Alexis Pokipala knows a lot about commitment.

She flies in from Waimea on the Big Island to Honolulu each Sunday to attend Hawai'i Center for the Deaf and the Blind. On Fridays, she flies back home.

Her commitment to the bowling team has allowed her to raise her average from "65s, 50s" as a sophomore in 2005 — HCDB's first year competing in bowling — to 155 this year as a senior.

Pokipala is the team captain of HCDB's six-member girls bowling team. She said her best game is a 170.

"It's like a sisterhood," Pokipala said through HCDB interpreter James Lambrecht. "We really support each other because we're all deaf and we can all communicate. If we're having problems with bowling or getting overly excited or emotional, we can support each other and we can help each other a lot."

As for the numerous inter-island flights, she said: "It made me really paranoid because I had to get up and go to the airport and get on the plane and come to school and go back. But now that I'm used to it, it's not that big of a deal."

Huy Nguyen, a senior, is team captain of the six-member boys team. He said he averages 144.

"I've improved a lot since the ninth grade, and the coaches have really helped me improve," Nguyen said through Lambrecht.

Pokipala and Nguyen are the only current team members who were on the Dolphins inaugural bowling team in 2005.

The girls bowling coach is Steve Hanai, who also is a social worker at the school. The boys coach is Eric Dela Pena, who is deaf and an educational assistant for math and science in HCDB's middle school. Both helped start the HCDB bowling program.

"It's been rewarding," Hanai said. "From the first time we started bowling till now, I've seen significant improvement. We know they can still get better. They're starting to learn the game."

HCDB, which is located in Kapahulu, opened in 1914 and currently has 85 students from preschool through high school. Bowling currently is the only sport carrying the "HCDB banner." If HCDB students want to participate in another sport, they have to join Kalani High School, according to Hanai.

"I think for us it was just a matter of time to start a sport that they could participate in as a team by themselves. So bowling was the sport we decided to try out," Hanai said.

The first Dolphins bowling team had only three girls and three boys, so participation has doubled for both teams just three years later. Hanai added HCDB's intermediate students can't wait to compete for the Dolphins.

"Over the years it's gotten more interest from the kids," he said.

Hanai and Dela Pena, who rolled a perfect game in 2001, have had to work with student-athletes who have little or no previous bowling experience.

"It's not more difficult, but they're starting at such a late age. Experience-wise, they really have to keep up," Hanai said.

Since Hanai and Dela Pena can't verbalize instructions, they have to be more hands-on.

"If they make a mistake, we will explain to them in detail in a visual way — the steps and hand motion and the students will try to copy the way we teach them," Dela Pena said through Lambrecht.

When HCDB bowlers get a strike or pick up a spare, coaches and teammates will put their hand up in the air and shake it. They also do the traditional high-fives, pats on the back, fist-bumping and thumbs-up signal.

HCDB practices once a week at Hickam Bowling Center, and competes Wednesdays and Thursdays against other O'ahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division schools at K-Bay Lanes. Before the season, the Dolphins practiced twice a week.

Dela Pena said HCDB's bowlers are "very competitive" and "the goal is to get into the OIA playoff tournament and get a championship."

The Dolphins girls team beat Kailua, 3-0, Sept. 5.

"Last year, we lost to Kailua, so this year we were really motivated to beat them," Pokipala said. "Even though we were competing against each other, we really supported each other — both teams. We started a good friendship with the Kailua girls team."

Hanai added: "The teams have accepted our deaf kids. They see them as bowlers now. They've made friends with some of the other kids from the other schools."

Some of the bowlers on the other teams have even learned simple signs or write friendly messages.

"They are very supportive," Nguyen said. "They give us high-fives and even if we miss, they give us a high-five."

Dela Pena, who competes in the Silent Bowlers league on Sundays, said the HCDB bowlers don't have to stop bowling after high school.

"They've learned how to bowl and maybe in the future they can have other tournaments because there are deaf tournaments for adults and deaf leagues," he said.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.