Missy Makes Stepladder Finals in PWBA Fountain Valley Open

In the third week of the PWBA season, I was actually able to sleep in my own bed and compete, as the PWBA Tour travelled to Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, CA for the PWBA Fountain Valley Open. 

Prior to the tournament, I invited some of the bowlers over for a fun little get together at my house. It was nice to get to know some of the ladies a bit more off the lanes. Everyone seemed to have a great time. 

This week, I also had a few of the ladies stay at my house for the tournament - Danielle McEwan, Tannya Roumimper and Jodi Woessner. 

So funny side story...every morning my husband Drew got up early to make us breakfast before we bowled, with the catch that we all had to make each cut. Well we all ended up making the top 32. Three out of the 4 made the top 12 and 2 of us made the final 4 stepladder finals. So I think Drew needs to cook breakfast for us every week! 

This week, we bowled on a 46’ pattern with 26mL using Current conditioner. 

During qualifying, I struggled the first couple of games and was -45 after two games. I then moved a zone further inside and switched to my trusty Columbia 300 Oath and shot 246, 222, 225, 211, 243 and 223 to end up +125 overall and in 10th place. 

The next block, the lanes were pretty tricky and I grinded, shooting 184, 206, 238, 192, 209, 195, 224 and 212 using my Columbia 300 Oath and Hammer Rhodman Pearl. That put me at +185 and tied for 8th place. It took +18 to make the top 32.

In the Round of 32, I used my Track Paradox Black to shoot games of 242, 194, 254, 236, and 191. Then switched to my Hammer Rhodman Pearl and shot 210, 224 and 209 for +345 overall. This jumped me into 5th place. It took +205 to make the top 12, in which there was a tie between Diana Zavjalova and Liz Johnson. Liz ended up winning the one-game roll-off. 

In the Round of 12, we bowled six more games before cutting to the top 4 stepladder finals. I used my Paradox Black and Rip’d Solid to shoot 236, 235, 226 and 228 which jumped me into 2nd place. Unfortunately, I hit a really tough pair and shot 172 dropping me down to 4th place going into the final game.

I knew everything was close for making the stepladder finals. Luckily I got lined up quick and made great shots early and shot 214 to maintain the 4th and final position for the stepladder finals.

This year, all of the events finish in the center we compete in. So with a little break, it was time to warm up for the LIVE XtraFrame stepladder finals. 

I faced No. 3 seed and Team USA teammate Danielle McEwan in the first match. Rocio Restrepo was 2nd seed and Bryanna Cote was the tournament leader. 

Due to how everyone played the lanes during practice, the pair got tricky in a hurry. I struggled to find a consistent line in the beginning of the game and switched to my Rip’d Solid and moved further inside to strike out for 202, but it was a little too late as I lost to Danielle’s 220.

Although it’s not the overall outcome I had hoped for, it was still a great week! 

Words can’t express how thankful I am for all of my family, friends, employees, students and fans that came out to cheer me on all week at the event! I loved hearing all of the clapping and seeing everyone! It was amazingly gratifying to be able to share the excitement of the tournament with everyone first hand. 

Congratulations to Danielle McEwan for winning the tournament! 

2018 PWBA Sonoma County Open

For our second stop of the PWBA season, we travelled to Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park, CA for the PWBA Sonoma County Open.

Although it’s only a 7 hour drive, I choose to fly this year because of traveling with my little guy. It was DJ’s first flight and he did awesome! 

This week, we bowled on a 36’ pattern with 26 mL on curve conditioner. Here’s a look at the pattern.

Knowing this bowling center, I knew it would be a lower scoring pace since moving from pair to pair is very difficult. 

My first block of qualifying was definitely a bit of a roller coaster. I started out using my Paradox Black with 1000 grit and shot 174 to start. I brought it back with games of 228 and 223, but then followed it up with 186 and 159. 

Making the turn to the low end of the house, I switched to my Hammer Rhodman Pearl and shot 212 and 204, but struggled the last game shooting 169 for -45 overall. I was currently the cut number to the top 32.

After a nice relaxing lunch and a quick nap, I bowled another 8-game block of qualifying before the field would be cut to the top 32. 

This time, I started with my Hammer Diesel and shot 172 to start. I then brought it back shooting 215, 218 and 236, but then hit a bit of transition and shot 166. Switching to my Paradox Black, I Shot 192 and then switched to the Rhodman Pearl for 203 and 225 to end the day at -18. This put me in 21st place going into the Round of 32. It took -65 to make the cut.

