A New Era of Pro Bowling is Looming, and the Women are Leading the Way

On May 11^th, 2008, in a nationally televised event, Lynda Barnes defeated Sean Rash, 258-237 to win the USBC Clash of the Champions Title. This incredible victory sent shock waves throughout the world of pro bowling. It proved that Lynda was one of the top pro bowlers in the world regardless of gender. It solidified the return of women to pro bowling. And it could very well have sparked a brand new era in professional bowling.

In the fall of 2003, before the season had finished, in a decision that can only be described as demoralizing, John Summer the owner of the PWBA (Pro Women’s Bowlers Association), folded the women’s pro tour due to a lack of funds. Legendary pro women bowlers like Leanne Barrette, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Tish Johnson and Wendy McPherson were left without a professional forum in the United States to show off their bowling skills and compete for prize money.

It is safe to say that from that moment on, the women embarked on a mission to not only get their tour back, but to gain greater popularity and recognition than ever before. It has been a long and arduous road. During the past four and a half years, the women pro bowlers have tried every possible angle, walked through every open door, and taken every opportunity given to them, to try and put themselves back on the map.

After the tour shut down, the women were left with the WIBC (Women’s International Bowling Congress), which had acquired the PWBA (Professional Women’s Bowlers Association) from the PBA, and the amateur circuit. Needless to say, many of the established women bowlers began to pile up tournament wins and various awards in these forums.

In 2004, realizing great women talent was being wasted on the sidelines, the Professional Bowler’s Association agreed to allow women to compete on the men’s tour. This landmark decision gave the women the opportunity they were looking for. It would allow them to once again compete in the national spotlight and at the same time take on the greatest men bowlers in the world.

That year, Liz Johnson took full advantage of the new rule, becoming the first female bowler in history to qualify for the round of sixty-four, in the UniRoyal Tire Classic. One year later, at the 2005 PBA Banquet Open in Grand Rapids, MI she did it again becoming the first women bowler to qualify for the televised finals. She defeated Wes Melott 235 to 228 in the semifinal match, but eventually lost in the finals to Tommy Jones. A few months later she made it a trio of firsts by becoming the first woman to ever win a PBA regional event by winning the East Region Kingpin Lanes Open, defeating Ryan Shafer and Michael Fagan.

During these two years, the faces of women’s bowling began to change with an influx of new and exciting talent. Diandra Asbaty, Joy Esterson, Shannon O’Keefe and Lynda Barnes led the way with each of them piling up wins and top finishes in amateur tournaments. Not only that, Diandra managed to finish 25^th in the 2005 PBA Master’s Event and 86^th in the Men’s PBA US Open. This shot in the arm of charismatic talent and success helped set the stage for a return of the women’s tour.

In 2006 Kelly Kulick followed the same path as Liz Johnson and kicked the door of opportunity wide open by becoming the first woman in history to qualify for a PBA tour exemption, which allowed her to bowl in all of the men’s PBA events throughout the entire year. This milestone event really gave the women some hope that good things were to come.

Also in 2006, the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) took over professional women’s bowling. They immediately made a decision to create the first nationally televised women’s tournament in three years, called the 2006 USBC Women’s Challenge. The competition would take place on one lane set up in the middle of a shopping mall, with a top prize of $25,000. Sixteen of the top women bowlers in the world would compete for this title, with all of the rounds aired on ESPN. The tournament was specifically designed to present women’s bowling again, but yet in a somewhat different light. It did just that, sparking all kinds of interest and inquiries about a revived women’s tour. The Women’s Challenge helped prove that genuine interest in watching woman pro bowlers did exist. What did the trick was an obvious passion and competitive spirit. None of the sixteen women held back as their enthusiasm and raw emotion became infectious, catching the imagination of fans and key onlookers. Australia’s Cara Honeychurch may have won the tournament, but the real winners were the fans and the fraternity of pro women bowlers.

This successful tournament created the momentum that the women desperately needed. A man named Tom Clark watched in the background with great interest. Little did they know that he had a vision of a new women’s tour. Tom, then an employee of the USBC (now the new VP of the PBA), immediately went to work. He said the right things to all the right people. He pushed and pushed until he got what he was looking for, a small women’s tour for 2007.

Diandra Asbaty tells it like this. “He was the brains behind the idea of getting the women back on television. He had big ideas. The difference between him and others that have big ideas is that he actually got it done. He realized the importance of giving women a platform to bowl.”

Diandra adds, “First, he brought back the US Women’s Open. Then he had successful talks with the PBA about including one women’s match on their television show, allowing sixteen women to be on the tour with the guys for just four weeks.”

