Team USA set to compete at 2022 IBF World Cup in Queensland, Australia
November 08, 2022
ARLINGTON, Texas – Stefanie Johnson has put together an international resume that most bowlers can only dream of.
During a Team USA career that has spanned the better part of two decades, the 38-year-old right-hander from McKinney, Texas, has won 27 medals in international competition, 14 gold, eight silver and five bronze.
Johnson’s most-recent Team USA triumphs came during the summer of 2019 when she partnered with best friend Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, to win a doubles gold medal at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, one month before helping the Team USA women capture a bronze medal at the International Bowling Federation Women’s World Championships in Las Vegas.
But despite her track record of proven success, all good things must eventually come to an end, and that is why Johnson has decided to make the 2022 IBF World Cup her last event as a member of Team USA.
The 2022 IBF World Cup will run from Nov. 12-23 at Suncity Tenpin Bowl on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
“I have two kids who aren’t getting any younger, so it felt like the right time to hang up my hat and put the Team USA jersey away,” Johnson said. “Plus, Shannon (O’Keefe) and I started this journey together in 2005, and we always talked about ending it together as well.”
O’Keefe retired from international competition at the conclusion of the 2022 PANAM Bowling Champion of Champions in Rio de Janeiro back in August.
In addition to it allowing her to walk off into the sunset hand in hand with her best friend, Johnson also sees her retirement as creating an opportunity for another young woman to step up and take a shot at making her own Team USA dreams come true.
“By stepping away, I’m giving a gift to someone else because now that person will get to experience the thrill of bowling for their country and get to do everything that I’ve gotten to do while representing the red, white and blue,” Johnson said.
It remains to be seen who will take Johnson’s spot on the women’s team and don the red, white and blue in years to come, but the decision as to who will be sharing the lanes with her at the World Cup has already been decided.
Johnson will be joined on the women’s team by Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York; and Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio. The men’s team will be represented by Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona; A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Illinois; Kris Prather of Romeoville, Illinois; and Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina.
This year’s World Cup will be the first to be conducted using a newly adopted format that, according to the IBF website, was designed to “showcase individual performance and teamwork with skill, endurance, knowledge and strategy as key ingredients to be able to walk as champions.”
The event will feature a combination of singles matches and four-person Baker team play with individuals and teams earning points for their countries and contributing to team totals that will determine the overall winners.
Stefanie Johnson is hoping to do her part to help Team USA find success at the World Cup, but she is also going to be sure not to let the pressure outweigh the pleasure.
“This is actually my first World Cup, so I was excited when I got the call to say that I’d been selected to compete,” Johnson said. “I’ve prepared as hard as I can for myself and for my teammates, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. Of course, I want to do well, but I’m just going to enjoy every moment of it and let nature happens how it happens.”
Thankfully for Johnson, she won’t have to carry the load herself as Coté, McEwan and Richard should all be brimming with confidence after having helped Team USA author an outstanding performance at the recent PANAM Bowling Women’s Championships in Lima, Peru.
Butturff, Prather and A.J. Johnson have their own past successes to call upon in order to instill confidence as all three were part of the Team USA crew that won the trios gold medal at the 2021 IBF Super World Championships in Dubai.
But should confidence wane at any point, Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe and Junior Team USA Head Coach Kelly Kulick, who will be on hand to assist O’Keefe in Queensland after having competed as a member of Team USA herself just one year ago, will be there to help get the team back on track.
“Kelly (Kulick) and I are very fortunate to get to coach another amazingly talented group of bowlers at this year’s World Cup,” O’Keefe said. “There is nothing that these men and women can’t do on the lanes, so it will just be a matter of staying patient, staying confident and controlling the things that we can control. If we can do that, we have a chance to be very successful and to probably come home with some medals.”
For more information on Team USA, visit BOWL.com/TeamUSA.
During a Team USA career that has spanned the better part of two decades, the 38-year-old right-hander from McKinney, Texas, has won 27 medals in international competition, 14 gold, eight silver and five bronze.
Johnson’s most-recent Team USA triumphs came during the summer of 2019 when she partnered with best friend Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, to win a doubles gold medal at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, one month before helping the Team USA women capture a bronze medal at the International Bowling Federation Women’s World Championships in Las Vegas.
But despite her track record of proven success, all good things must eventually come to an end, and that is why Johnson has decided to make the 2022 IBF World Cup her last event as a member of Team USA.
The 2022 IBF World Cup will run from Nov. 12-23 at Suncity Tenpin Bowl on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
“I have two kids who aren’t getting any younger, so it felt like the right time to hang up my hat and put the Team USA jersey away,” Johnson said. “Plus, Shannon (O’Keefe) and I started this journey together in 2005, and we always talked about ending it together as well.”
O’Keefe retired from international competition at the conclusion of the 2022 PANAM Bowling Champion of Champions in Rio de Janeiro back in August.
In addition to it allowing her to walk off into the sunset hand in hand with her best friend, Johnson also sees her retirement as creating an opportunity for another young woman to step up and take a shot at making her own Team USA dreams come true.
“By stepping away, I’m giving a gift to someone else because now that person will get to experience the thrill of bowling for their country and get to do everything that I’ve gotten to do while representing the red, white and blue,” Johnson said.
It remains to be seen who will take Johnson’s spot on the women’s team and don the red, white and blue in years to come, but the decision as to who will be sharing the lanes with her at the World Cup has already been decided.
Johnson will be joined on the women’s team by Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York; and Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio. The men’s team will be represented by Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona; A.J. Johnson of Oswego, Illinois; Kris Prather of Romeoville, Illinois; and Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina.
This year’s World Cup will be the first to be conducted using a newly adopted format that, according to the IBF website, was designed to “showcase individual performance and teamwork with skill, endurance, knowledge and strategy as key ingredients to be able to walk as champions.”
The event will feature a combination of singles matches and four-person Baker team play with individuals and teams earning points for their countries and contributing to team totals that will determine the overall winners.
Stefanie Johnson is hoping to do her part to help Team USA find success at the World Cup, but she is also going to be sure not to let the pressure outweigh the pleasure.
“This is actually my first World Cup, so I was excited when I got the call to say that I’d been selected to compete,” Johnson said. “I’ve prepared as hard as I can for myself and for my teammates, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. Of course, I want to do well, but I’m just going to enjoy every moment of it and let nature happens how it happens.”
Thankfully for Johnson, she won’t have to carry the load herself as Coté, McEwan and Richard should all be brimming with confidence after having helped Team USA author an outstanding performance at the recent PANAM Bowling Women’s Championships in Lima, Peru.
Butturff, Prather and A.J. Johnson have their own past successes to call upon in order to instill confidence as all three were part of the Team USA crew that won the trios gold medal at the 2021 IBF Super World Championships in Dubai.
But should confidence wane at any point, Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe and Junior Team USA Head Coach Kelly Kulick, who will be on hand to assist O’Keefe in Queensland after having competed as a member of Team USA herself just one year ago, will be there to help get the team back on track.
“Kelly (Kulick) and I are very fortunate to get to coach another amazingly talented group of bowlers at this year’s World Cup,” O’Keefe said. “There is nothing that these men and women can’t do on the lanes, so it will just be a matter of staying patient, staying confident and controlling the things that we can control. If we can do that, we have a chance to be very successful and to probably come home with some medals.”
For more information on Team USA, visit BOWL.com/TeamUSA.