The next morning, we bowled another 8-game block for the Round of 32. My goal was to minimize my low games and simply work on execution. Well I did just that. I used my Paradox Black to shoot 201, 205, 212 and 212. I was slowly climbing closer to the cut for the top 12. 

I then switched to my Hammer Diesel and shot 223 and 204. Then switching again to my Rhodman Pearl, I struck out in the 8th, 9th and 10th to shot 217 and was the cut number going into the last game. 

Unfortunately, I lost my look a bit and struggled a little with execution the final game. I needed to strike my first shot in the 10th frame to make the cut to the top 12 and failed to do so. I shot 190 which put me at +64 for the day and +46 overall. I missed the cut my 11 pins. 

So I finished the tournament in 13th place. I’m disappointed for not making the top 12, but very happy with my execution as the lanes were very difficult and I made a lot of great shots and kept the ball in play. Although it’s not where I quite want to be yet, it was definitely a far better week than my 1st week in Las Vegas. 

Now it’s on to next week, where I get to stay close to home for the PWBA Fountain Valley Open. 

Be sure to follow me on social media for the most up-to-date information all PWBA Season Long: 
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Missy Makes Team USA 2018

Missy Parkin was selected by the National Selection Committee to represent USBC Team USA in 2018. This marks Missy's 6th year in-a-row on Team USA and 9th year overall.

For the full story, click here.

Congratulations to Shannon O'Keefe and Kyle Troup for winning USBC Team Trials and Cortez Schenck and Jordan Richard for winning the U.S. National Amateur Bowling Championships.

Missy and Drew Welcome First Child

Missy and Drew Parkin welcomed a baby boy - Drew Steven Parkin Jr. "DJ" on Saturday, December 30th at 6:41am. DJ weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz and was 19" long. Both Mommy and baby are doing well.

2017 - A Year in Review

I can't believe we are already at the end of 2017! I don't know about you, but this year has definitely flown by. Luckily for myself and the Parkin family, this year has been much better and definitely exciting!

Our biggest news for 2017 is the awaiting arrival of our Baby Boy, who is due any day now. After several years of trying to have a baby, as well as two heartbreaking miscarriages, Drew and I couldn't be happier for this new addition to our family. I'll be sure to post pictures of our little guy as soon as possible.

Here's a crazy story about finding out about our little bundle of joy... It was one week before the 2017 PWBA Tour was about to start. I felt I was in tremendous shape and bowling very well and optimistic for a great upcoming season. That morning, I was flying to Arlington, TX to USBC headquarters and to the ITRC for a very special meet & greet and mini bowling lesson with the Fab Four. For those that aren't familiar, every year, USBC chooses four ladies that are breast cancer survivors and bring them in to the ITRC for a new ball, lessons with Team USA members and then they are part of the opening ceremonies for the Women's Championships. (For more on the Fab Four, click here.)

So...prior to my heading to the airport, I decided for some reason to take a pregnancy test (I wasn't even late yet), but had a funny feeling and sure enough, I was pregnant! Ironically, as mentioned before, this was exactly one week before the PWBA Tour started it's 14 tournament stretch.

For those that aren't aware, I had a miscarriage while competing in an event during the 2016 PWBA Tour season. It was devastating, I was away from my husband and wasn't able to make it home for an entire week afterwards. So naturally, I was nervous for the same scenario, but excited for the possibility of a healthy baby this time around.

So with emotions on high, I began my 2017 PWBA Tour Season. Only my immediate family and best friends new that I was pregnant. Luckily the first 3 stops were all on the West Coast, so I always had family or friends traveling with me during those first few weeks. I battled morning sickness and fatigue right from that very first stop at the PWBA Sonoma County Open, all the way through the last standard event of the PWBA season - The PWBA Rochester Open. Luckily, for some reason, my morning sickness wasn't bad while I was actually competing. Maybe it was the extra focus that helped, but the minute I would get done bowling, I was miserable and very tired.

