Missy's Whirlwind Coaching Trip to Japan

Last week, I traveled to Japan for 900 Global’s Summer BowlJam. Each day, I traveled to a different city, giving lessons, providing one-on-one coaching, demonstrating the new bowling balls in the line and bowling in pro-am events at night. It was definitely a lot of work, but a very fun trip!

 Our fearless Team for Summer BowlJam: 

900 Global Saleman Matsu, myself and 900 Global Qubica/AMF Dqa translator, Sumie Tanaka

Day 1 of Summer BowlJam took us to the northern part of Japan.  We flew to Aomori and traveled to East Bowl where I gave a one-hour lecture and then provided one-on-one instruction. We later had a bowling ball demonstration, showing the fans and pro-am participants the new products. Luckily, every day the demonstrations went very well and the bowling balls looked great on the lanes!  J

Afterwards, we had a very successful and fun pro-am event. In Japan, pro-am events are a little different than in the States. In Japan, there will only be 1-3 pros bowling with over 50 pro-am participants. There isn’t one pro on each pair of lanes. Sometimes, people will pay more money to actually get the chance to bowl on the same pair as the pro. Pros bowl an entire game before moving pairs and everyone bowls regular games (not no-tap). This particular bowling center also charged people to watch the pro-am event. East Bowl also made a commercial for the BowlJam event that aired on local TV stations prior to the event. So we had a great turnout and the local news came out and covered the event. The last game of the tournament, I shot 278, with the front 7, using my purple/pink Jewel. Everyone was really excited!

At the conclusion of every pro-am event, I had an autograph session and then gave away the tournament prizes to the bowlers.

The next day, we took another flight back to Tokyo and then drove 2 hours to Daigaku Bowl in Ibaragi prefecture. (In Japan, the country is split up into prefectures, similar to our states in the U.S.) This day was a big event as the bowling center was using BowlJam to help celebrate their 30^th anniversary. I again had a lecture and then provided one-on-one coaching. We also had demo balls on hand for people to try.

The pro-am event that night was very big with 84 participants.  Due to the 30^th anniversary celebration, 900 Global had JPBA pro and P League Member Ayano and 2 other male JPBA pros were also on hand for the pro-am tournament. After the pro-am event, we had a special dinner party with all of the participants and gave away the prizes then.

Day 3 of Summer BowlJam took us to Atsugi Tsumada Bowl in Kanagawa prefecture. We left pretty early in the morning to drive to our destination and it was a good thing as there was a lot of traffic going through Tokyo. Come to find out, there was a parade going on in Tokyo for all of the Olympic athletes returning from the Olympic games.

For that day’s event, after the lecture and one-on-one coaching, I bowled 1 game with all of the people who attended the clinic. I shot 220 and the next highest person shot 190, so everyone was super excited.

Afterwards, I took a little break and played a Japanese video game, courtesy of the bowling center, which was very fun! It’s like “Rock Band” but with taiko drums.  Then later that night, I bowled in the 4-game pro-am event and gave away the prizes at the end of the night. 

Before each pro-am officially starts, the center will have me throw out the first ball. This particular night was very interesting...As I was walking up the approach and just after I threw the ball, there was a small earthquake. Everyone was laughing saying that I destroyed the pins so much so that I caused an earthquake. It was pretty funny timing. 

The next day, we stayed in Kanagawa prefecture and traveled to Sagamihara Parklanes. I had a lot of fun at this event! The itinerary for this day was a little different than normal. Instead of a lecture/clinic, I bowled two pro-ams events, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, with a ball demonstration in the middle. There were over 50 people for each event and everyone was really excited to meet me.  

During the first pro-am event, I shot 710 using the Freight Train. I also bowled with a few junior bowlers that threw the ball very well. One in particular caught my eye and that was 12 year old Kaya. She’s’ definitely going to be someone to watch out for! Her mother showed me a magazine article that she was featured in and Sumie translated it for me. In the article, she said that I was her role model and that she wants to be like me when she grows up because I travel all over the world and can beat the boys. LOL! That totally made my day! Check out the video of 12 year old Kaya!

During both pro-am events, I had a lot of fun with all of the bowlers. Everyone was very outgoing and talkative, which is always fun. I also had a few little fans that were 2 years old and 4 and 5 years old that were all eager to give me high-5s whenever I struck. I particularly had a great time with “Team Relax” in the evening pro-am.  I gave the guys some pointers as we were bowling and explained the importance of relaxing while you bowl. So after my tip, every time they struck, they said “Relax, Relax, Relax,” so it became the motto of the night. They named themselves “Team Relax.” 

