I Have A Dream

Twice now after coming back from a major national championship I've felt like if I kept bowling during the summer, I could do anything. I feel comfortable in the way I bowl and it feels like I move up a level; which technically I do, that's what all good athletes have to do to have a chance at winning anything.

Last summer I didn't get out to a bowling alley because it was too expensive. So I lost that feeling and had to start from scratch in September. This year is going to be different-as a youth bowler in Edmonton I get to practice free (YAHOO!!) and I'm going to take advantage of that.

That is step 1. Just keep the feel in my hand and fingers, have fun with it. Something to kill time, stay in form.

Step 2 would be spread out over time. Equipment. I'm getting a free ball from one of the ladies who I bowled with in a spring league last summer and I also bowled with her daughters when they were in the youth league. So that's another ball in my arsenal. Before any other major tournaments I think I'd also like to get another ball. I will also be looking into switch grips, where you have one thumb hole that inserts into all your balls, so the thumb hole is always the same in each ball.

Next would be to enter every tournament in the city. A lot of the more serious youth bowlers have been doing this, so I'm starting a bit late, but money has always been the issue. So to solve this problem? You got it, no spending on random crap. I have to go back to my stingyness of 1st year uni and work 3 jobs (only about 20 hours max a week? Completely do-able).

These three steps are a very good start to up my compete level. I only have 2 years left of youth league. At the moment I can keep up with most adults (as shown in Montreal) but by the time I get to the adult league I want to have the chance to WIN.

So the whole, big picture dream? Of course Team Canada. For as many years as possible. But if I were only to make it once in my life, heck that's more than 3/4 of this country could say they've done.

For now though, I'll just aim to make top 20 next year, maybe push to make that top 12th spot. Gotta aim high! Even if the goals aren't met next year, it's not the end of the world, lane conditions are always changing and you have bad days. At the end of it all, all I care about is throwing a good ball, each and every time. And I vow to go every year from now on, barring any financial problems :p

The only thing that complicates this: School. Somewhat unfortunately. My coach is always joking that it's too bad that I have to make school my #1 priority or else I could be a great bowler. Ya it is too bad. And it also sucks that I realized I want this dream so bad, because there was so much I wanted to do next year. Mostly just volunteer with maybe 2 or 3 organizations. But now with classes, studying, working, soccer (will I have time now..?!?!), bowling (hopefully at LEAST twice a week now), and RELAXING... is there room for volunteering? We'll see. But at least with that, I can always drop it if it gets to be too much.

Next year is going to be an ambitious year, but I'm looking forward to it :)

Pictures

I promised pictures, and there really aren't that many. And not very good ones at that. I almost got better pictures while in the sky.. :p (ps. Actual non airplanes pics will follow as soon as I find the cord for my camera! [I only just remembered that haha])

The clouds were super pretty during the flight home, we were above the clouds the whole way back. Unfortunately none of the pictures I took do any justice to the beauty.

The End

The trip is finally at an end. I'm definitely sad to be leaving this city.

Yesterday was a much shorter day than all the others, I got to sleep in and didn't have to bowl! I did however, go watch the final 12 games (well half of them). It was the top 12 women and top 18 men. I was cheering for Alberta - of course. For women we had Felicia and Sam (sisters!) in the top 7 at the beginning of the day. For men we had Daniel, the guy who does everyone's equipment, and he was my coach last year at nationals. Both girls made it (as did their mom for the senior team) and unfortunately Dan had a tough day and came 17th.

Talking with Dan today though, he said that he'll probably get selected (the final 2 spots for the adult teams are chosen by a selection committee) so I'm happy for him.

The guy who came in 1st should seriously be on tour!! He averaged probably 220+ and even shot a perfect game in the last day; a 300!!

