July 24, 2025
South Lake High Senior Dale Hull Rises Among Nation’s Elite High School Bowlers
By Kyle Coppola
South Lake High Senior Dale Hull Rises Among Nation’s Elite High School Bowlers
For most high school seniors, summer means a break from school and sports. For Dale Hull, it meant a trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he proved he’s among the best youth bowlers in the nation.
Dale, a senior at South Lake High School in Groveland, recently finished 52nd overall out of nearly 1,400 competitors at the 2025 Junior Gold Championships, the nation’s premier tournament for high school bowlers. The strong finish is the latest milestone in a fast-rising career that began just four years ago.
“I started bowling when I was 14, just for fun,” Dale says. “Then I bought my own ball and fell in love with it. Now, I train every single day, no exceptions, for at least an hour and a half.”
(Dale is one of the top high school bowlers in the country right now.)
That dedication has paid off. Dale has a current average of 236, has five perfect 300 games under his belt and holds a personal-best series score of 835. In Lake County he’s bowled a 772 three-game series, one of the highest in the area’s history.
His performance on the lanes has earned him attention well beyond Florida. Dale is now ranked among the top high school bowlers in the country, drawing interest and offers from collegiate programs nationwide.
“It means a lot to me,” Dale says of the ranking. “I know my hard work has paid off, but there’s still plenty more I want to achieve.”
While his future plans aren’t set in stone, Dale says he’s “50/50” on bowling in college but he definitely wants to become a professional bowler. He draws inspiration from two of the game’s biggest names, 15-time PBA major champion Jason Belmonte and Michigan native Tom Smallwood.
“I try to model my style after Belmonte, because he’s definitely my role model,” he says. “But I’d also love to bowl with Tom Smallwood. He’s my favorite.”
Dale’s competitive mindset is as disciplined as his training. To handle high-stakes tournaments, he relies on music and routine to stay locked in.
“Pressure is just a mindset,” he says. “I just get into the zone before competition.”
(Dale bowled a 772 last season, the highest in Lake County history as a high school athlete.)
On the lanes, Dale favors one of his favorite bowling balls called the Scorpion Low Flare for typical “house shot” oil patterns, switching to his trusted Purple Hammer for more difficult conditions.
Outside of bowling, Dale stays active in the gym and enjoys fishing. A surprising fact? He can dunk a basketball and enjoys the sport nearly as much as he enjoys striking pins.
Dale’s family roots in Lake County also span over 100 years. He’s quickly become a local standout and source of pride for South Lake High School. Bowling has really taken off at the high school level and is as competitive as it’s ever been. Dale knows the competition will be eying him this year, but he’s as cool as they come under pressure.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, but I know I can do more,” Dale says. “This is just the beginning.”
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