Despite my growing body, I did manage to bowl every event and had a very consistent season. I didn't exactly reach my goals, but all things considered it was overall a good season. I managed to come in 12th place in points and was the only bowler to qualify for the prestigious PWBA Tour Championships that hadn't made a TV show appearance that year. I cashed in 12 of 14 events, making 6 match play appearances. I just missed making the TV show, finishing in 5th place at both the PWBA Sonoma County Open and the PWBA Rochester Open. I also came in 7th place at the USBC Queens event.

PWBA Tour Championship at Richmond Raceway 

Besides the National PWBA Tour, I also competed at the 2017 Team USA Trials, qualifying for Team USA 2017, making it my 8th year on the adult team. I also successfully defended my title winning back-to-back-to-back PWBA West Regionals, this year held at the PWBA Earl Anthony Memorial Regional event in Dublin, CA.

Besides bowling, my husband Drew and I expanded our pro shop business - Parkin's Bowling Supply. We opened three new locations this year - inside of Brunswick Vista Lanes in Palmdale, CA in April; inside of Brunswick Sands Bowl in Lancaster, CA in May and inside of Oak Tree Lanes in Diamond Bar, CA earlier this month. We now have a total of 6 pro shop locations throughout the Southern California area. So if you're in the area, be sure to stop by and check us out.

Inside of Brunswick Vista Lanes

Inside of Brunswick Sands Bowl

Inside of Oak Tree Lanes

Well that's a wrap! I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holidays! Until 2018!

Team USA Camp 2017

This year, Team USA camp at the International Training and Research Center (ITRC) was definitely a different experience for me. I went to camp, but without any bowling balls. Being too far along in my pregnancy, I still wanted to attend camp and be there for my teammates, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain the long hours of workouts and practice on the lanes.

I was happy to still participate, being an extra set of eyes for lane play strategy and the competitions. I also was able to learn a lot this week, not only through the classroom material, but also through having the different perspective of intensely watching and helping my teammates as they trained.

Even though camp involved long hours and tons of on-lane work, we also still managed to have a little fun off the lanes during our picture day.

I have to say that our ladies worked their butts off! They bowled more than we've ever bowled at Camp and also had the unique experience to work with a variety of World Class Coaches.

This year, we had the addition of some of the best coaches in the world helping our Team USA Head Coach Rod Ross. Our additional coaches included: Junior Team USA Head Coach Bryan O'Keefe, Del Warren, Bill Spigner and Andy Diercks.

Since I also do a lot of coaching, it was nice to observe how the different coaches would tackle fixing physical game issues for the players and/or seeing the differences in interactions, etc. So I was able to learn a lot from a coaching perspective as well.

HUGE congratulations to Kelly Kulick, Stefanie Johnson, Shannon Pluhowsky, Shannon O'Keefe, Danielle McEwan and Josie Barnes who were selected to represent Team USA in the World Championships that will be contested at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, Nev. from Nov. 24-Dec. 4. I know you'll all do our Team and Country proud!!! Go USA!

For the full story regarding the 2017 World Championships, click here. 

Missy Qualifies for Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship

Last week, I qualified in the top 16 for the season-ending Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship. It was such an incredible experience as four lanes were constructed, courtesy of QubicaAMF, inside the Old Dominion Building at the Richmond Raceway.  

The venue almost looked as if it was meant for the four lanes as they fit perfectly under the oblong dome of the building. When you stepped outside of the building, the giant grandstands for the Raceway along with the circular track were our backdrop. 

Upon our arrival we received an amazing goody bag! There was definitely a ton of silliness prior to our competition, as we were more amused than probably anyone about our life size cardboard cutouts. 

Prior to competition, we went out to a nice Teppanyaki Japanese dinner. It got to be pretty hilarious because the chef kept giving me all of the extra food that was cooked. Apparently, he thought I needed to eat for four. Lol!

The next morning, I was in the first match against my great friend Maria Jose Rodriguez. This week we bowled on a 40' pattern with nearly 23 mL of oil using Current conditioner. The lanes were definitely hooking as our spare balls were even taking off. 

I used my Ebonite Game Breaker 2 Phenom for the entire match. It allowed me to calm down the backend reaction, thus smoothening out the pattern. 

The format for the event was Best of 5 single elimination matchplay and we were seeded based on our qualifying ranking for the season. Another words, the first person to win 3 games advanced. Loser went home. I was the No. 12 seed and Maria was the No. 9 seed. 

