SKANEATELES - Michelle Stoecker smiles and laughs as she watches her friends bowl and waits for her turn. Once her two teammates have finished their frames, she picks up her blue ball and throws a perfect gutter ball.

“Nice one Michelle, I thought there was some dust in that gutter,” Sharon Shoemaker says over the bowling alley's PA system.

Michelle laughs at the joke and gets ready for her next frame. She picks up her blue ball again and earns herself a spare. Shoemaker congratulates her over the loudspeaker while Michelle throws her arms up in victory.

The Cedar House Bowling Center was filled with small victories Wednesday evening as the Pin Pals, a bowling league for people ages 5 to 21 with physical or mental disabilities, bowled the first two games of the fall 2008 season. The league will meet 10 times in the fall and another 10 in the spring.

The league gives these children something to do where they can work together and be part of a team, but they still are participating individually, Michelle Soden, the group's founder, said.

Soden started the league seven years ago because her son is in a wheelchair and loves to bowl and she wanted him to have a chance to play on a team. They don't have the opportunity to participate in sports at school, but this is their sport, she said.

This league helps develops the children's self esteem, Charles Guzewicz said.

“Here they are all equal. They look around and they are all the same,” he said.

They also support each other; everyone cheers for everyone else. The scores don't really matter, it's all about going out and having fun, he said.

Guzewicz's son, Kyle, has autism and loves bowling.

“This is his chance to give him a night out for himself,” Guzewicz said. “He loves coming here. He would be happy to sit here and watch everyone else play even if he never got to bowl a frame.”

Shoemaker, who works at the alley while the league bowls, engages the children by congratulating good frames and talks to them over the PA.

“It excites them and gets them more involved,” she said. “It's wonderful what they do here. I miss them so much in the summer, I'm so proud of them. There are professionals in bowling leagues who don't pick up some of the spares that they get. They're really wonderful kids. They really are.”