With 19 national titles, the Wichita State bowling program is one of the best in the country. Coach Gordon Vadakin has been with the program since it began in 1975, and took over in 1977. He has not looked back since building it into a national powerhouse.

The NCAA began its bowling section in 1995, and currently has around 65 women teams. According to Vakadin, the NCAA does not sanction men’s bowling, which is why Shocker bowling holds titles from USBC, and not the NCAA.

The U.S. Olympic Committee sanctions the governing body for the sport of bowling the USBC. The organization sanctions all bowling tournaments and individual bowlers across the United States and Canada, representing more than 2 million bowlers.

One of the upcoming events sponsored by the USBC is the 2013 USBC Women’s Bowling Tournament held in Wichita. The three-month event will bring millions of dollars in revenue to Wichita hotels, restaurants and shops.

Each year, the Shocker Bowling Program produces an economic report stating how much revenue the bowling program generated in an academic year. Shocker Bowling brought in a combined $6,449,903 to Wichita State University and the City Of Wichita for the 2012-2013 academic year.

About $1.24 million was generated in tuition and fees alone. With 20 states and 7 foreign countries representing the bowling program, more then 60 percent of the Shocker Bowling student- athletes were out of state residents. They paid an average of $11,490 each for the school year. The in-state student athlete paid the average of $5,725.45.

Shocker Bowling generated $3,556,242 in advertisements for Wichita State. This includes magazine and or newspaper articles, PBA telecasts and other various media coverage of the program and its current and past members and coaches.

The amount of money Shocker Bowling generated is comparable to most NCAA sports on campus.

The men’s team won three national championship titles in a row from 2008-2010. In 2009, both the men and women teams won national USBC titles. The men finished in second place in 2012, and Coach Vadakin said he thinks this year’s team is poised to make a deep run for a championship at Nationals.

“We have a 40 year history at a high level,” he said.

The Shocker team has produced 40 Olympic bowlers, and five current Shockers are on the PBA tour.

“This is the program where you come to learn elite level skills, (and) mental game skills… this program has a rich history of learning if you want to bowl on the pro tour or make your country Olympic team those are the players we have been fortunate to attract here,” Vadakin said.

Bowling teammate Melissa Sobolik said the bowling team’s dynamic and success was what drew her to WSU.

“I went to a couple of games. I had seen the chemistry and how the team interacted. I wanted to be a part of that. I did not want to watch the Wichita State Bowling team winning a championship while I was bowling somewhere else,” Sobolik said.

Even with 40 years of building a program Vadakin’s love and passion for the game and his players has not waned.

“When they (the bowlers) break through on something, when that light bulb goes off and they start to see that they can be the player they want to be, that fires (assistant coach Mark Lewis) and I up,” Vadakin said.