In our first game, I needed 9/X in the 10th frame to win the game. I ended on the lane that was getting a little tricky and unfortunately left the 2,8 spare. I then needed to pick it up and strike to tie Maria. I did indeed pick up the spare and then threw a flush strike for the tie. 

In the event of a tie, the higher seed gets to pick the starting lane and the order that the one-ball rolloff will occur. Maria smartly choose my bad lane, the right lane and she decided to go first. She went up and left a 4 pin and I went up and struck for the game 1 win. 

In the next game, it was another close match as we both were striking. I ended up shutting Maria out shooting 259 to her 237 to go up 2-0. 

Going into game 3 and needing to make small adjustments on the two lanes to continue to carry, it was another close match. I finally figured out the left lane, which had started to be troublesome and was able to throw 4-in-a-row late in the game for a 226-207 win thus moving on in the tournament. 

The next morning, I would face my other great friend and occasional roommate on tour, No. 4 seed Danielle McEwan. 

We had a great match, with both of us striking at different times and keeping things close. I started off the first game with the incorrect ball and got down to an early deficit losing 178-212. 

In game 2, I figured it out using my Phenom and fired back with a 231 victory over Danielle's 196. However, in game 3 the lanes started to transition a bit quicker. I again lost my line and needed to make fine tune adjustments to get back on track. With the lanes conditions as they were, you couldn't really move left as the lanes broke down. Instead you needed to change speeds, hand positions or ball down and stay relatively in the same place on the lane.

I finally figured them out, staying more behind the ball using the same ball and struck out for 189 but a little too late for Danielle's 218.

Then, facing elimination, I knew I needed a big game. We were both tied, having a dutch 200 game going. I couldn't strike on the right lane, leaving back-to-back 10 pins. In a crucial point in the match, I made a gutsy decision to switch to my Ebonite Phenom Pearl only on the right lane. This proved to be the correct answer as I started striking strikes. 

However, Danielle also started striking strikes. We were tied going into the 10th frame, both being able to strike out for 260. Danielle went up in the 10th frame first. She doubled and then left 7 on her fill ball. I would need to go up and double in the 10th frame and then get 8 pins on my fill ball to force the match to game 5.

I bowled the 10th frame on the right lane, where I had earlier switched balls. I threw it well the first shot for a light strike. Then on my next shot, I liked it even more off my hand, but unfortunately left a stubborn 10 pin which eliminated me from the tournament. 

Congratulations to Team USA Teammate Shannon O'keefe for winning her first major title capturing the Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship. 

After the tournament, my husband Drew, my in-laws and I had a mini vacation. We spent our first day exploring history by visiting Jamestown, Yorktown battlefield and Colonial Williamsburg. 

The next day, we ventured to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. It was fun to go back in time and explore the grounds. 

After that, we drove into Washington D.C. to see some of the monuments before it got dark. We stopped first at the Washington Monument, followed by the WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the White House. 

Drew and I had fun re-creating pictures from our very first trip together, back in December of 2008, when we first started dating. 

The next day, we were able to tour the Capitol Building and even got lucky enough to see the House of Representatives. Although we got ushered in just after they had adjourned for the weekend. 

After that, we visited the Ford Theatre, the site of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, as well as seeing where the former President passed away.  

That night, we went to the Washington Nationals baseball game against the Phillies. It was an exciting and high scoring game. But the highlight of the night was watching Michael Taylor hit an inside-the-park Grand Slam, only the 11th in Major League Baseball history. 

The next day, prior to leaving for home, we stopped at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. We got to see the Space Shuttle Discovery, which was the 2nd space shuttle I was able to see this summer. (The first being the space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.) We also got to see the Boeing B-29 Enola Gay, the Air France Concorde, as well as other historic space and aircraft. We had such an amazing trip! 

My 2017 PWBA season has come to an end. It was a crazy and fun ride. I found out I was pregnant one week before the PWBA season started. Despite morning sickness and needing to adapt to my changing body, I bowled every event. I ended the season in 12th place overall, cashing in 12 of 14 events and making 6 matchplay appearances. I just missed making the TV show at both the PWBA Sonoma County Open and PWBA Rochester Open, finishing in 5th place. I also had a 7th place finish at the USBC Queens.   

Now it's time to nest and get ready for our next big adventure - the arrival of Baby Boy Parkin due in late December. Next season is sure to be exciting and fun, as I plan to compete in every event, bringing our little man along for the ride.