Those four events combined with the return of the US Open, gave the women five tournaments to compete in with national television exposure. The thinking behind the idea was that once the women got back on television regularly their natural talent and charisma would do the rest. First, Liz Johnson won the US Open. Next, the veteran Carolyn Dorin-Ballard added the Motor City Classic to her list of championships. Then the new talent began to take over. Shannon Pluhowsky won the Etonic Championship. Joy Esterson took home the Lake County Indiana Classic. Diandra Asbaty closed out the tour with a win at the Great Lakes Classic.

When it was all said and done, Tom’s instincts were right. The mini-tour was a huge hit. The crowds and the television ratings surpassed expectations. The tour continued to grow in popularity and curiosity with each event.

It became obvious that there was a fire burning in these women. What they gave us was a dose of unbridled enthusiasm, passion and fierceness. They exuded an unparalleled competitive spirit and magnetism that was downright mesmerizing and contagious. They were simply fun to watch. All of this embodied a determination to not only perform well and win, but to prove to the world that a full time women’s pro tour belonged as part of the PBA.

I asked Diandra how she felt about the return of the women’s tour. “I am relieved because as you can imagine, when I graduated from college in 2003, the year the tour folded, I was disappointed that I didn’t have the chance to be a professional bowler. Now I have that chance.”

She then shared with me why she thought there was renewed interest in the women’s tour. “People like watching women bowl on television. You can watch a good female bowler bowl, and no matter who you are, you can learn from them. Their games seem to be simpler than men. You can’t look at Tommy Jones and teach yourself to bowl how he bowls.”

There is a firm belief among the women bowlers that the renewed growth in the popularity of their tour and bowling overall has to do with staying connected with their existing fans and educating those that are just casual viewers or participants. There is a definite sense of responsibility to grow the sport. I asked Diandra about this.

“No one outside the bowling industry knows about bowling. They don’t know there is high school bowling, college bowling, or even Team USA. We went to all these important media outlets and told our story. I was featured in USA Today with a full page in the sports section. Because of that article and photo in USA Today, Good Morning America called me and I was featured on their show. I have been on “Money For Breakfast” and featured in Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Kids. These media outlets won’t pick bowling up if they don’t know how great, and challenging it really is.”
I don’t think anyone can argue with Diandra, but there is definitely something more to it. There seems to be something new and fresh with these women bowlers. There is a renewed sense of respect and passion for their tour, which could very well have come from losing it. It’s like that old saying, you don’t realize what you had until its gone. The tour disbanding in 2003 could have been a blessing in disguise. It is very unlikely that this kind of genuine, raw enthusiasm would not have come out on its own. There is a heightened sense of responsibility to do whatever it takes to get their full time tour back.

With the 2006 event serving as the spark, the 2007 mini tour served as the fuel that fed what is shaping up to be an incredible fire for the pro women bowlers. The resounding success of the past two years has now grown into seven tour events, plus the US Open and the USBC Queens. These tournaments could very well become the oxygen that turns the fire into an inferno.

The 2008 U.S. Women’s Open was held in Romeoville, IL from August 1^st through 6^th. The finals will be aired over five consecutive Sundays on ESPN starting September 7^th. If you want to gain some idea of how awesome these women are and how exciting they are to watch, tune in. It is guarantee you will not be disappointed.

The other seven tournaments will piggyback with the men’s tour events. Sixteen of the top women bowlers in the world will be competing in these events. Leading the way will be the four winners from last year’s tournaments: Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Diandra Asbaty, Joy Esterson and Shannon Pluhowsky. Rounding out the field will be twelve women who qualified during the US Open: Shannon O’Keefe, Adrienne Miller, Brenda Mack, Clara Guerrero, Jen Petrick, Jodi Woessner, Michelle Feldman, Missy Bellinder, Shalin Zulkifli, Stephanie Nation, Tennelle Milligan, and Trisha Reid.

The only problem with this marvelous field is there are still some very big names missing, like Lynda Barnes, Liz Johnson, Kelly Kulick, and Kim Terrell-Kearney. This is another reason why these women need a full time tour. Seeing just sixteen of them is not enough.

The schedule for these seven events is as follows:

1. November 2 Omaha, NE
2. November 16 Taylor, MI
3. November 30 Vernon Hills, IL
4. December 7 Cheektowago, NY
5. December 14 Baltimore, MD
6. January 5 Reno, NV
7. January 19 Medford OR

If you take all of the accomplishments from the past few years, add in the continued sense of contagious determination, combine it with the fresh new charismatic talent and mix it up with Lynda Barnes’ victory for the ages, you get not only a recipe for success but and unstoppable movement. The women are back and they are definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Ham Bone may be the new catch phrase of bowling, and Jason Belmonte may be the next fad of bowling with his two-handed style, but the real buzz among the bowling community is about the women.

For the past fifty years we have had many eras of pro bowling, each named after the top prowler of that time period: the Dick Weber era; the Earl Anthony era, the Mark Roth era, and the Walter Ray Williams era. Times are a changing. The next era of Pro Bowling could very well be the Women’s Era.