Team USA's Brandolino selected as 2025 Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow
April 02, 2025
ARLINGTON, Texas – Gianna Brandolino of Channahon, Illinois, has been chosen by the United States Bowling Congress Youth Advisory Group as the 2025 Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow.
The award recognizes the star qualities of a female high school senior or college student, including accomplishments on the lanes, academic achievement and community service. Along with the prestigious honor, Brandolino will receive a $6,000 scholarship as the 2025 recipient.
Brandolino, 18, is a senior at Minooka High School, where she has maintained a 3.90 GPA and remained on High Honor Roll all four years despite challenging herself with countless honors and Advanced Placement classes. She also is one of the nation’s most accomplished young female bowlers, and that, combined with her academic performance and outstanding record of volunteer work, make her a worthy recipient of this award.
Although Brandolino was hopeful she’d be selected as this year’s Alberta E. Crowe recipient, she wasn’t sure how her resume would stack up against the other worthy candidates under consideration. As such, she was very pleased, albeit a bit perplexed, when word finally came down.
“At first, I was a little confused because I was unsure of why I was getting a call from USBC,” Brandolino said. “I was with my parents at the time, so it was a happy feeling once I realized why they were calling. It makes me happy to win this scholarship because I look up to many of the past recipients of this award. I’m happy to have my name included on that list.”
Another list Brandolino’s name has frequently found its way upon is the list of standout students at Minooka High School.
Brandolino has been a straight-A student multiple times during her tenure at MHS, which is no small feat considering the fact that her schedule has consistently been chock full of honors and AP-level classes in English, science and math. Those efforts have allowed her to remain ranked in the top 25% of her graduating class of nearly 730 students.
Outside the classroom, Brandolino has made her mark at Minooka by helping work on the school yearbook and serving as a member of the American Sign Language Club.
When not competing or working on her own game, Brandolino has gotten involved in the bowling center operations and tournament management side of the sport, working as a porter and counter staff at her home center as well as helping run multiple tournaments conducted by the Joliet Area USBC.
Brandolino has very much enjoyed those opportunities as she draws a great deal of satisfaction from giving back to the sport that she loves so much.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to do some clinics with Diandra,” Brandolino said, referring to 1998 Alberta E. Crowe Scholarship winner Diandra Asbaty (née Hyman). “I’d really like to do more of those in the future because I’d like to continue helping the next generation of bowlers.”
If Brandolino is even close to as good an instructor as she is a competitor, then those young bowlers will find themselves in very capable hands. After all, Brandolino’s bowling resume is formidable to say the least.
She finished qualifying as the leader in the 137-player U.S. Amateur field in 2024 at the age of 17. She went on to finish second at the event that year and then followed that performance up with a third-place effort at the 2025 U.S. Amateur.
Her performance in January earned her a spot on Team USA’s elite team and Junior Team USA for 2025 after having competed solely as a member of Junior Team USA the previous two years.
Brandolino hasn’t shied away from testing the waters at the professional level as well. She recorded a second-place finish at the 2023 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Rockford Regional and attempted to qualify for the field at the 2025 U.S. Open via the event’s pre-tournament qualifier.
It should come as no surprise that Brandolino frequently opts to challenge herself against tougher competition; after all, when she competes against young women her own age, the results tend to come out in her favor.
Brandolino’s resume includes major wins at events such as the 2024 Professional Bowlers Association LBC National Championship Clash and the 2023 Junior Gold Championships (U18 Girls).
That’s far from the end of her list of accomplishments, however, as Brandolino’s title count also includes 20 Elite Youth Tour wins, a record 13 Storm Youth Championships victories, nine USBC Youth Open titles, six Illinois State Scholarship tournament triumphs, five consecutive Illinois State Pepsi titles, four Wisconsin Youth Bowlers Tour wins, a pair of victories at the Midwest Youth Main Event and a USA Bowling U15 Team national title.
Still, Brandolino claims to have taken away just as much, if not more, from her failures as she has from her many wins.
“Going out there and losing at the start of my bowling career was valuable because that’s how you learn. If you win everything, you don’t always learn,” Brandolino said. “It’s always fun and exciting to win, but having this scholarship shows that all of the failures and the hard work it took to overcome them has helped me on the lanes, in school and in life.”
Next year, Brandolino will attend Jacksonville State University and compete as a member of the vaunted Gamecocks bowling team. Although the start of that adventure is still several months off, it’s something she’s already very much looking forward to.
“I’m really excited for the collegiate bowling journey,” Brandolino said. “I graduated high school early, so I’m hoping to do some PWBA Tour events this season when I can, and then I plan on majoring in Sports Psychology at Jacksonville State.
“My mental coach, Matthew Farber, has helped me a lot, so I’m hoping that someday I can kind of do what he does. I’d like to be able to work remotely and help people like he’s helped me while I’m out bowling on tour.”
One thing that’s certain is that any bowler who attempts to shoe up against Brandolino is bound to need all the help he or she can get.
Brandolino will be recognized in May during the 2025 USBC Convention at South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
This year’s award ceremony, which includes a variety of awards for youth and adult bowlers, will take place during the 2025 USBC Annual Meeting on May 5-8. The meeting will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com.