Last night was a blast, the guys had a party in their room and invited all the youth bowlers. They had a whole bunch of beer left from the night before so I got free booze! Woo! It was a great night, as is normally a drunken night. I love those times, the inhibitions are gone and you just get along with everyone. So I definitely feel closer to these people now, a girl from Manitoba (who, incidentally knows my uncle, and he told her about me LOL) and of course my Edmontonians. More friends for the summer perhaps? Well, either way, because of this bonding I'm super stoked for next year, to do it all over again but to chill with everyone every night. It's sure to be a blast, bowlers are the best people!
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So today was sightseeing day. I definitely started off in a bad mood, thanks to a mean headache, the hotel closing breakfast just before 11 and of course my lovely mother..augh. We headed to the metro and decided to start at the port. Um yeah.. no mountains & no map = 2 Albertans with no idea which direction is north... we finally found the port, it only took us about 20 more minutes than it should have lol. And man was it ever getting hot. Then we decided we should head over to Shwartz's, this place famous for it's smoked meat sandwiches. Mom finally decided to pull out her iPhone to map it and off we were. FOURTY MINUTES LATER, UP HILL, we were finally there, sore feet and sweaty faced. The food was good but it was SO not worth the pain. Getting back was super quick though thank goodness.

Then I figured we'd actually try and see something instead of walking around pointlessly. I wanted to see  either the Bell Center or the Forum and also Mount Royal. So we set off for Mount Royal. Ya, we never got there. Mom was getting too sore and getting grumpy. At this point we had been walking around for about 5 hours so we decided it was time to head back.

All in all it was a kind of disappointing journey. We really didn't see anything besides the port, Notre Dame Basilica and... lots of pigeons..? At least the weather was nice (it had been raining just before we left) and it's a very beautiful city. I love how similar it is to Paris! I kept reminiscing about how the metro is the same, the same kinds of architecture, narrow streets, the french of course and GREEN! Very nice. So I'll definitely be coming back in a few years, with someone who KNOWS the area so I can experience it the right way.

I now have blisters and am tired, tomorrow is going to be oh so fun.

I'll be glad to start working though :)

Day 2

WHAT a day!! I was exhausted and sore but I made it through. I was much more consistent as well. And we finished at 8:30 HURRAH!

The first 6 was on short and I shot: 180, 174, 155, 135, 236, 223. I wish I could redo those middle two, but oh well, At least I came back +100 after that disastrous 135 where I had 6 opens in a row (!). (Open = frame where you don't strike or spare = bad). I was close to average those games and I think I was up to 23rd at one point (at least at some point in the day I was..).

We ended at about 2:30 again but the pace felt a lot better, not waiting around forever for other teams to finish. So again, we started on long at 4.

Man I came out with a bang again, the score just doesn't prove it. I had a 213, but had 6 strikes in a row and then 3 opens haha. Oops. Oh well. After that I didn't have anything too spectacular, but again I was around average.

Today was a lot more fun than yesterday though. I was bowling with 2 of the same girls as yesterday and I started talking to them and we kept chatting through out the whole day, joking around and encouraging each other. So I made some friends - yay! That was goal #3 for this weekend  (#1 was bowl as well as possible (pretty much completed that :D_), #2 was to hangout with the Edmonton folk but that never really happened except for dinner tonight. #4 was to party, but having no money doesn't help and no one actually invited me :( but that's okay. That just means I have time to share with you guys :p). So I'm already stoked on next year's tourny - it'll be in TO so that means I'll see these girls again! So heads up uni friends, no partying and/or going out for me JUST IN CASE I don't qualify and get that $1000 for it, because I AM GOING. PLUS I'll have an ever better chance of making the team, since I'll have confidence that I can actually compete with these ladies!!

So at the end of the day I was much more consistent which I was thankful for. I ended up 25th out of 55 ladies - my goal that I set at the beginning of the day. Hey->I'm the 25th best female bowler in Canada, WHAT UP? lol I'm actually not because for sure there were some who couldn't make it, but that's a pretty good measuring stick I'd say. BUT I'm stoked that I beat all the girls who I've ever bowled against in Alberta (by 130+)! And I was only 20 pins out of being Alberta's #3 :D

So I'd say I had one heck of a tournament! I averaged 178, and yeah that's below my usual (185) but considering this is a NATIONAL tournament with TOUGH lane conditions, where EVERYONE is bowling crappy games (ex. Caroline Lagrange is by far Canada's #1 female bowler and she had like a 130 game in there), I'm extremely proud of myself. Especially when I look back and see where I've come from and in such a short time.

Last year I was a 180 average, and aved 165 in it. This year I was a 185 average and aved 178 in it. I went from 28/33 to 25/55. Quite a transformation, no?

