Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe cannot help but strike a note of amazement as he reflects on the motley mix of players the program comprises in 2025. That mix includes Shannon Pluhowsky who, at age 42 and in her 26th year wearing the red, white and blue, has been with the program longer than nine of her current female teammates have been alive.

“It’s crazy how quickly that happened,” Bryan O’Keefe said. “It just goes to show that the overall talent in our sport inside the U.S. is getting better and better at a younger age.”

Twenty-two-year-old Kirsten Moore, a 2023 Junior Team USA member who bowls for Youngstown State University, is no less amazed.

“I think the young talent that’s coming up these days is just incredible. I feel like, when I bowled in high school four or five years ago, most of the talent was with college girls. In the last couple of years, that talent has gotten younger and younger, transitioning even into early high school. They have incredible talent. They score so well. It’s so cool that [some of them] can make the adult team because they work so hard.

“Then there are others who have been on the team for so long that we can learn from their experiences on Team USA and on the pro tour when we go to training camp in September,” Moore continued.

O’Keefe adds that, “It’s a youth movement. Both teams a few years ago were more veterans. We went from having a more experienced and older team to seeing how quickly it flipped to now, when Jillian Martin was bowling with Shannon Pluhowsky (see sidebar). Jillian is younger than [the number of years that] Shannon’s been on the team.”

International bowling competition started in 1954 with the first world championships in Helsinki, Finland. Eight years later, the United States entered its first tournament with men competing at the 2nd American Zone Championships in Lima, Peru, and the women joining them the next year in the 5th World Championships in Mexico. 

Since then, about 350 Americans have combined to lead the world in gold, silver, and bronze medals in just about every major event. Yet while our nation’s top male amateurs had some early successes, none captured World Championships team gold medals between 1971 and 2008. The latter was the first year that professionals were allowed, and a group of future hall of famers immediately made an impact. They included Walter Ray Williams Jr., Tommy Jones, Chris Barnes, Patrick Allen, and Rhino Page plus amateur Bill Hoffman. 

“That first year with the pros I was at that training camp,” said Rod Ross, an assistant to Jeri Edwards at the time and Team USA head coach from 2010-2020. “That was a very interesting camp. It was hard to make a team because they wouldn’t really share any of their secrets since they made a living bowling against each other. 

“It took a few years to start getting that their tricks were their trick. It’s what they could do. They didn’t want others to do their trick. When they recognized that and started helping each other, it started getting better.”

Two years later, Jones, Barnes, Allen, Page, and fellow pros Bill O’Neill and Wes Malott repeated gold. In 2017, it was Barnes and Jones joined by Marshall Kent, Jakob Butturff, AJ Johnson, and Chris Via, the latter two who remain on the squad. 

Team USA’s women returned to the top of the podium in 2011 after a 24-year gap thanks to past and future pros Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Stefanie Johnson, Shannon Pluhowsky, Shannon O’Keefe, Liz Johnson, and Kelly Kulick. The women won again in 2015 with Danielle McEwan replacing Dorin-Ballard and in 2021 with Kulick, McEwan, Missy Parkin, and Jordan Richard. Team USA did not compete in the 2023 World Championships due to uncertainty coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Allen’s tenure ended in 2012, O’Neill’s in 2015, and Barnes and Jones in 2018. Kulick’s last year as a player was in 2021, after which she became Junior Team USA head coach and an assistant for the adults under Bryan O’Keefe. Johnson and Shannon O’Keefe retired after 18 years in 2022. When they chose to leave the program, they were all in their 30s and 40s. They were replaced by others in their 20s and 30s with AJ Johnson and Via joined by Kris Prather, Matt Russo, Andrew Anderson, and most recently Packy Hanrahan for the men and Julia Bond, Breanna Clemmer, Bryanna Coté, and Lauren Russo among the women.

In turn, they have witnessed a new generation of 15 players aged 24 and under who made the adult team at the recent Team USA Trials. These include 23-year-old Bryce Oliver; Ryan Barnes, CJ Petrin, and Julian Salinas, all 22; Connor Fleming, 20; and Landin Jordan, 18, for the men and Crystal Elliott, Chloe Lemke, and Hope Gramly, 24; Maranda Pattison, 23; Kirsten Moore, 22; Annaliese OBryant, 21; Jillian Martin, 20; and 18-year-old high school seniors Katelyn Abigania and Gianna Brandolino for the women. OBryant, Martin, Abigania, Brandolino, Fleming, and Jordan will serve on both the junior and adult teams this year.

