Women celebrate milestone year
June 01, 2013
By Wishelle Banks and Matt Cannizzaro
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. - In 1994, Susan Martin of Reno became part of bowling history as one of the first female bowlers to compete at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Nearly two decades later, she became the very first woman to celebrate 20 years of USBC Open Championships participation as she marched down the tournament's famed Center Aisle recently in her own backyard at the National Bowling Stadium.
The race now is on for Martin and a handful of other dedicated women looking to be the first to reach the coveted 25-year mark. She is one of 11 women who have competed every year since women first hit the Open Championships lanes in Mobile, Ala., in 1994, and the first of eight this year who already have logged tournament No. 20.
Martin, 56, has been joined nearly every step of the way by USBC Hall of Famer Pam Buckner, also from Reno, who has competed in the Open Championships every year since 1995.
"Being in the national tournament at the very beginning, and hopefully being able to say I'm one of the few women who have 25 consecutive years, is very important to me," Martin said. "It would be very special to be able to accomplish that. To see that happen would just be terrific. To be able to say all the hard work leading up to that paid off, would be something I'd be very proud of. We're both proud of that. We've been talking about that a lot this year."
Originally called the American Bowling Congress Championships Tournament, the event was male-only from its inception in 1901, until ABC opened its membership to women in 1994. It wasn't long before women were lining up to participate in the event, and they now make up more than 12 percent of the participants.
"I still think there are those who are kind of old-school, who think there should be two separate tournaments, or that men should be allowed to bowl in the women's tournament, but the transition actually was very timely," Martin said. "I think the sport needed to have that kind of boost, and I was just pleased to be there from the very beginning. It's a competition that still is predominantly male, but women have been welcome to participate."
That sentiment is echoed by Martha West, an Arkansas resident who has traveled with the Open Championships as an employee since it visited Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1992. She was there when the tournament opened its doors to women in 1994, and she has seen the evolution first-hand. She also was among the first females to participate and has logged 17 tournaments of her own.
"I was very excited to be included," said West, whose team in 1994 included other female employees. "Five of us got together and decided we would put our entry together and join in the fun. It was so exciting to actually take part in it, but I do remember the discomfort I felt. We went to the squad room, and across the aisle, was a man, who was very outspoken about his objection to women joining their tournament."
Despite the cold reaction in the squad room prior to their first march down Center Aisle, West and her teammates were warmly welcomed by the five men they shared the lanes with during their team event.
"The man in the squad room was very verbal and made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, but once we got on the lanes, he went the other way and was on the other end of the house," West said. "The men on our lanes were so welcoming and so nice, and it made up for it. We had a good time. We did not do well, but we had a good time."
Two decades later, most attitudes have changed, and there are female participants on every squad.
"Once the bowlers march through that curtain, it doesn't matter if they're male or female, or if they're from Chicago or Alaska," said West, whose husband Ken works at the tournament as a lane monitor. "You're just a bowler, and you're participating in this event. The excitement of marching through that curtain and down Center Aisle is there every time. I hear that over and over."
Tisha Carter of Las Vegas, a former co-worker of West, also made her 20th Open Championships appearance this year at the NBS. She typically bowls later in the year but pushed the trip up because she's pregnant and didn't want to miss the year. Carter also has her sights set on the distinction of being the first woman to reach 25 years, and she plans to schedule her 2018 appearance for Opening Day.
"My team wasn't scheduled to bowl until the end of May, so I came down earlier to just find a spot to make sure I got my 20th year," Carter said. "It's my goal to get that plaque and be one of the first women to do it. We're going to try and get on that opening squad. That'll be my claim to fame."
Women immediately found success on the lanes at the Open Championships as Rayetta Dominquez of Grove, Okla., helped Canterbury Lanes 1 to the 1994 Booster Team title, making her the tournament's first woman champion.
In 2001, Kristine Kropf of Anaheim, Calif., became the first woman to roll a perfect game on the tournament lanes. Seven others have achieved the feat since, including USBC Hall of Famer Wendy Macpherson, who rolled one in 2006 en route to an 812 series, making her the first woman to win a Regular Division title.
Former Team USA member Brenda Padilla of Mansfield, Texas, also owns a perfect game and Regular Division title at the Open Championships. She and her husband, Stephen, claimed the 2009 Regular Doubles title with a record score of 1,566, and her 300 came in singles the same afternoon.
Kristal Scott of Wichita, Kan., is the only other woman with an 800 at the Open Championships and was the first to reach the milestone with an 816 effort early in the 2006 tournament.
Clyde Feagin of DeKalb, Texas, Zon Soto of Daly City, Calif., Carolyn Wing of Pacifica, Calif., Dominguez, Shirley Gordon of Cumberland, Maine, and Marleen Huikko of Buffalo, Minn., also reached 20 years recently, while Leslie Rainville of Pacifica, Calif., Denise Welker of Fulshear, Texas, and Kathie Tekavec of Leadville, Colo., are scheduled to reach the mark later in the 2013 event.
The 2013 Open Championships kicked off March 1 and will conclude July 7. For the first time in history, the USBC Women's Championships is being held in the same host city in the same year. The 2013 Women's Championships got underway April 12 on 44 specially-constructed lanes at the nearby Reno-Sparks Convention Center and will run until July 1.
Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.