"Team Relax"

The final day of Summer BowlJam, we again stayed in Kanagawa prefecture and traveled to Kanachu Hiratsuka Bowl. This day we also had two pro-am events with a ball demonstration in the middle.  In the first pro-am event, I shot 248, 259 and 251 for 758 series using the Freight Train.

Before the final pro-am event of the trip, we went out to dinner and had okonomiyaki. I had never tried it before and it’s really yummy! It’s a mixture of flour, uncooked egg and some other veggies and then whatever meat you want in it. I choose pork. So the waitress mixes it all up and cooks it right in front of you. In the end, it kind of looks like a pancake-shaped omelet. It was super yummy!

The bowling ball demonstration and pro-am later that night also went very well.

I don’t actually remember all of my scores from every pro-am event, but I bowled well in all of them, using either the 900 Global purple/pink Jewel or Freight Train.

Although it was a quick trip and a lot of work, I definitely had a lot of fun and hope to travel back to Japan again soon! J

Missy Wins WBA Queens Tournament

This past weekend I bowled in the Women’s Bowling Alliance Queens tournament in Henderson, NV at Sunset Station Lanes.  We bowled on the Kegel “Winding Road” lane pattern and it proved to be pretty difficult, as the condition put a premium on shot making and picking up spares was crucial.

We bowled two 5-game blocks of qualifying, taking an hour lunch break in between sets. I started out using my 900 Global Black Eagle, playing 13 with a little swing. As the oil pushed down the lane, I then straightened out my angles a bit and just kept moving left as the day went on. My strategy was to find a ball that would keep me out of trouble, another words, a ball that was controllable and that would allow me to leave makeable spares, and not splits, when I missed the pocket. I used the Black Eagle for the first two games, shooting 200 and 248 and then switched to my solid 900 Global The Nuts for the rest of the set shooting 193, 248 and 248 for +137 the first 5 games. 

We then took a break for lunch and I was leading after the first 5 game block. The lanes were not re-oiled for our next set. I continued to use my 900 Global The Nuts and then switched to my re-release new AMF Bullwhip during game 7 and started to open up my angles a bit more. I shot 245, 197, 214, 224 and 243 for +260 overall for the 10 games of qualifying.  I averaged 226 and was leading by 60 pins after qualifying. The field was then cut to the top 8 players.

On Sunday, we bowled 8 games of round robin matchplay with 30 bonus pins awarded to the winner of each match. I again used my 900 Global Black Eagle, The Nuts and AMF Bullwhip shooting scores of 254, 196, 226, 236, 202, 214, 224 and 208 to secure a 7-1 matchplay record and win the tournament by 149 pins over Hall of Famer Robin Romeo. I was very happy with my performance as the lanes were rather challenging, especially on Sunday when the heads broke down and the backends got pretty tight down lane.  My low game for the entire tournament was 193 and I didn’t miss ANY single pin spares as well as makeable spares for the entire tournament and I picked up quite a few big splits on Sunday. All in all it was a great weekend! Along with the prize money, I won a tiara, trophy, an entry into the 2013 USBC Queens tournament, a bottle of WBA wine and pretty flowers.

I’d like to thank Paula Vidad and the entire Women’s Bowing Alliance staff for all of their hard work in putting together these tournaments! I hope some of you tuned in the to LIVE streaming of the event.

For complete results and more information on this and other upcoming WBA tournaments, click here.

Missy Parkin, WBA Queens Champion with tournament director Paula Vidad and WBA Princess Champion Angela Morgan

Missy Comes in 2nd Place at the U.S. Women's Open

Part 2: TV show day - Tournament moves outdoors to Virginia Street under the Reno Arch

First and foremost, since the BPAA and tournament officials are getting ridiculed for this year's event, I'd like to remind everyone that without the generous support of the BPAA and other prominent sponsors, the U.S. Women's Open would not even happen. The BPAA decided to bring back the U.S. Women's Open for the 2011 tournament, which was a huge success and boasted a record breaking field for the number of participants. Bringing back the tournament again in 2012, the BPAA had another successful tournament. For all of the hard work, time and effort that BPAA and all of the sponsors give to this tournament, I first would like to say a HUGE Thank You for allowing us to have another major to compete in every year!  :) 

I'd like to give everyone an insider's perspective regarding the entire day of the TV show, starting with our schedule for that day.

