Wii bowling tourney a hot ticket for seniors in Kent

Willy Metzker quickly discovered what he likes best about Nintendo Wii bowling.

“You don’t need bowling shoes, balls or a bag,” Metzker, 69, said during a break Wednesday at a South King County Wii bowling tournament at the Kent Senior Activity Center. “It’s all self-contained. It’s terrific.”

Ninety-six players from 24 teams competed in the second annual tournament following 12 weeks of regular-season play. The teams represented 10 senior centers from Burien to Bonney Lake.

The bowlers swung a small, white remote control at a television screen rather than rolling real balls at pins. The game keeps getting more and more popular: just 16 teams competed in the first tournament, which took place last year at a Tukwila casino.

“It’s exactly like you’re bowling,” said Metzker, of Des Moines, and a member of one of the three participating Kent teams. “If you move your hand, the ball will react the same way. You need loft for a straight ball. They designed it well.”

Cindy VandenBerg, a program coordinator at the Kent Senior Center who helped start the Wii bowling league in 2008, never expected the game to be so popular.

“We just hoped to have a few come,” VandenBerg said of the first weekly session 18 months ago.

Now there’s even a traveling league. Kent won the South Division in home and away showdowns once a week against senior centers in Bonney Lake, Auburn and Enumclaw.

Teams from throughout South King County showed up for Wednesday’s tourney. Six television screens were set up to handle the large turnout.

“It’s just great for seniors,” said Margaret Gray, 80, a member of the SeaTac team, after she knocked down two pins to pick up a spare. “And it’s good exercise. You don’t sit long. You’re always up and down.”

Gray then got up from her chair to bowl again. She eyed the screen, held the remote high, took a couple of steps and swung the device, similar to actually rolling a bowling ball.

“It’s good, friendly fun,” Gray said. “It’s a good thing to do in your spare time.”

Wii uses a sensor placed above or below the television screen to detect motion and transfer a player’s movements to an on-screen character. Bowlers can then watch the screen as the ball rolls toward the pins.

“Bowling is bowling,” VandenBerg said of the popularity of the game. “Wii is set up to use the same motion. It brings back memories for a lot of people.”

The weekly sessions from 1-3 p.m. on Monday and Friday at the Kent Senior Center can get pretty boisterous.

“It gets so loud in here that sometimes our receptionist can’t hear on the phone,” VandenBerg said.

The bowling league turned into a great escape for Metzker, who joined the league last December. He has been in town for about seven months for treatment of bladder cancer that struck him 10 years ago. He has a daughter in Des Moines, but his home is on the Cook Islands.

“I enjoy coming to Kent for the positive atmosphere,” Metzker said. “It helps a lot.”

The Kent Senior Center purchased a second Wii program because the bowling became so popular. People were waiting too long to bowl with only one system. As many as 10 to 20 people show up for the weekly sessions.

“It’s supposed to end at 3 (p.m.), but sometimes they’re not out of here until 4 or 4:15,” VandenBerg said.

Real bowling pins, painted in gold, silver and bronze were given Wednesday as awards to the top three teams in the regular season and the top three teams at the tournament.

Seniors on Strike Again of Auburn won the gold at the tournament followed by Wiisels Too of SeaTac and Wii Are Rolling of Kent.

Earlier this year, Kent and the other senior centers in the league even received an award from the Washington Recreation and Park Association for the best new program.

For more information on Wii bowling at the Kent Senior Center, go to www.ci.kent.wa.us/senioractivitycenter or call 253-856-5150.