Talent certainly is one reason why has the U.S. has been so consistent for so long — even with multiple changes of players and coaches. But it’s hardly the only one, experts say. 

Education

To some, it started when the Junior Team USA Program founded by the former Young American Bowling Alliance in the late 1990s became one with Team USA when the United States Bowling Congress formed in 2005. This created a true pipeline of battle-tested competitors who were more than ready when they became old enough to move to the adult team. At no time has this been more evident than it is with the new group, among whom 11 of the 14 men and 10 of the 14 women having served on Junior Team USA.

“On the development side of it, being able to come to camp and have those experiences and being around so many amazing youth bowlers kind of pushes you to get to the next level,” said Martin, who starred on Junior Team USA in 2023 and 2024. “And also, the amazing connections that you can build from Junior Team USA — not only from the players you are surrounded by, but the coaching staff that’s there. If you want to learn and you want to get better, there’s an amazing opportunity for that and to carry over to the adult team as well.”

Kulick said that, thanks to the subsequent growth in social media, youth bowlers have been able to learn of the nearly weekly events available to them throughout the nation before or in between their school competition years. 

“A big change has been trying to educate these youth players,” Kulick said. “We see that now with the amateur champion Crystal Elliott, who then went pro, plus Katelyn, who is 18, and Gianna, who is 18, making the stepladders finals. I think we’re trying to make the younger generation better, so we have fulfilment throughout the program for years to come.”

“That was the whole purpose of the Junior Team USA program to be a developmental program for what I always call the big boy and big girl team,” Bryan O’Keefe said. “You hope the juniors make their way and can transition to that. I didn’t know we’d have so many doing both at the same time. It’s good seeing the youth team kind of doing its job which is to be the bridge to the adult team.”

Pipeline

Another reason for the success is the growth of youth, high school, and collegiate programs. This is especially true on the female side, since the National Collegiate Athletic Association began recognizing bowling as a varsity sport. This has created an increasing number of younger players who clearly are ready to compete as adults. 

A perfect example is Abigania, the 2025 National Amateur Champion. She has had a stellar youth career as an individual that culminated in making Junior Team USA for the first time in 2023. Now, after finishing high school this spring, she will enroll at Vanderbilt University in the fall. 

“Going into the Team Trials, I knew I had a chance to qualify for the adult team this time around,” said Abigania, who turned 18 on Jan. 1. “It was a really big goal. The four girls who made both the junior team and adult team were the four who were chosen for the IBF Youth Championships in Korea last year, it’s real nice we got to be on the same team. We worked our butts off the entire week. 

“It feels really good. I remember when I was on the developmental team for Junior Team USA. Making the regular Junior Team USA felt so good. It doesn’t get old making either team. It’s a great feeling having USA on your back,” Abigania added.

Someone who knows how Abigania feels is long-time Team USA standout Lynda Barnes, who met husband Chris through the program and whose son Ryan is a second-generation member. 

“It is the best of the best. You want the best team out there,” said Lynda, who retired in 2009. “My last couple of years on the team, it became stronger. I felt the team was in good hands and that my role was good. My last year, we had Wendy, Carolyn, and Kim. In the back were Stefanie, and Shannon, and Shannon. This team was phenomenal.

“There is a lot of prestige in being able to wear the red, white and blue, because you know it represents the best of the best. Just making the team is such an honor. And the pride that goes with that has been passed along. The college kids know it is a big deal. Junior Team USA has built up so much it is a big deal. It has expanded by word of mouth alone that it’s the place you want to be if you want to be the best.”

Coaching

There also has been USBC’s expansion of its coaching program, which has created a pool of excellent teachers at all levels, allowing youth to improve faster and thus qualify for college scholarships. This includes former Team USA players who currently lead or assist college programs including the O’Keefes at McKendree University and Jacksonville State University, Lauren and Matt Russo at Maryville University, Bond at the University of Nebraska, Josie Barnes at Vanderbilt University, and Rick Steelsmith and Mark Lewis at Wichita State University. 