What's up next? Well tomorrow is the top 12 women and top 18 men, so we'll probably go watch in the afternoon. IMMA SLEEP IN!! YAY. Then there's the banquet in the evening and medal ceremony. Then Tuesday and Wednesday is for sightseeing. We're gonna go see Old Montreal. Then it's a flight back to Calgary connecting to Edmonton in the evening. So pictures to come for sure! (Will upload a few when back home)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic long weekend!!

Day 1

(This post should have been up yesterday but my computer was dead..)

What a long day it was!! We started bowling at 9am and didn't get out of the alley until 9:30!! ONE HOUR a game!! Usually in tournaments with good bowlers it takes 30mins. Granted, the women had 7 to a pair but STILL.

We started off with 6 games on long oil - 45 ft. This means almost no hook for me! I started off with a bang though, a 236!! But from there on it was up and down and up and down. At one point I had a 212 then had a 118. For our pair that day I had both the high AND low games, until the last game where someone threw something lower than a 118 (yay! haha)

Finally at 2:30 we were done the first 6 and it was lunch time - the men had finished an hour ahead of us (so sad!). We started again at 4, this time on short oil - 33 ft. HOOK! Yes!! I usually have a fairly straight ball so this was exciting!

The ups and downs continued but not as bad, and I was doing much better than on long. I honestly can't remember too much now, and they have yet to put up all the scores. It was a tough second half of the day though, by game 10 (YES, we were bowling 12 games!) my brain was fried and I was exhausted. I ended the day in 24th. Not too shabby. (ps. I was 12th after 4 games! Ooh lah lah haha)

So I headed back to the hotel and had supper around 10. No one was doing anything that night because they were all so exhausted from a 12 hour day. (By the way, the plan was for us to be done bowling around 5, OBVIOUSLY they calculated wrong..) I went to bed around midnight and finally fell asleep and then the next thing you know I get a text from my mom at quarter to one - she had just gotten in from her flight. She got to the hotel around 1:30 and again woke me up. Joy. You can bet that I was tired today - I got up at 6:30!

All in all, Day 1 was exhausting but I was pretty happy with my overall game, I was maybe averaging around 170 which is not horrible on shots like these, and I was higher in the standings that I thought I'd be.

Une Journée Désagréable

Holy mother has today been a HORRIBLE day! First of all I had to get up super early because I wanted to be 2 hours early for my flight. Thank GOD for that decision!! Just as we're taking the exit for the airport I realize I've forgotten my bowling shoes and kit. Sooo back we go into the city.. What a way to spend the morning. At least it was a nice, sunny day and it was Victoria driving me.

The headaches did not stop there. OF COURSE I'd get stuck in front of a crying baby that has been up since 4am. Suffice it to say my iPod was turned all the way up during the entire flight and it did no good. THEN the guy next to me spills his rye and pepsi and some of it splashes onto my legs. Joy.

Now hmm, I'm finally in the city (still not sure which one..) and get into a cab. I give him the address I got from the website. It won't go into his gps. Greeaat. He brings me back to the airport. I text some people to get the right address because of course I can't connect to the Internet. I finally get the right address (montée instead of cote, st Laurent instead of laval) and take off to the bowling alley.

I got a crazy driver but we're making good time at least. I go to pay him-I hand him my MasterCard. "you could have told me that before we left" he mumbles in French very rudely, not knowing I speak French. Désolé, I say. (F you!!!!! I'm thinking.)

So then I get all my bowling stuff figured out and walk over to the hotel to check in and eat. My mom is not with me yet so I have to give my MasterCard. But guess what?!? Mother did NOT tell me how much it would be so my card is DECLINED!! It took all I could muster not to break into tears. We got it squared away though, we just put 2 days on my card. So here I am, sweaty and in a rite state, I go to unpack some things, aka pull out my dear computer to check Facebook. It's charge is down to 50% so I go to pull out the charger... Duh duh duh... (imagine that ominous music). Yep-you got it! I forgot my charger! Joy.

So it's been a REALLY stressful and tiring day so I chose to eat by my loansome in my room and tried to relax with a hot bath. Now I'm sprawled on the couch watching hockey and writing this on my iPod. Not stressed but still exhausted and angry. Here's to hoping for a decent day of bowling tomorrow. 12 games... Woohoo!(?)

