Nothing that I know of. I can’t name anything specifically,” Nebelsick said on March 24. “It’s not like they’re wiping anything down or anything.”
