The thump of the ball against wood resonates throughout the building. The crackling and rattling of the pins being knocked to the lane cuts through the air.

It’s bowling, and local centers have options available to area youth.

At the Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes Inc. in Brewer, Marie Milan, who has spent 40 years involved as “an administrator, bowler, coach and friend” to candlepin bowling, describes its league.

“We have about 40 that participate,” Milan said. The youngsters are broken down into age groups of 5 to 9, 10 to 14, and 15 to 18.

The children bowl three strings, usually after some practice. Individual and team statistics are kept.

“The league bowling is all handicapped,” said Milan.

A handicap is based on a percentage of score deemed average.

Every six weeks, a team winner is declared, and team standings are started again. The individual numbers aren’t affected.

Their league meets Saturday afternoons.

Over in Bangor at the Family Fun Bowling Center, manager Andy Meucci talks about the tenpin youth program, which has “been in operation since before 1967.

“In our league,” he says, there are a dozen bowlers, pee-wees age 6 to 8, who “bowl with bumpers, inflated guards in the gutters so they don’t get gutter balls.”

There are also six junior teams with children ages 9 to 14, and six senior teams with boys and girls ages 15 to 20. Each team has three participants.

In this league, “everything is handicapped, so everyone gets a fair shake,” says Meucci.

Down the road in Hermon, at the Heritage Bowling Center, Ethel Johnson described the tenpin league there. There are 32 kids involved this year, and she said there are “five maybe that are teenagers, the rest of them are age 5 to 12.”

The youngsters bowl weekly against other teams, three strings, and feature three people to a team. They also use a handicap. Their bowling starts on Saturday mornings, as it does at Family Fun.

The competitors have the opportunity to earn individual badges, ribbons or certificates for different categories, such as a score in a game, or in a series. Individuals also earn recognition for high average, and high games with and without handicap.

Teams may win trophies with exemplary seasonal performances, as well.

The numbers of the children vary for different reasons.

At Heritage, Johnson said that they have been ranging from 25 to 30 children per year, and that “we lose kids because of school sports.”

Meucci talks about the number of young bowlers over the years.

“In the ’80s we dropped off, declined a bit. In the ’90s we picked back up. In the 2000s, the youth leagues are on the rise again.”

At Bangor-Brewer Lanes, Milan says she used to have hundreds, when “I was young and more energetic.” That, she added, was “before girls soccer, basketball. There’s more for boys and girls to choose from today.”

The children also have the option to participate in travel tournaments.

Travel tournaments involve bowlers from all over the state competing at different locations. There are opportunities to bowl against others in New England and the rest of the nation.

In candlepin bowling, travel tournaments involve New England and Canadian opponents.

Meucci talks about how he and his brother participated in those tournaments more than 30 years ago.

“Kids look forward to the travel tournaments,” Johnson said. “[They] get to socialize, get to know others.”

Derek Michaud, 21, of Veazie, has been bowling for 13 years.

” I love the game. The intensity, the competition, stuff like that,” Michaud said.

“I bowl 16 games a week,” because, he said, “I’m trying to get to the pro level.”

Fourteen-year-old Sarah Crimm might not want to go professional, but her goal is “to get better.” Having bowled for three years, she thinks the game is fun.

Brendan Bladen “started because I wanted to see what I can do.” The 8-year-old enjoys the game because “you can get strikes and spares.”

Like Michaud and Crimm, he wants “to do as good a job as I can,” adding, “I like meeting people.”