For most people, bowling can be a fun recreational activity enjoyed with friends on a weekend night. However, for MJ Sim, a senior bowler at Archbishop Molloy High School, Briarwood, it is a way of life.
Most local athletes start in sports at a young age with soccer, basketball, or baseball/softball. For Sim, though, he’s bowled since he was 3, and his talents on the lanes have taken him across the country.
Sim, 17, is Molloy’s varsity bowling team captain. He’s been on the co-ed varsity team since his freshman year, and in all three of his seasons, the Stanners captured CHSAA diocesan and city championships. Sim led the team in average, high game, and high series in all three years of the city championship tournament.
The Queens Village native also finished as the top bowler in the state his first two years — becoming the first freshman to ever accomplish the feat — and is looking to reclaim the title in his senior year.
Sim attended grammar school at St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Jamaica. He played some basketball in the Catholic Youth Organization, but he was all about bowling from a young age.
“My parents and my grandparents have a background in bowling,” Sim said. “Bowling has been in my family for over 45 years.”
It’s no wonder then why Sim has been a sensation for the Molloy team. As of late October, Sim has bowled 12 career perfect games with a score of 300. His first came on Sept. 10, 2024, as a sophomore in a non-school league, and two weeks later, he recorded his first Molloy 300 on Sept. 24.
In addition to continuing his stellar Molloy career, Sim will compete with Team USA bowling this upcoming January.
The sport has opened many development avenues, and he’s been capitalizing on them.
During a typical week, he practices with the Molloy team and on his own. School matches are every Tuesday, and weekends are reserved for tournaments across the East Coast.
“What I like most about the sport of bowling is that I’m able to make lots of connections,” Sim said. “I’m able to talk to a lot of new kids from all across the country — sometimes even across the world — and I’ve actually been able to meet some professionals.”
These connections led to Sim being selected as a junior to bowl for Storm Staff — a global leader in bowling innovation that primarily manufactures balls and shoes.
When most of us step up to the bowling alley, we’re likely thinking, “I hope I don’t roll a gutter ball!” But for Sim, his pre-roll routine is to focus on staying calm, cool, and collected.
“My thought process is just like practice,” he said. “I’ve been through the situation and been through many experiences, but I think the thing I’ve done the most is practice. I’ve practiced countless times. I’ve sacrificed a lot of things to go out and practice.”
The CHSAA bowling season is now in full swing. The diocesan tournament is set for January, with the city title match to follow soon after that. With Sim leading the charge, Molloy expects to be back in the mix as a team, while Sim is also gearing up for the individual state competition.
“When it comes to bowling, MJ knows his stuff, no doubt,” said second-year varsity head coach Jolene Ayroso, a 2020 Molloy graduate. “What makes him so special is his energy and his motivation.
“When someone’s bowling a bad game or someone’s head is down, no matter what, MJ is there to uplift them. Although that’s something a great leader and great captain should have, there’s something special about how MJ does it, where the kids feel like they can lean on him.”
High school bowling is unique in that as much as it’s a team sport, it’s based on individual performances. Teammates can support each other, but in the end, the student-athlete with the ball controls their own destiny. Sim has become a master at rising above the pressure.
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For now, the focus is on Molloy’s CHSAA season. Sim, though, plans to bowl in college and hopes his achievements land him a scholarship.
“The way MJ carries himself is so mature and so humble,” Ayroso said. “He just wants to help other people, even though he’s bowling for himself. He wants to see other people succeed.”
He’s evolved into a true leader, and he’s poised to keep his winning ways for the Stanners.
Wherever his bowling journey leads him, he’s ready to strike down the competition.