“I’m in the last year of my 20s and still feel young. But it feels like every year the team keeps getting younger and I obviously keep getting older,” said Bond, an assistant to Paul Klempa. “It’s a really interesting shift to be on that side, because when I was on the team the first year (2017) it was Pluhowsky and O’Keefe and Stefanie Johnson, and it was kind of crazy to see them doing their time and me transitioning into their places. It’s really cool to see.”

Having been on Junior Team USA in 2014-2017 and on Team USA every year since 2017, Bond has a unique perspective. 

“Part of it has to do with culture,” Bond said. “Team USA has done a very good job with the culture. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be with Junior Team USA and the introduction of the Junior Team USA Developmental team, I think it is what Team USA has envisioned for the program to constantly have youth come up through the program, learn the process and culture and be able to integrate almost seamlessly onto the adult team.

“I think it’s not only the hard work the athletes have done but also the way that USBC and Team USA has paved the way for us to do so.”

Also playing a significant role was the decision in the early 2000s to create a national selection committee to consider players’ overall résumé and not just those having a hot week in one building at the Team Trials. 

“Now they have the nucleus with Via, Packy, and Prather, so Team USA is in very good hands,” Jones said. “There are just so many kids that are coming up that definitely have some raw talent. They just need a little bit of coaching and guidance. But that’s the good thing about the program — you get in the program and even if you don’t get in an event, you are led in the right direction and your name gets out there, people look at you. Being on Team USA definitely helped me with my career.”

Added O’Neill: “We had great coaches there in Rod Ross and Bryan O’Keefe. You combine that with all the talent, it’s tough to beat.”

“I always say Team USA has great coaches and a great support system that cares about us as players,” said Abigania, a senior at O’Farrell Charter School in San Diego. “They always support us, give us everything they can when we are at camp. We always get 100 percent out of them. That’s a big reason for me and all our successes. Having the same coaches year by year, you kind of develop relationships with them. They truly do care about you and that does matter when you are bowling.”

The United States Bowling Congress moving to Arlington, Texas, in 2008 and opening the International Training and Research Center (ITRC) in 2010 also proved critical as it exposed players to the IRTC’s technology and knowledge. 

“Everything started changing over late in 2009 and into 2010,” Ross said. “That’s when we first started coming into the Training Center. We actually had the facility that had the technology to measure things and get feedback working on players’ versatilities.

“Once we got into Arlington, we started an athlete development program. It was an athletic assessment. As a coaching staff, we were looking at 3-5 years out to where we needed to be and how we needed to get there.”

As any current or past Team USA member will tell you, the program has been much more than just about how to throw a bowling ball. It’s about lane play and knowledge and experience. The grueling five-day Team Trials with different patterns force bowlers to know ball motion, transitions, and other nuances. The talent pool, especially on the women’s side, has become deeper and just so good. 

“These kids are phenomenal,” Lynda Barnes said. “Katelyn Abigania wasn’t scared of anything. I was shaking in my shoes and these girls are saying ‘Bring it on. Let’s go.’”

For Abigania, having Parkin in her hometown of San Diego is one reason why.

“I asked her if she felt this way being one of the youngsters like just getting on the junior team and adult team, ‘Did you think that people like me, and all the younger generations, would be looking up to you and idolizing you?’ She said, ‘No,’” Abigania said. “That’s how I feel. There’s no feeling like it because obviously your bowling has an impact on other people and that’s the goal. You want to grow the sport and inspire other young ladies out there to start bowling. Just thinking about it, it’s like, ‘Wow, I’ve come this far and I’m following the path of footsteps of those who I idolized growing up.’ It’s just such a surreal feeling.”

“Team USA was something you chased and you aspired to do,” Kulick said. “It was like the World Series of Bowling. You geared up for it. You got to see the world with your bowling ball. It’s still this one unique part of our sport that allows us to feel if we get closer to the Olympics each and every year, allowing competitors to understand about bowling on a world stage. You are just one piece of this gigantic puzzle that brings together this beautiful picture of a team.

“We’re really trying to set the foundation for youth development that we continue to grow that way. We get repeaters who know what the program is and can introduce that to the newcomers on the team and provide an awareness of everything. It makes it more comfortable and easier to adjust to making the team.” 

