Zavala set for Team USA debut at 2022 PANAM Women’s Championships
October 19, 2022
ARLINGTON, Texas – Stephanie Zavala has a history of making some noise when she arrives on bowling’s biggest stages.
The 26-year-old from Downey, California, quickly established herself as one of the brightest young stars on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour after a historic debut in 2021, becoming the first newcomer in nearly 35 years to win three titles in her first season on the way to earning the PWBA Rookie of the Year award.
She added a fourth victory and first major in 2022 by capturing the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship in August, averaging more than 250 in her three wins during the stepladder live on CBS Sports Network.
Zavala will look to continue the trend on the international landscape starting this week in Lima, Peru, as she makes her on-lane debut for Team USA at the PANAM Bowling Women’s Championships.
She’ll be joined at the Bowling Center of La Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) by Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina; Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York; Lauren Pate of Ballwin, Missouri; and Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio.
Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe and Junior Team USA head coach Kelly Kulick also will make the trip to the 24-lane facility that held the Pan American Games in 2019.
The team will start its journey to Lima on Thursday, and the tournament’s official practice session and opening ceremony will take place Sunday.*
The action will get underway Monday with singles, and Team USA also will be vying for medals in doubles, trios and five-player team competition. The event will conclude Oct. 28.*
The PANAM Women’s Championships will feature countries from within the Western Hemisphere.
“I’m extremely excited and trying to balance the nerves and adrenaline,” Zavala said. “It was a goal of mine to make Team USA, but you also want to go somewhere and put that jersey on and have that red, white and blue on your back. The opportunity to hopefully help the team come home with a few medals is awesome.”
Zavala earned a spot on Team USA and Junior Team USA for the first time in 2017 as a junior at Sam Houston State University, but she was not selected to compete during the year. Her spot on the adult team in 2022 marks her second appearance as part of the program.
The powerful right-hander learned a lot about her game and herself between that time.
“I was still a kid when I first made the program,” Zavala said. “I really didn’t know the first thing about what it meant to be on the team and everything that goes on behind the scenes. I just feel like I’ve grown so much as a person. Mentally and physically, my game has improved, and I feel like I’ve matured so much more and understand what it all means now. It’s not just being on the team. Now, you have to represent.”
In prepping for her first international excursion, Zavala has leaned on the experience of her teammates. From the do’s and don’ts of packing to trimming an arsenal down to six bowling balls all requires some guidance for a first-time traveler, and she’s been in good hands.
All five of her teammates have won at least two gold medals at the PANAM Women’s Championships, and Kulick collected 15 medals (nine gold) at the event during her time as an athlete on the team.
“I’ve talked to a few here and there, and I feel like they’re all my big sisters,” Zavala said. “They’re just guiding me in this entire process, and I think that’s really awesome of them to do.”
Team USA collected four of the five gold medals in the women’s division at the 2021 event. Clemmer, Coté and Pate will return to the mix in 2022 after a successful showing last October at Bolera Departamental in Cali, Colombia.
The team was victorious in doubles (Clemmer and Pate), trios (Coté, Julia Bond and Sydney Brummett), team (Bond, Brummett, Clemmer, Coté, Pate and Gazmine Mason) and all-events (Clemmer).
The group also collected bronze medals in trios (Clemmer, Mason and Pate) and all-events (Coté) in 2021.
“I’m excited to compete with this team,” Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe said. “We have a great combination of experience and youth filled with professional titles and international medals. Our goal is to compete as a team and trust what we bring to the table will be enough to bring home some hardware.”
Zavala found a balance between bowling and rest after she hoisted the trophy at the Tour Championship in Dallas, but she’s been gearing up in the past couple weeks for her Team USA debut.
Her win at the major helped turn around a tour season that featured some ups and downs, but more importantly, it helped reestablish her confidence and let her know she would not be defined by one or two sub-par performances.
“It still doesn’t feel like I actually won that since the season was such a struggle,” Zavala said. “It felt reassuring. After not really making any cuts, my confidence came back, and I felt good about my game again. Had I not performed well that last week, my confidence would have been really shaken going into this week. Now, I kind of feel like if I can erase the struggles and keep grinding and find a way to come out on top, I’ll be OK. You just have to keep working. That’s what I’ve learned on tour – don’t ever give up.”
To find results and more from the 2022 PANAM Women’s Championships, visit BOWL.com/2022PANAMBowling.
Shortly after returning home, Coté, McEwan and Richard will again be packing their red, white and blue jerseys as part of the contingent heading to Queensland, Australia, for the International Bowling Federation World Cup 2022 presented by QubicaAMF.
They will join Stefanie Johnson to complete the women’s team while Jakob Butturff, AJ Johnson, Kris Prather and Kyle Troup will represent the men’s program from Nov. 12-23 at Suncity Tenpin Bowl.
