2021-22 NewsTribune Girls Bowler of the Year: La Salle-Peru’s Isabella Weber

When Isabella Weber compares herself as a bowler now to herself as a freshman, she sees a completely different bowler.

“Since my freshman year, my whole entire style of how I bowl has changed and my whole entire mental process has changed as a bowler,” the La Salle-Peru senior said. “Everything I do now is completely different.

“I’m super proud of how far I’ve come since my freshman year and how much I’ve changed overall.”

La Salle-Peru coach Jim McCabe said Weber’s ability to change and improve stems from constantly critiquing herself while also accepting coaching.

“I find her work ethic amazing,” said McCabe, who’s coached Weber since fifth grade. “She never looks at it and says, ‘This is as good as I can do.’ She’s always looking forward to how to make it better.

“She’s always had athletic talent. But having that drive to always be wanting to improve herself and the willingness to take direction and coaching is what made her become a special bowler with special talents. It got her to where she is today.”

As a senior, she was at the top.

Weber was the No. 1 bowler on one of the best teams in area histoy.

She had an area-best 195 average, won the Cavalier Classic, finished first in the Interstate Eight Conference standings and helped the Cavaliers to a sixth-place finish at the IHSA State Tournament.

For all her accomplishments, Weber is the 2021-22 NewsTribune Girls Bowler of the Year.

“Isabella had a great season,” McCabe said. “She came into the season with a really positive attitude ready to take on the challenge of being a senior leader. She set some lofty goals for herself. I think by doing that, she set herself up for success for the year.”

Weber came into the season with a positive attitude and big goals because of her years long transformation.

She credits competing in offseason tournaments for spurring the development of her mental game.

“I started getting into more competitive bowling and learned it’s more of a mental thing you have to have in order to win,” Weber said. “I started reading books and watching videos on mental game and built off of that.

“You just really have to stay focused. One bad shot is not going to ruin your entire game. It’s really about consistency of picking up spares, hitting your line, having good form and making sure you’re staying 100 percent positive.”

Weber said her mental game paid off after she struggled early in the Cavalier Classic.

“In the Cavalier Classic, I was crying after the second game,” Weber said. “I went to the bathroom, composed myself, came back with a positive mindset and just got back to it. I came back and won it.”

While she was improving her mental game, Weber also tweaked her bowling form and style.

“I used to have my arms up in the air and my timing was super off,” Weber said. “I worked on that for a couple years and it changed a lot after that. I have a five-step approach now instead of a four-step approach. I’m a little bit faster with my ball speed now.”

Weber led the Cavs with a 1,194 six-game series at the Minooka Regional then rolled an 1,196 to help L-P win its own sectional.

At state, she was second on the team with a 2,278 to help the Cavs place sixth.

Weber did more than help the Cavs by putting up big numbers.

McCabe credit’s Weber’s leadership – such as giving pep talks, keeping the team focused, picking up teammates who struggled – for helping L-P achieve unprecedented success.

“I think it played a huge part,” McCabe said. “The younger bowlers looked to her and said, ‘If Isabella is willing to make those sacrifices, we’re going to step up to the plate and do that as well.’ There were times she helped build that team camaraderie. The whole team, if one person was down, everyone stepped up to the plate.

“I think with her positive attitude and knowing where she wanted to go, the team picked up on that and followed.”