Passing the Baton

Finally, the continuity of the team and how each wave of players has mentored those coming behind them plays a key role, as well.

When Stefanie Johnson was known as Stefanie Nation, she qualified for Junior Team USA for four years. She only tried out for Team USA in 2004 because the old PWBA folded the year before, and she knew the national team provided the highest competition at that time.

“I was bowling against people I looked up to like Lynda Barnes,” Johnson said. “It was a neat experience overall. I’m glad I had that opportunity and the rest is obviously history. I continued to compete and make the team with lots of success.”

Also bowling and learning from the likes of Kulick, Liz Johnson, Dorin-Ballard, and others made it even more special. So why does Stefanie Johnson believe the women’s teams have continued to succeed despite lineup changes through the years?

“I think it’s the overall will to win,” she said. “We bowled against each other more than with each other. That’s a very unique dynamic for our specific national team vs. other countries. Having that camaraderie and having to share that common goal representing your country is very helpful in putting all your individual goals aside and coming together as one team. I think that stood out throughout the years regardless of who was actually competing physically on the team or not.”

As her Team USA career neared its end, Johnson said she took on more of a leadership role. 

“I got more towards the role of mentoring knowing that I was going to be leaving the team,” Johnson said. “I can remember my last training camp. I took a couple of the girls aside and reminded them, ‘The future is your team,’ and treat it as such with the respect it deserves. It’s not something to be taken lightly. There are so many people who would love to be in our shoes that may never have the opportunity.”

O’Keefe purposely left the program at the same time as Johnson, both to allow younger players to start their Team USA careers and be able to follow her husband and the team as a spectator. She is glad to see the youth movement that’s happened just since she retired. 

“This whole generation of females went from us older ones to the younger ones,” she said. “Any time you can have a strong youth base will inspire the even younger ones to continue doing that. When we can do it at such a young age and get them that experience hopefully it translates to continuing to win world championships.”

Pattison is among those to whom O’Keefe is passing the torch. Among the few fresh faces to never compete on Junior Team USA or even high school, she spent five years learning about team bowling under the O’Keefes at McKendree and Jacksonville State where she competed with Elliott, Gramly, and Clemmer. 

“This was my eighth year bowling the Trials, so it was really special,” Pattison said. “I have bowled and learned stuff over the years. Having been coached by Shannon and Bryan, Team USA was always something I wanted to be part of. I finally did it. It’s something I never thought I would have done. But just thinking about it, it’s remarkable.

“Their program teaches you about lane play and ball motion, the physical game, the mental game. Shannon taught me a lot about journaling, and I feel it made me aware not only of myself but others around me and what they are doing, and I feel that it really helps being aware of everything but not obsessing over it.”

Even someone like Coté has been mentored by the likes of Shannon O’Keefe and Stefanie Johnson and Pluhowsky. Now it is Pluhowsky and Coté, who grew up bowling against each other in the Phoenix area, who are paying it forward as the oldest players on the women’s team at 42 and 38, respectively.

“I know the time comes when you can’t do it forever and you have to pass the torch,” said Coté, who bowled at Central Missouri State and is on Team USA for the 10th time in 2025. “We can give as much guidance to the generations coming up behind us as far as expectations of being on the team and things we talked about with previous members like what the program is and don’t take it for granted. It’s something that we both are doing now.”

Such mentoring and guidance typically must be done at the annual training camp or during the events themselves. That’s different from other countries where, for some, bowling for their national team is a full-time paid job. However, having bowled on the tours or in college can negate that gap. 

“You don’t have to be besties but there has to be trust,” Bond said. “Since we don’t live together and do it the way other countries do there’s a lot of trust we have to form. I think we’ve always been good at it that is integral to being on the team.”

Team USA’s only major event this year is the IBF World Championships in late November and early December in Hong Kong where six men and six women will compete. Junior Team USA has multiple opportunities in 2025 including Abigania and Connor Fleming at the IBF Youth World Cup in June in Sweden and the team at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay in August. 

“Hopefully we’ve got the good veteran leadership and the young kids to teach what it’s all about,” said Bryan O’Keefe. “Hopefully the more experienced girls take the next step and pay it forward.