3 Days Out - The Worrying Can Stop

I finally emailed a lady involved with the tournament to ask what would happen if I was to miss the check in/ball registration. Thankfully she said it's okay, I just have to hand in my forms before I bowl. So woohoo!! Now I don't have to be all anxious about schedules and stuff. So I just have to wait for the day to come! Montreal is going to be a blast, I'm sure. Maybe I'll try to make friends this time.. :p

11 Days Out - Story Time!

It's not so much a story but just an explanation about "Brooklyn in Montreal". The term "brooklyn" is bowling lingo, which means you got a strike on the wrong side of the head pin. As a righty, my strike pocket is to the right of the head pin, so if I get a "brooklyn", it's because I hit the pocket to the left of the head pin. I used to do this a lot. Coaches from other cities would know me as the girl who throws brooklyns. Hurray for them now knowing me as Jessica, a threat to win any youth tournament/dark horse of 2010/late bloomer.. (yes I just called myself a dark horse)

I'm hoping I'll get out to West Ed tomorrow to practice with some friends on the shots that will be used down in Montreal. We're planning on the next two days, but depending on how tomorrow goes, I may not go the second day, gotta save my money! Unfortunately I can't bike to West Ed! I'd try but it'd be near impossible with three 14 pound balls in tow!

Man I'm running out of time to get a job...

12 Days Out

As I am really into blogging, I thought I would chronicle my experience when I go to Montreal for Canadian Team Trials. This tournament is for any bowler in Canada, any age; competing to make Team Canada. I went last year as an 18 year old, attempting to qualify for the youth team. I came one spot out. It was one heck of an experience and this year's will be so much more so. I want to be able to remember this experience and I also want to share it with anyone who wants to tag along.

The reason why this is going to be a memorable experience (besides the obvious of it being an elite tournament), is that it is going to be in Montreal, a hot bed for bowling in Canada. Possibly half the competitors will be from Quebec and Ontario, and I better mention that bowlers from this part of the country are probably some of the best. Last year this tournament was held in BC, too far for those bowlers to travel so it wasn't so much a big deal. There was maybe 100 competitors. This year? They are projecting 210 PLUS..!!!!!! It's going to be INSANE!

I'm also going to have a lot of friends with me this year. I became closer to some of the youth bowlers in Edmonton so I'm looking forward to having people to hang out with when we're not bowling, instead of spending all that time with my mom.

One thing about this year, I am not eligible for the youth team anymore. At first I was somewhat outraged, I would have had a VERY good chance of making the team if I could be one year younger (or even just a few months). But now I realize this is a golden opportunity for me. There's no pressure to win, or to place in any particular position, but to just do my best and see where I sit compared adults who have been bowling in this tournament for years. Remember; I'm somewhat a late bloomer, and I only found out about this tournament last year. Alberta qualifies the top 2 youth (x2 for 2 tournies) and top 2 or 4 adults, to go and gives them $1000 for it. Everyone else who wants to go is on their own. No other province offers money to their top bowlers to go. I've been fortunate enough 2 years in a row now to place top 2 in the one tournament to get that money. Otherwise I never would have gone last year and gained the invaluable experience that I did. So all in all, this tournament will just help further my development as a bowler and increase my experience with big game situations. The nerves will probably be going for sure, just seeing the competition and knowing that I could possibly be way out of my league will be instrumental for next year's quest of qualifying for Nationals. I only have 2 years left to do it!!

Now for the reason of why I have started so soon. Well, currently it is the YBC Nationals in Regina. I came in 2nd for qualifying to represent Alberta. I'm following the scores, which just makes me antsy to bowl. I've been practicing a bit lately, as I should be, and just all that combined makes me really anxious about bowling, I just want to go every day. Those are the moments I love, having an extreme passion for something just thrills me when I actually realize it. So I'm definitely getting excited for it. I just wish I had Nationals as well, I love bowling so much! I guess this is just something to help subdue my excitement for it to come, it's still a fair ways away, and also it gives me something to blog about. I'm ALWAYS looking for something to blog about :)

I hope that whomever follows this will be either entertained, informed, captivated, etc. I want to share my experiences but also to share my enthusiasm about this sport, and hopefully that can transfer to your own enthusiasm about something.

I will also be sightseeing in Montreal after the tournament is over so I will be writing about the sights and I will also post some pictures :)