Jordan Macik’s voice was starting to fade away toward the conclusion of the Division I Southwest District bowling tournament last week at Beaver-Vu Lanes.
There was a time when Macik may not have been able to hear his own cheers.
Macik said he has had hearing issues from an early age and has had tubes in his ears “all my life.”
“I was always the loud kid,” he said, noting when asked to quiet down, he would say, “I thought I was.”
But in January 2019, Macik told his mom “I don’t think I can hear.”
A trip to a doctor affirmed Macik’s fears. He had severe hearing loss in both ears and was fitted for hearing aids.
“Everything was muffled,” he said.
Aside from being able to hear better, Macik also discovered the repaired hearing issue helped his bowling.
Macik just started bowling last year.
“I didn’t even have a ball,” Macik admitted.
He added, “I wasn’t very good.”
After a summer of bowling with classmates Grant Pickard and Elijah Martini — along with better balance — Macik’s average improved from 135 last year to a high of 184 this season.
Despite being one of three seniors on the team, Macik has bowled just one team game during sectional and district competition.
Going in to last week’s district, and Wilmington’s bid to become the first team in Clinton County history to make the state bowling tournament, Macik was OK taking a seat and being a cheerleader.
“I knew he (coach Dustin Brown) would end up with him (Isaac Martini),” Macik said. “I told coach “Isaac’s look was better. The whole week, we practiced on the (district) pattern and my look was off from the get(-go).”
Macik said a similar situation occurred during football when he started the first five games along the defensive line then turned over those duties to “a sophomore who is a stud.”
A well-adjusted senior stepped aside for the good of the team.
“It’s not going to hurt my feelings,” said Macik. “Some people might be bitter and pout. It’s not going to help being bitter. If I’m not good enough, I have to find a way to hopefully get better and start.
“(Last week) I decided to cheer and get everybody up. I didn’t really care how we got to state.”