USBC Communications
RENO, Nev. - In 1994, Susan Martin of Reno became part of bowling history as one of the first female bowlers to compete at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.Nearly two decades later, she became the very first woman to celebrate 20 years of USBC Open Championships participation as she marched down the tournament's famed Center Aisle recently in her own backyard at the National Bowling Stadium.
The race now is on for Martin and a handful of other dedicated women looking to be the first to reach the coveted 25-year mark. She is one of 11 women who have competed every year since women first hit the Open Championships lanes in Mobile, Ala., in 1994, and the first of eight this year who already have logged tournament No. 20.
Martin, 56, has been joined nearly every step of the way by USBC Hall of Famer Pam Buckner, also from Reno, who has competed in the Open Championships every year since 1995.
"Being in the national tournament at the very beginning, and hopefully being able to say I'm one of the few women who have 25 consecutive years, is very important to me," Martin said. "It would be very special to be able to accomplish that. To see that happen would just be terrific. To be able to say all the hard work leading up to that paid off, would be something I'd be very proud of. We're both proud of that. We've been talking about that a lot this year."
Originally called the American Bowling Congress Championships Tournament, the event was male-only from its inception in 1901, until ABC opened its membership to women in 1994. It wasn't long before women were lining up to participate in the event, and they now make up more than 12 percent of the participants.
"I still think there are those who are kind of old-school, who think there should be two separate tournaments, or that men should be allowed to bowl in the women's tournament, but the transition actually was very timely," Martin said. "I think the sport needed to have that kind of boost, and I was just pleased to be there from the very beginning. It's a competition that still is predominantly male, but women have been welcome to participate."
That sentiment is echoed by Martha West, an Arkansas resident who has traveled with the Open Championships as an employee since it visited Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1992. She was there when the tournament opened its doors to women in 1994, and she has seen the evolution first-hand. She also was among the first females to participate and has logged 17 tournaments of her own.
"I was very excited to be included," said West, whose team in 1994 included other female employees. "Five of us got together and decided we would put our entry together and join in the fun. It was so exciting to actually take part in it, but I do remember the discomfort I felt. We went to the squad room, and across the aisle, was a man, who was very outspoken about his objection to women joining their tournament."
Despite the cold reaction in the squad room prior to their first march down Center Aisle, West and her teammates were warmly welcomed by the five men they shared the lanes with during their team event.
"The man in the squad room was very verbal and made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, but once we got on the lanes, he went the other way and was on the other end of the house," West said. "The men on our lanes were so welcoming and so nice, and it made up for it. We had a good time. We did not do well, but we had a good time."
Two decades later, most attitudes have changed, and there are female participants on every squad.
"Once the bowlers march through that curtain, it doesn't matter if they're male or female, or if they're from Chicago or Alaska," said West, whose husband Ken works at the tournament as a lane monitor. "You're just a bowler, and you're participating in this event. The excitement of marching through that curtain and down Center Aisle is there every time. I hear that over and over."
Tisha Carter of Las Vegas, a former co-worker of West, also made her 20th Open Championships appearance this year at the NBS. She typically bowls later in the year but pushed the trip up because she's pregnant and didn't want to miss the year. Carter also has her sights set on the distinction of being the first woman to reach 25 years, and she plans to schedule her 2018 appearance for Opening Day."My team wasn't scheduled to bowl until the end of May, so I came down earlier to just find a spot to make sure I got my 20th year," Carter said. "It's my goal to get that plaque and be one of the first women to do it. We're going to try and get on that opening squad. That'll be my claim to fame."
Women immediately found success on the lanes at the Open Championships as Rayetta Dominquez of Grove, Okla., helped Canterbury Lanes 1 to the 1994 Booster Team title, making her the tournament's first woman champion.
In 2001, Kristine Kropf of Anaheim, Calif., became the first woman to roll a perfect game on the tournament lanes. Seven others have achieved the feat since, including USBC Hall of Famer Wendy Macpherson, who rolled one in 2006 en route to an 812 series, making her the first woman to win a Regular Division title.
Former Team USA member Brenda Padilla of Mansfield, Texas, also owns a perfect game and Regular Division title at the Open Championships. She and her husband, Stephen, claimed the 2009 Regular Doubles title with a record score of 1,566, and her 300 came in singles the same afternoon.
Kristal Scott of Wichita, Kan., is the only other woman with an 800 at the Open Championships and was the first to reach the milestone with an 816 effort early in the 2006 tournament.
Clyde Feagin of DeKalb, Texas, Zon Soto of Daly City, Calif., Carolyn Wing of Pacifica, Calif., Dominguez, Shirley Gordon of Cumberland, Maine, and Marleen Huikko of Buffalo, Minn., also reached 20 years recently, while Leslie Rainville of Pacifica, Calif., Denise Welker of Fulshear, Texas, and Kathie Tekavec of Leadville, Colo., are scheduled to reach the mark later in the 2013 event.
The 2013 Open Championships kicked off March 1 and will conclude July 7. For the first time in history, the USBC Women's Championships is being held in the same host city in the same year. The 2013 Women's Championships got underway April 12 on 44 specially-constructed lanes at the nearby Reno-Sparks Convention Center and will run until July 1.
Presenting sponsors for the 2013 USBC Open Championships include Circus Circus Reno, Eldorado Hotel Casino Reno and Silver Legacy Resort Casino Reno.