Our Schedule at a glance:

8:30am:       Introduction at the Bowl Expo general session
10am:          Photo Shoot and on-camera interviews at the River walk
11am-1pm:  Practice session outside on the TV lanes
1pm:            Limo ride to Reno Sparks Convention Center - Eat lunch on the way
1:30pm:       Interviews at the BWAA booth at the Bowl Expo Tradeshow
2:30pm:       Head back to downtown Reno
4:45pm:       Roll call
5pm-6pm:    Practice on the TV pair
6:20pm:       Start Opening Ceremony then immediately start official practice session for TV show
7pm:            Start Taping TV show      

As you can see, we had a pretty tight schedule leading up to the taping of the TV show. Not being a morning person at all, I was really looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing a bit before the big night, as the TV show started at 7pm. Unfortunately that was not the case, but such comes with the territory of making TV.  

Now, as odd as this may sound, I have actually always wanted to bowl outside. Making the PBA Team Shootout the year after they stopped competing outdoors at Six Flags theme parks, I was really looking forward to my first outdoor bowling competition. The afternoon practice session went really well. The setting looked super cool! With sunglasses on and battling the heat, I was surprisingly impressed at how calm and relaxed I felt bowling outside during the practice session. The lane condition played different than what it had all week, but that was to be expected. I had a great look with the new 900 Global Sure Thing, The Look and the new purple and pink Jewel.

We had a quick breather after the practice session, since none of us practiced for all 2 hours in the hot sun. Then at 1pm we got into a very nice limo, where we ate lunch on our way to the Reno Sparks Convention Center to do interviews at the BWAA booth at the Bowl Expo tradeshow. After mingling for a bit, we headed back to downtown Reno and had 1 1/2 hours off before having to be on set for the TV show. I took the opportunity to take a small nap and then headed over.

We practiced from 5pm-6pm and by this time the wind was starting to pick up a little bit and it was still really hot outside. The lanes played completely different than they had during the afternoon practice session due to the outside elements, so my Jewel was looking better as the balls were starting to hook more.

Then, the fun began...We had a very special opening ceremonies, where we all were escorted out onto the lanes by military personnel as a salute to our heroes that serve our country. The national anthem was sang beautifully by an all male group, complete with fireworks and a special fly over kicking off the night.

The stage was set: bleachers packed, fans watching from the neighboring parking structure and hotel rooms and side streets were also filled with anxious fans and some curious non-bowlers as well.

As the TV show started with the sun starting to set, mother nature did not cooperate as the wind kicked up to 20-25mph. Wind blowing hair in our face was the least of our worries, we'd soon discover, as the wind was also blowing piles of dust and dirt out on to the lanes and approaches. This caused the lane conditions to go from good, bad, to worse in a hurry as bowling balls were covered with dirt every shot and the wind didn't ease up.

As I was watching the matches ahead of me unfold before my eyes, my game plan went from throwing my 900 Global Jewel, to a Pink and Black Hook to a Pink and Black plastic Bam by the time it was my turn to bowl on the TV show.

I'm not going to explain the TV show, shot for shot etc. because most of you watched it and if you haven't seen it, then I'm sure it's on YouTube, so check it out! So, I'd like to just recap my thoughts, explain a few things that went on, as well as clarify a few things that I've heard from friends and fans alike.

First off, I would like to say this loud and clear with no disrespect to anyone, but NO ONE has any clue what the 5 of us bowled on that night. We are all great spare shooters and great shot makers and some of the most accurate players in the sport today. With the elements at hand and the conditions that we were all faced with, there wasn't an easy spare to shoot at and it was more than just hitting a target and making a good shot. The scores were low, conditions were brutal, but we all managed to pull through it as best we could with class and determination and for that I am very proud of all of us!

So a few thoughts...I've bowled on VERY dry lane conditions before. I've practiced on Sundays at bowling centers that don't oil throughout the weekend and used my plastic ball to work on accuracy. When I first turned adult (way back when), there was a big money league I competed in that during one round, had a shot where the heads are only oiled like 15 feet or something crazy like that, so I used a urethane ball for strikes and an old manhattan rubber ball to shoot spares and yes even that rubber ball hooked at spares with my high ball speed. I'm explaining all of this because with keeping the above information in mind, I thought that I'd be fine on the TV show... I can throw it hard, I can hit a mark and I've been faced with similar conditions before. For those of you that were thinking the same thing when watching the TV show, that is absolutely not the case unless you've bowled outdoors in wind with sand, dirt and dust covering the lanes so bad that you can see the ball tracks. Forget drawing on the TV screen to show where we all were playing, it was drawn out clear as day by the dust.

