Alley-Lujahs! Young adult bowling league rolls a strike for faith, fun and friendship

The smiles and the flamingo-designed bowling shirts that connect teammates Emily Mastronicola, left, Jeffrey Brown, Rachel Gilman, Kyle Ginty and Mike O’Connell are striking examples of the fun and joy that marked the IndyCatholic’s young adult bowling league this fall. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

No matter how you frame it, the one thing that strikes you first about IndyCatholic’s bowling league is the joy that the young adults get from being part of it—a joy that is reflected in many of the fun names they have chosen for their teams:

• Spare Us, O Lord
• Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter
• Split Happens
• We’ve Been Framed
• The Rolly Sacraments
• Who You Calling Pinhead?
• Bowling in the Deep
• Living on a Spare
• Ten Pin Commandments
• Alley-Lujahs

The list goes on, as does the fun of sharing an evening of friendship and bowling among 30 teams—involving 179 young adults—at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.

“I’m not a great bowler, but I’m here meeting new people,” said Nick Susemichel, a 23-year-old graduate of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis who earned his master’s degree in civil engineering from Purdue University last spring.

“I definitely like the fact that we all have something in common with our Catholic faith. It’s important to me to be with people who have the same values as me. And it’s really neat to build on that with all the different personalities that are around here. It’s just a lot of great people. Everyone has their own story.”

One of the best stories from the league is the friendship that has developed between Thomas Robbins and Andrew Moster—and where it’s about to take Robbins.

‘I never wanted to leap forward like this’

Even though he isn’t Catholic, Robbins joined the IndyCatholic bowling league eight years ago, seeing it as a way to meet new people and make friends. (For more information on IndyCatholic, visit IndyCatholic.org.)

He found great ones in Moster and Moster’s wife, Natalie—a friendship that evolved as Robbins and Moster played on different teams, competed fiercely against each other, and then decided to team up together. The fact that they both enjoy doing karaoke sealed the friendship.

As Robbins grew closer to Andrew and Natalie, he found himself “wanting to know more about the Catholic faith.” And with that faith being important in their lives and their marriage, Andrew and Natalie wanted to be there for Robbins as he began his journey to move closer to God.

The couple suggested the idea to him about taking part in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), toward being received into the full communion of the Church at Easter in 2025.

“I went over to Andrew’s and Natalie’s one night for a beer, just to hang out,” Robbins recalled as the sound of pins crashed in the background. “They asked me how I felt about [faith]. I had dabbled in it before, wanting to understand the Catholic faith. But I never wanted to leap forward like this and jump in with both feet.”

Robbins made the leap, but only after he made sure that Andrew—his teammate on Spare Us, O Lord—was along for the jump.

“It’s been nice that Andrew wanted to be that sponsor for me and learn the faith a little bit stronger for himself. He knows me really well. He knows that I needed that kind of support to do that and get through it.”

Robbins also benefitted from hearing the perspective of Father Rick Nagel, the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, where Robbins is taking OCIA classes.

“One thing that Father said on our first week was that different things lead people to God and church. He said, ‘In some cases, it’s love,’ ” recalled Robbins, who is 34. “And that’s what this is. I love Andrew and Natalie. They’re my closest friends of all time.

“I do believe in God, and I believe that Jesus is king. This whole thing is me trying to go along on my journey and trying to find God. And one of the main reasons I chose this community is because the entire time I’ve been here, everyone has been so welcoming. Everybody has been easy to talk to, supportive and friendly. Because of that, I felt going forward was the right thing to do.”

As Robbins excused himself to take his turn on the lane, Moster stepped into the conversation, sharing what it means to him to accompany his friend on this journey.

“I love it,” said Moster, who is 37 and a member of St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese. “It’s a great opportunity to grow in the faith for him. My wife and I are big Catholics. It’s exciting to see him grow and become Catholic himself. And being born and raised Catholic, it’s good for me to have the opportunity to learn more about the Catholic faith too.”

‘I met some of my best friends in this’

The sound of bowling balls crashing into pins echoed through the alley as Ellyn Comer talked about the impact that IndyCatholic and its bowling league has had on her since she began playing three years ago.

“I just like meeting new people,” said Comer, a team member of We’ve Been Framed. “I met some of my best friends in this group in 2021. We’ve gone through people getting married and babies being born. It’s just good to meet young adults from different parishes.”

She especially appreciates how the friendships have influenced her faith.

“When I first joined bowling three years ago, the team pushed me in my faith,” said Comer, who is 30 and a member of St. Malachy Parish in Brownsburg. “I had never been to adoration before.

“There are so many young adults here that you get so many different perspectives on life. We all have the same Catholic belief, but we’re at different stages of our faith. When I first met some people, they intimidated me, but now they’re the people I look up to. They’re so nice, and they’ve taught me so much. I try to pass that along now to the new people on my team. It’s my turn.”

Comer looked around the bowling alley filled with young adults who have found a home in IndyCatholic, part of the effort of the archdiocese’s young adult and college campus ministry.

“It’s also a good way for people who are new to Indianapolis to meet young adult Catholics,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s hard in a parish. If there’s not a young adult community in your parish, this is a good outlet.”

Sophia Agostino has embraced that outlet. Originally from the northern Indiana community of South Bend, Agostino graduated in 2023 from Butler University in Indianapolis, where she earned a master’s degree in accounting.

“I stayed here locally after I graduated,” she said. “I’ve been part of IndyCatholic since this summer. I love meeting new people and getting to talk with them. I like the commonality of being Catholic and getting to meet other people who have the same values as me. It’s been really awesome.”

The bowling league also provided another purpose for her.

“It pushes me outside my comfort zone because I’m very much an introvert,” she said. “It really pushes me to meet people. I like the camaraderie.”

‘The ultimate hope’

The six weeks of the bowling league ended on Nov. 19, but its coordinator sees its impact as staying powerful in terms of friendship and faith.

“The intramurals are just a launching pad for community,” said Emily Mastronicola, who coordinates events and volunteers for the archdiocese’s young adult and college campus ministry. “That’s something I really stressed in the team captains’ guide this year. We always ask the questions, ‘What was your first experience of community? Who was the first person you met? Who was the first person who remembered your name?’

“We wanted the captains to remember that moment of feeling what it means to be known, to be accepted and be remembered. When they’re in that hospitable mindset, they’re able to create an environment for the new people on their team. ... They are intentional in welcoming them home into their team, their parish and into the Church.”

She saw the blessings of that approach in one of the teams that first came together in the intramural volleyball league in the spring.

“They went on to create their own Bible study over the summer, and then they came back to the bowling league as a team,” Mastronicola said. “That shows the power of what you can do with six people on your team. It doesn’t have to stop when the season ends. It can keep going. ‘Hey, let’s get a beer on a Friday night,’ or ‘Hey, we should have a team dinner’ or ‘Hey, how can I pray for you this Advent season?’ ”

The hope is that the relationships that are built on the team can lead eventually to a deeper relationship with Christ.

“Christ ultimately desires to have a relationship with us,” she said. “I think sometimes it takes maybe an advocate like the Holy Spirit or someone who is a living model of a relationship with Christ to set that example for us.”

Her face beams as she thinks back on the joy and the fun of the season—and her hope for everyone who shared in that joy and fun.

“The ultimate hope is that they know there is a place for them on Tuesday nights in a bowling league, but there’s also a place for them in a pew on Sunday and ultimately a place for them at the eucharistic feast in heaven.”
 

(For more information on IndyCatholic, visit IndyCatholic.org.) †