Lakeland University will begin offering men's and women's bowling programs in the fall of 2020, Lakeland Director of Athletics April Arvan has announced.

Women's bowling will be added as a varsity sport, as it is currently sanctioned by the NCAA. Men's bowling is not an NCAA sport at this time, and thus will be offered as a club sport at the beginning.

"We're excited to expand our sport offerings for both men and women," said Arvan. "Bowling is a growing sport at the collegiate level, and we're happy to provide more opportunities for student-athletes to participate in the sport."

As of Sept. 2019, a total of 87 NCAA schools sponsored women's bowling, including 19 at the Division III level. Lakeland will become the third NCAA member institution in Wisconsin to offer the sport, joining the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Marian University. UW-Whitewater fielded its first intercollegiate team in 2001 while Marian's program is currently in its first year.

Lakeland has begun the process of finding a conference home to compete in for both teams. The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference is the home for 17 Muskies sports but does not sponsor bowling.

The collegiate bowling season runs in the winter season from late October through March, with the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship held in April. NCAA Divisions I, II and III all compete together for one national championship, which was won by Stephen F. Austin University last year. The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in 2019 became the first Division III conference to qualify for an automatic bid to the national championship.

A national search for a head coach to lead both programs will begin immediately.