So, once it got to the final match against my good friend Kelly Kulick, I changed my strategy and she also had the same thing in mind. We played as far left as we could get and let our plastic balls fade into the pocket, hoping to create enough carry to not leave some nasty pocket splits. I was throwing it with some good ball speed and taking my hand out of the ball to make it go straighter, and unfortunately I did leave a couple of back-to-back pocket 8-10s in the middle of the match. But that's bowling. All you can ever do is make good shots and hope the pins fall accordingly. 

A few clarifications...For those that noticed and or heard, while I was bowling on the TV show, I wore a white patch on my jersey that said "Bo" and had a cross on it. My husband and I's great friend and employee Bo Vrabel was in the hospital with health complications and passed away in the middle of the tournament. The last thing Bo said to me when I saw him at the hospital before leaving to Reno was "Bowl great at the U.S. Open! Win the whole thing!" So I was determined to do just that in memory of our great friend Bo!

Another clarification... for those that were able to watch the show live in person (this was cut out on TV), in the middle of our match, a fan up in the parking structure rudely yelled out in the middle of Kelly's approach. Luckily, she was able to stop and regroup and threw a strike, pointing up to that fan in return. Let me clarify that all she did was point up to that fan and nothing more. Shortly after that, we had a commercial break. At the commercial break, I jumped up and was very upset and talked to the tournament officials because we had a little monitor near the ball return that was supposed to be displaying the scores for us and it wasn't working the ENTIRE match. So I didn't even know what frame it was (hence I had to ask if it was even commercial break.)  I didn't know what the exact scores were because let me tell you, I don't know if it's the same for everyone, but my brain doesn't work really well when I'm on TV, in respect to keeping scores, adding, etc with everything else going on. I have to really sit there and stare at the scores a little bit to add right. So with no scores up, I definitely was not going to be able to remember exactly what we both had done every frame, other than how many opens we both had. So for those of you that saw that during the commercial break, that's what I was so upset about going into the last 5 frames. It had nothing to do with Kelly and/or the rude fan. Thankfully, the tournament officials quickly fixed the monitor and the scores were up by the time the commercial break ended and remained on for the rest of the match.

Another moment that I'd like to clarify... in the 10th frame, Kelly needed a mark to lock me out of winning the title. When she picked up her spare, she yelled and was very excited. Now, some people took this as being very rude or as directing the outburst at me. That was absolutely not the case! Let me explain...Kelly had lead this same tournament in 2011 by some 600 odd pins. The finals for the tournament were then moved to Cowboys Stadium in which she struggled on TV and lost in the finals. This year, Kelly lead by 300+ pins. Again, the finals were moved to a different venue, outside on Virginia Street. So, Kelly, saying so herself, had to deal with her own "inner demons" when dealing with this TV show. So her outburst at the end, when she claimed the title was merely a cry for joy that she had overcome the previous year's upset and had again won the U.S. Women's Open for a 3rd time. Kudos to Kelly and a big congratulations for winning the 2012 U.S. Women's Open!

So, I came in 2nd place overall in the tournament. Obviously not what I was hoping for, but still a great week. I can't wait to see what's in store for the 2013 U.S. Women's Open! Again, thank you to BPAA and all of the sponsors for making this tournament possible!  :)

Until next time...

Missy Qualifies for the U.S. Women's Open TV Show: Part I

Part 1: Qualifying and Matchplay at the National Bowling Stadium

Last week, I competed in the 2012 U.S. Women's Open at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada and qualified for the unforgettable night of women's bowling.

It all started with the qualifying portion of the tournament. We bowled 6 games a day for 3 straight days and then the field was cut to the top 25% of the 202 participating women bowlers. I must also add that I LOVED the time schedule for the tournament all week. The earliest we bowled was 3pm, so for those of you that know me and know I'm NOT a morning person, I loved getting to sleep in every day! In fact, when I saw the schedule for the tournament a few weeks ago, I joked to my mom that I was going to win this tournament simply because I didn't have to get up early.

Day 1, I started out a little slow but then finished hot with games of 211, 197, 268, 246, 248 and 249 for +219, using my new 900 Global Sure Thing and The Nuts solid, which put me in 8th place. 