*The tournament schedule was updated. The official practice session previously was Saturday, with singles starting Sunday. The tournament still will conclude Oct. 28.
The 26-year-old from Downey, California, quickly established herself as one of the brightest young stars on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour after a historic debut in 2021, becoming the first newcomer in nearly 35 years to win three titles in her first season on the way to earning the PWBA Rookie of the Year award.
She added a fourth victory and first major in 2022 by capturing the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship in August, averaging more than 250 in her three wins during the stepladder live on CBS Sports Network.
Zavala will look to continue the trend on the international landscape starting this week in Lima, Peru, as she makes her on-lane debut for Team USA at the PANAM Bowling Women’s Championships.
She’ll be joined at the Bowling Center of La Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) by Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina; Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York; Lauren Pate of Ballwin, Missouri; and Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio.
Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe and Junior Team USA head coach Kelly Kulick also will make the trip to the 24-lane facility that held the Pan American Games in 2019.
The team will start its journey to Lima on Thursday, and the tournament’s official practice session and opening ceremony will take place Sunday.*
The action will get underway Monday with singles, and Team USA also will be vying for medals in doubles, trios and five-player team competition. The event will conclude Oct. 28.*
The PANAM Women’s Championships will feature countries from within the Western Hemisphere.
“I’m extremely excited and trying to balance the nerves and adrenaline,” Zavala said. “It was a goal of mine to make Team USA, but you also want to go somewhere and put that jersey on and have that red, white and blue on your back. The opportunity to hopefully help the team come home with a few medals is awesome.”
Zavala earned a spot on Team USA and Junior Team USA for the first time in 2017 as a junior at Sam Houston State University, but she was not selected to compete during the year. Her spot on the adult team in 2022 marks her second appearance as part of the program.
The powerful right-hander learned a lot about her game and herself between that time.
“I was still a kid when I first made the program,” Zavala said. “I really didn’t know the first thing about what it meant to be on the team and everything that goes on behind the scenes. I just feel like I’ve grown so much as a person. Mentally and physically, my game has improved, and I feel like I’ve matured so much more and understand what it all means now. It’s not just being on the team. Now, you have to represent.”
In prepping for her first international excursion, Zavala has leaned on the experience of her teammates. From the do’s and don’ts of packing to trimming an arsenal down to six bowling balls all requires some guidance for a first-time traveler, and she’s been in good hands.
All five of her teammates have won at least two gold medals at the PANAM Women’s Championships, and Kulick collected 15 medals (nine gold) at the event during her time as an athlete on the team.
“I’ve talked to a few here and there, and I feel like they’re all my big sisters,” Zavala said. “They’re just guiding me in this entire process, and I think that’s really awesome of them to do.”
Team USA collected four of the five gold medals in the women’s division at the 2021 event. Clemmer, Coté and Pate will return to the mix in 2022 after a successful showing last October at Bolera Departamental in Cali, Colombia.
The team was victorious in doubles (Clemmer and Pate), trios (Coté, Julia Bond and Sydney Brummett), team (Bond, Brummett, Clemmer, Coté, Pate and Gazmine Mason) and all-events (Clemmer).
The group also collected bronze medals in trios (Clemmer, Mason and Pate) and all-events (Coté) in 2021.
“I’m excited to compete with this team,” Team USA head coach Bryan O’Keefe said. “We have a great combination of experience and youth filled with professional titles and international medals. Our goal is to compete as a team and trust what we bring to the table will be enough to bring home some hardware.”
Zavala found a balance between bowling and rest after she hoisted the trophy at the Tour Championship in Dallas, but she’s been gearing up in the past couple weeks for her Team USA debut.
Her win at the major helped turn around a tour season that featured some ups and downs, but more importantly, it helped reestablish her confidence and let her know she would not be defined by one or two sub-par performances.
“It still doesn’t feel like I actually won that since the season was such a struggle,” Zavala said. “It felt reassuring. After not really making any cuts, my confidence came back, and I felt good about my game again. Had I not performed well that last week, my confidence would have been really shaken going into this week. Now, I kind of feel like if I can erase the struggles and keep grinding and find a way to come out on top, I’ll be OK. You just have to keep working. That’s what I’ve learned on tour – don’t ever give up.”
To find results and more from the 2022 PANAM Women’s Championships, visit BOWL.com/2022PANAMBowling.
Shortly after returning home, Coté, McEwan and Richard will again be packing their red, white and blue jerseys as part of the contingent heading to Queensland, Australia, for the International Bowling Federation World Cup 2022 presented by QubicaAMF.
They will join Stefanie Johnson to complete the women’s team while Jakob Butturff, AJ Johnson, Kris Prather and Kyle Troup will represent the men’s program from Nov. 12-23 at Suncity Tenpin Bowl.
*The tournament schedule was updated. The official practice session previously was Saturday, with singles starting Sunday. The tournament still will conclude Oct. 28.