ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Bryce Hamilton loves bowling. And his reason for that passion is quite simple. 

“I just love throwing the ball, knocking the pins down,” he said.

Bryce knocks em down a lot. He posts a lot of great scores for Osceola High School. He’s one of hundreds of student-athletes who participate in the Pinellas County High School Bowling League. Once a week, they gather at a local bowling alley and try for that perfect game.

Bryce is somewhat of a newcomer to the sport and to the league. It’s an organization filled with so many positives. But Bryce’s dad, Greg, said there is one negative aspect to this league.

“The only thing that I regret is not finding this earlier for him,” Greg Hamilton said.

Like all parents, Greg just wants his son to be happy and to belong. That’s not easy when you’re on the autism spectrum like Bryce. Fitting in can be a struggle sometimes.

“As a parent, you’re always fighting for your kids when you have a special needs child,” he said. “Sports are something that he loves, but he’s never been able to find a team, a home, a sport to play because of the competitive nature.”

But then he found bowling and this league. And everything changed.

“It’s amazing what he studies now,” Greg said. “The friends he’s made socially. It has brought the best out in him. He’s just having the time of his life.”

That’s what this league does. It provides an outlet for some that don’t always fit in. It’s safe harbor where they just get to be themselves and compete.

“Everybody’s welcome so we open it up to everybody who wants to bowl, who cares about bowling and just wants to be a part of a team,” Osceola coach John Foss said.

It’s more than bowling. It’s inclusion, in ways some of these teenagers have never experienced.

“They’re talking to them on an equal level,” Foss said. “You don’t get that always in school, especially in a school setting. But here, they’re just another bowler.”

For bowlers like Bryce, they might not fully understand all that they are getting out of this league. Not in the moment. Maybe later on down the road. For now, bowling is just simply the best.

“It helps me improve,” Bryce said. “And I like it more than baseball. And I want to be an asset to my team.”