The following day I bowled on the burn squad where the lanes were not re-oiled. I used my 900 Global Nuts and Black Mamba to shoot games of 243, 235, 223, 229, 228 and 180 for +138 for the day and +357 overall, which moved me into 6th place. The final day of qualifying, I used my Black Mamba to shoot games of 216, 204, 278, 213, 267 and 243 for +221 and +578 overall, moving me up into 3rd place overall.

The next day we bowled 6 more games of semifinals and then we cut to the top 16 players. During semis, I struggled a bit and shot games of 190, 196, 256, 224, 223 and 218 for +107 and +685 overall, remaining in 2nd place going into the 16 games of round robin matchplay. We bowled the first 8 games of matchplay that same night. With 30 bonus pins per game on the line, anything could happen, so I knew I needed to bowl really well and WIN matches! The fun part about that night was that Bowl Expo had the welcome reception downstairs at the National Bowling Stadium, so everyone naturally came upstairs to watch us bowl. The grand stands were packed almost completely full, people were cheering and the atmosphere was intense. That night, with games of 244, 203, 278, 259, 203, 202, 258 and 225, using my AMF Black Mamba and 900 Global Black Eagle, I won 6 out of 8 matches and was securely in 2nd place.

The next day, I knew I still had to bowl 8 great games to guarantee making the TV show and hopefully move up in positioning. Well, the day did NOT start out as I had hoped. I lost my first 4 matches and (being one that doesn't watch the scores) didn't know that at one point I had moved down to 4th place. I then shot a big 278 game and 234, winning both matches, but then shot a disappointing 7th game of  189 to drop to 3rd place.

The 8th and final position round game of the tournament was crucial! I was in 3rd place, only 33 pins ahead of Stefanie Nation in 4th place and was exactly 100 pins behind Shannon O'Keefe for 2nd place. (Kelly was uncatchable, leading the tournament by some 300 odd pins.) So I just told myself, you are not going to miss your mark this entire game and I did just that, stringing the first 5 strikes and then leaving a stubborn 10 pin to then string strikes again until the 10th frame. When I got up in the 10th frame, I had already won my match against Stefanie, but Shannon O'Keefe had already finished her match, shooting 204 and losing to Kelly. So I needed to go up and double in the 10th frame (and get count) to move from 3rd into 2nd position for the TV show. Again there were a lot of people watching, and the crowd was pumped. With lots of cheers and myself intensely focused, I struck out, shooting 279 to claim the number two seed for the TV show, a game which proved to be HUGE for what we all faced on the TV show the next night.

Stay Tuned for Part II...

Missy Makes TV Show at U.S. Women's Open

Watch Missy Parkin on the U.S. Women's Open TV show on Tuesday, July 3rd at 8pm EST (5pm PST) on ESPN 2! Tune in or set your DVR as Missy tries to attain her missing major by winning the U.S. Women's Open title as the number 2 seed for the TV show. The finals will be contested outside under the Reno arch!

Missy Heading to Chicago to Compete in PBA Summer Shootout

I'm heading to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend to compete in the PBA Summer Shootout as a member of Team 900 Global.

We are defending our team title, so it should be a fun weekend filled with lots of excitement! Team 900 Global will be comprised of fellow staffers Robert Smith and Hall of Famer Brian Voss.

If you are in the Chicago area and free on either Monday and/or Tuesday come on down to 10pin bowling lounge in downtown Chicago and experience all of the action LIVE! Admission for watching the TV tapings is FREE! Tapings start on Monday at noon and Tuesday at 1pm.

I will post actual TV air dates in a later blog. However, the shows will start to air on Saturday, July 7th on ESPN.

Go TEAM 900 GLOBAL!!!!

2011 PBA Team Shootout - Team 900 Global Champions!!!

Missy Surprises Junior Bowlers at Mira Mesa Lanes

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to surprise the junior bowlers at Mira Mesa Lanes in San Diego by attending their end of the season awards day. Myself, Steve Smith, Laura Hardeman, Michele Carter, Lindsy Staley and James Hall all came down to pass out awards to the junior bowlers, recognizing their amazing accomplishments over the league season.

Special guests with the Junior Bowling Coaches of Mira Mesa Lanes

After passing out the awards, we walked around to all of the bowlers, signed autographs, took pictures and offered advice.

Junior League Coordinator Christy Balla puts on an outstanding junior program on Saturday mornings with over 100 kids in the program ranging from bumper bowlers to an impressive scratch bowling league.  

The junior bowlers surprised Christy with a special collage during the awards ceremony.

It always refreshing to see so much young talent! 

I'm very happy that I could be a part of their special day!