Meet the Colorado Blind Bowling Association, the Saturday league that has rolled for 50 years

Marlene Kaiser and Veronica Rodriguez have bowled together pretty much every weekend since the 1970s. It was just three of them when they started playing all those years ago. They had no idea they were starting something that would last for decades.

“Did we do it because we were bored in the winter? Why did we do it?” Kaiser asked Rodriguez when she had a break between frames.

“I don’t know,” Rodriguez replied, laughing.

Fifty years later, they’re still bowling together, and they’ve made some new friends. Over time, their weekly meetup blossomed into the Colorado Blind Bowling Association, a group of about 35 members who roll balls every Saturday at Federal Boulevard’s Crown Lanes. Teams include players ranging from fully sighted to fully blind; blind players use rails to navigate to their lanes, then sighted players call out numbers to fill in their teammates on which pins remain, or whether they shot too far to one side, to help them get positioned for their next throw.

In pursuing the sport, Kaiser and Rodriguez have created space for fun, competition and community that’s become extremely important for those involved. Nobody is bored.

“I don’t let Mr. Boredom in,” Rodriguez said, flashing a grin behind her wide sunglasses.