Karen Southern of Vicksburg, will try to roll her way to the Coca-Cola Youth Bowling Championships in Winter Haven, Fla. The 14-year-old will be among 200 bowlers from around the world competing for a share of $20,000 in scholarships. Below, Southern shows her bowling technique on Thursday at Red Carpet Lanes.(The Vicksburg Post/C. Todd Sherman)

[07/12/02]The room pulses with the flash of arcade lights as balls of rolling thunder slide down a hardwood runway before the splinter of pins cascades across the pit. There is a faint odor of disinfectant and bowling shoes that is inescapable.

Its not where you would imagine a 14-year-old girl to be spending her Saturdays.

But in the Red Carpet Lanes, coupled amongst the heavy men with cigars wedged in their mouths and beer on their scoreboards, is Karen Southern, Mississippi’s representative in the 2002 Coca-Cola Youth Bowling Championships.

The competition for the tournament will be a little different than the kind she finds in the comfortable confines of her hometown bowling alley. Held in Winter Haven, Fla., the Coca-Cola Championships lure more than 200 kids ages 12 and up from all over North America and Europe to compete.

“A lot of people are going to be there,” Karen Southern said. “I won’t know anybody and I won’t know what to do.

“…I know I’m not going to be one of the best bowlers, but I might be one of the good ones,” Karen Southern said. “But I’m sure so many people are a whole lot better then me.”

But not many.

“You figure there is only one winner for that one age group out of the whole state,” said Don Shehane, owner of the Red Carpet Lanes Pro Shop.

“And there are some towns that are much bigger bowling towns than we are. We have one 16 lane center.

“…The fact that we put one in there, that actually won her division, that’s really, really good.”

The average score in Karen’s bowling division is between 84 and 147. Karen’s score, on average, is a 135. Though, a score of 200 is not out of the question, it is a mark she has reached at Red Carpet Lanes more than once.

Difficult to believe from a girl that still holds a retainer around her shy smile and who speaks slightly above a whisper as her bowling ball hits the pins with the force to split a shinbone.

Shy, maybe. Good bowler, without a doubt.

Karen Southern is a Vicksburg native and a soon-to-be freshman student at Southern Christian School, a private school on Fisher Ferry Road .

“We don’t have a bowling team. I’m the only one that bowls at my school. We don’t have any kind of sports in our school. I do it here,” Karen Southern said, indicating the polished lanes at Red Carpet Lanes. “We have a league here at the bowling alley.”

Karen Southern’s mother, Lisa, said this week will be a learning experience for everyone.

“We really don’t know what we’re getting into,” Lisa Southern said. “Because on the rules it says that (the kids) are only allowed to bowl with four bowling balls. And Karen bowls with a hand-me-down ball from her grandmother, who got it from someone else.

“So, its going to be an experience, because I think there are some big bowlers down there. Karen just lucked up I guess.”

Luck may be in the genes. A Southern tradition, if you will.

“Its something my momma has always done since I was little,” Lisa Southern said.

“She’s always been on a women’s league. Mom and Dad would bowl in leagues together. It’s something I grew up around but I never got into.”

It might have skipped Lisa Southern’s generation, but the other Southern ladies are quite familiar with the lanes and were instrumental in introducing the sport to Karen.

“Her older sister bowled for quite a while,” Shehane said. “Her grandmother bowls quite a bit and we actually had to pester (Karen) for a while to talk her into bowling.”

Terry Southern, Karen’s older sister, was Miss Mississippi in the Young American Bowling Alliance three years ago and is now Karen’s ride to the bowling alley on Saturdays.

“I’m using my sister’s shoes now,” Karen Southern said. “But when I’m in the league I use the bowling alley shoes. I want my own pair, but I haven’t got them yet.”

With so many distractions and new obstacles to overcome, it would seem the large tournament would rattle Karen like so many pins. But, like any athlete, she finds her zone.

“Just practice and go out there and just be confident. And even if I bowl not very good, I did good. I think I did good.” she said.

“But some people when they don’t bowl their average they get like really mad and they say they’re never going to bowl again. But I don’t do that. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Lisa Southern adds, “She goes out and has fun when she bowls. She just happens to be real good.”

Just the best in the state for her age, regardless of whether her friends think that what she is doing is merely a pseudo sport.

“They don’t consider bowling a sport. They just think its something I do for fun,” she said. “Mostly I do it for fun, though.”

Karen Southern will be bowling for a share of $20,000 in scholarship money. For winning the state tournament, she received almost $500 and a fund has been set up for her scholarship winnings.

And what will she do if she wins the scholarship money?

“I will be really happy,’ she said. “I’ll probably scream and jump up and down.”