“Every time the U.S. enters a tournament, I think we’re the favorite to win. But bowling is a fickle sport. You just hope things work out. Combined with what I believe is one of the best coaching staffs in the world, along with the best players, that’s a hard combination to beat. So, we’ve been fortunate to win a lot of gold medals and hopefully it continues. I don’t see us slowing down.”

Team USA Women Capture Gold in IBF World Cup

Within the room that hosts meetings for Team USA and Junior Team USA, and as the paddock area during competitions at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas, is a wall all players aspire to reach. 

Whether you are a man, woman, or youth, this shows that you and your teammates achieved the ultimate success by earning team gold medals in international tournaments that year. 

Four women on the 2024 squad will be the newest players to appear on what’s affectionately called the Wall of Champions thanks to what they did in the early days of 2025. That’s when Bryanna Coté, Shannon Pluhowsky, Jillian Martin, and Lauren Russo combined talents to capture the gold medal in the International Bowling Federation World Cup in Hong Kong. 

Team USA beat Malaysia two games to one, taking Game 1, 214-195, dropping Game 2, 222-211, and winning the finale 198-176. This came after defeating Singapore, 3-1, in one of the semifinals and two years after falling short of gold in the inaugural team event in 2022. 

“It was really cool not only to have the opportunity to go out there, but also to end up winning with the amazing group of women I was with kind of showing me the ropes, because I’m kind of on the younger side,” said the 20-year-old Martin, a member of the University of Nebraska women’s team. “It was an amazing experience. I’ll never forget it. 

“I wanted to be on Team USA since I was really young, and when I was eligible for Team USA what comes with that is wanting to win the team medal. To be able to accomplish that, it feels amazing.”

“It was very exciting,” added Coté, 38, a 10-time Team USA member. “The first time I competed in that event was in 2022 and I was fortunate to win the singles medal. Any time we go out and compete for Team USA, the team gold medal is the one we want, and we came up just short of medaling in 2022. I wouldn’t say it was disappointing not to come away with a medal because we had a great team, and we were bowling really well. It just came down to the fact that the pins didn’t fall our way in the middle rounds.”

Coté was very familiar with Pluhowsky from their youth days in the Phoenix area. The 42-year-old Pluhowsky, who has been on Team USA since 2001, won the World Cup in 2002 and 2004 and earned silver medals in 2003 and 2015 when it was a singles-only event. She also captured gold in the Pan American Games singles in 2003 and 2015. 

“I was fortunate enough to be selected to go back and try again with a different group of ladies,” Coté said. “Singles still went well, just missing the medal round, but we applied what we learned in singles to the team event, which was all Baker. We had moments when we were bowling great and the pins were flying. We had moments when they weren’t falling our way, and we were just struggling to keep breaking out. That’s just bowling. With all the ups and downs, we were resilient and pushed forward and knew we were one of the best teams in the world, and we were not going to let an 8 pin or 9 pin get us down.”

The women’s gold was not the only team medal taken home by Team USA. The U.S. men (Packy Hanrahan, Kris Prather, Matt Russo, and Chris Via) shared the bronze medal with Kuwait after both lost their semifinal matches three games to one. Malaysia, which beat Kuwait, earned the gold over Puerto Rico, which topped the U.S. 

“Any time you bowl in a world event and win a medal is something we don’t want to take for granted,” said Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe. “The talent around the world is way better than it ever has been.

“Unfortunately, the guys had a really tough loss in a tough match. Sometimes, it’s not meant to be. But to watch the girls accomplish their goal was special.”

Meanwhile, Hanrahan collected bronze in the men’s singles event after losing two games to none in a semifinal match against Malaysia’s Rafiq Ismail, the eventual silver medalist. China’s Jian Chao Du earned the gold medal by winning the final two games, 226-166 and 235-193, after Ismail took the first game, 223-222.

The tournament that began in 1965 and most often was sponsored by AMF only featured singles through 2019. After the Covid-19 pandemic shut it down in 2020 and 2021, it added team events when it resumed in 2022 after IBF took over. With Team USA not competing in the 2023 World Championships, this also was the first chance to win gold medals since 2021. 

“We had a little hiatus from the last World Championships, so it was good to be back on the world stage and win some medals for the team,” O’Keefe said.