For a list of past Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow winners, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE to learn more about awards for adult youth leaders and scholarship opportunities for youth bowlers.
The award recognizes the star qualities of a female high school senior or college student, including accomplishments on the lanes, academic achievement and community service. Along with the prestigious honor, Brandolino will receive a $6,000 scholarship as the 2025 recipient.
Brandolino, 18, is a senior at Minooka High School, where she has maintained a 3.90 GPA and remained on High Honor Roll all four years despite challenging herself with countless honors and Advanced Placement classes. She also is one of the nation’s most accomplished young female bowlers, and that, combined with her academic performance and outstanding record of volunteer work, make her a worthy recipient of this award.
Although Brandolino was hopeful she’d be selected as this year’s Alberta E. Crowe recipient, she wasn’t sure how her resume would stack up against the other worthy candidates under consideration. As such, she was very pleased, albeit a bit perplexed, when word finally came down.
“At first, I was a little confused because I was unsure of why I was getting a call from USBC,” Brandolino said. “I was with my parents at the time, so it was a happy feeling once I realized why they were calling. It makes me happy to win this scholarship because I look up to many of the past recipients of this award. I’m happy to have my name included on that list.”
Another list Brandolino’s name has frequently found its way upon is the list of standout students at Minooka High School.
Brandolino has been a straight-A student multiple times during her tenure at MHS, which is no small feat considering the fact that her schedule has consistently been chock full of honors and AP-level classes in English, science and math. Those efforts have allowed her to remain ranked in the top 25% of her graduating class of nearly 730 students.
Outside the classroom, Brandolino has made her mark at Minooka by helping work on the school yearbook and serving as a member of the American Sign Language Club.
When not competing or working on her own game, Brandolino has gotten involved in the bowling center operations and tournament management side of the sport, working as a porter and counter staff at her home center as well as helping run multiple tournaments conducted by the Joliet Area USBC.
Brandolino has very much enjoyed those opportunities as she draws a great deal of satisfaction from giving back to the sport that she loves so much.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to do some clinics with Diandra,” Brandolino said, referring to 1998 Alberta E. Crowe Scholarship winner Diandra Asbaty (née Hyman). “I’d really like to do more of those in the future because I’d like to continue helping the next generation of bowlers.”
If Brandolino is even close to as good an instructor as she is a competitor, then those young bowlers will find themselves in very capable hands. After all, Brandolino’s bowling resume is formidable to say the least.
She finished qualifying as the leader in the 137-player U.S. Amateur field in 2024 at the age of 17. She went on to finish second at the event that year and then followed that performance up with a third-place effort at the 2025 U.S. Amateur.
Her performance in January earned her a spot on Team USA’s elite team and Junior Team USA for 2025 after having competed solely as a member of Junior Team USA the previous two years.
Brandolino hasn’t shied away from testing the waters at the professional level as well. She recorded a second-place finish at the 2023 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Rockford Regional and attempted to qualify for the field at the 2025 U.S. Open via the event’s pre-tournament qualifier.
It should come as no surprise that Brandolino frequently opts to challenge herself against tougher competition; after all, when she competes against young women her own age, the results tend to come out in her favor.
Brandolino’s resume includes major wins at events such as the 2024 Professional Bowlers Association LBC National Championship Clash and the 2023 Junior Gold Championships (U18 Girls).
That’s far from the end of her list of accomplishments, however, as Brandolino’s title count also includes 20 Elite Youth Tour wins, a record 13 Storm Youth Championships victories, nine USBC Youth Open titles, six Illinois State Scholarship tournament triumphs, five consecutive Illinois State Pepsi titles, four Wisconsin Youth Bowlers Tour wins, a pair of victories at the Midwest Youth Main Event and a USA Bowling U15 Team national title.
Still, Brandolino claims to have taken away just as much, if not more, from her failures as she has from her many wins.
“Going out there and losing at the start of my bowling career was valuable because that’s how you learn. If you win everything, you don’t always learn,” Brandolino said. “It’s always fun and exciting to win, but having this scholarship shows that all of the failures and the hard work it took to overcome them has helped me on the lanes, in school and in life.”
Next year, Brandolino will attend Jacksonville State University and compete as a member of the vaunted Gamecocks bowling team. Although the start of that adventure is still several months off, it’s something she’s already very much looking forward to.
“I’m really excited for the collegiate bowling journey,” Brandolino said. “I graduated high school early, so I’m hoping to do some PWBA Tour events this season when I can, and then I plan on majoring in Sports Psychology at Jacksonville State.
“My mental coach, Matthew Farber, has helped me a lot, so I’m hoping that someday I can kind of do what he does. I’d like to be able to work remotely and help people like he’s helped me while I’m out bowling on tour.”
One thing that’s certain is that any bowler who attempts to shoe up against Brandolino is bound to need all the help he or she can get.
Brandolino will be recognized in May during the 2025 USBC Convention at South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
This year’s award ceremony, which includes a variety of awards for youth and adult bowlers, will take place during the 2025 USBC Annual Meeting on May 5-8. The meeting will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com.
For a list of past Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow winners, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE to learn more about awards for adult youth leaders and scholarship opportunities for youth bowlers.