Perfection. Perfection is a state or condition of being void of all flaws or errors. Perfection is Amelia Droste.
Amelia Droste is currently in her final season as a senior for the Hempfield Area Bowling Team. As a dedicated member of the team all four years of high school, Droste has a legacy to look back on with pride and greatness, looking forward to this final season. However, like all good bowlers, Droste built her achievements and skills from the ground up.
Droste started bowling when she was 8 years old. It was a bowling flyer that advertised for a Saturday morning league that inspired her to start bowling. Little did young Amelia know, she would become involved and committed to the sport for years to come. But, Droste didn’t just stop at her local bowling league, she took her passion to the next level when local scholarship tournaments came knocking on her door. As she got older, the local tournaments expanded to ones across multiple states.
After advancing to the high school level, Droste discovered that she was no longer bowling for just herself, but for her team. Later on, this aspect would become useful as she prepares to join her future college teammates. She described that bowling individually requires a much different mindset opposed to bowling for a team, and through bowling, Droste’s learned the right way of thinking in both situations. However, high school bowling didn’t just offer Droste valuable lessons; it also offered outstanding accomplishments. Last season, Droste took home the Pennsylvania girls state titles for both her team and individually. She credited her and the team’s success to a great deal of practice, and individually Droste worked on her physical game.
Now, as a future collegiate bowler, improving her mental game reached the top of Droste’s to-do list. She describes, “At first I struggled mentally when I wasn’t competing to the best of my abilities, which really held me back during competitions. As I learned to focus on the present rather than my past mistakes, I was able to improve my performance during tournaments by not letting my mistakes get to me and reminding myself perfection is unattainable.”
When committing to her future college, North Carolina A&T State University, the thing that made the school stand out from other colleges recruiting her was the communication from coaches. According to Droste, the coaches were quite welcoming and personable, which put Droste’s nerves over such a far school to rest. In the end, being introduced and interacting with the other girls on the team provided the final realization that Droste needed to finalize her decision. She quotes, “The girls had the same work ethic and competitive drive as me…they were all very welcoming and inclusive even though I had no prior interaction with them. My coaches, Kim and Eric, and my upcoming teammate, Jasmine, showed me around the campus and inside of the dorms. It made the campus feel like my new home.” This all further motivates Droste to help her teammates win more titles for the team, but off the lanes, Droste hopes to earn a degree in either engineering or a major in the medical field.
With her final high school season about to be underway, Droste has much going for her. However, after years of writing her own story to success, she wants to encourage younger bowlers, who want to bowl in college, to make connections and write their own. Droste suggests that, “Creating a resume that summarizes your accomplishments and what makes you stand out can be really beneficial when you want a college to notice you and show what you can offer for them. Sending videos and clips of your performances to college coaches is also helpful when trying to become recognized.”
Whether it’s on or off the lanes, one thing is clear: Amelia Droste craves excellence from not only herself, but for those around her. In her final season as a Spartan bowler, that same drive for excellence holds true as Droste and the Hempfield Area Bowling Team team prepare for another winning season.
