Sandelin eager to defend her USBC Senior Queens title
04/22/08
For United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Lucy Sandelin, it would be pretty difficult for life to get much better than it is as she prepares to defend her 2007 USBC Senior Queens title April 26-30 at Skore Lanes in Taylor, Mich.
As Sandelin packed clothes and bowling equipment for her trek from her Tampa, Fla., home to suburban Detroit, where she'll face a field of roughly 150 women ages 50 and older in the Senior Queens, she recalled a much darker outlook on life.
In retrospect, it hardly seemed possible that a woman who had won the AMF World Cup as a teenager, a pair of USBC Women's Championships doubles titles with partner Cindy Coburn-Carroll, a U.S. Amateur Championship (1997) and World Tenpin Bowling Association gold medals as a nine-time member of Team USA could just walk away from bowling. But she did.
"After the 2004 WTBA World Championships, I was exhausted," she reflected. "I didn't bowl at all in 2004. I was just physically, mentally beat. Obviously, as I found out, it was because I wasn't well."
What Sandelin didn't realize until Jan. 6, 2005, was that she had cancer. A tumor the size of an egg blocked her fallopian tube, and she has ignored all of the warning signs.
"It was a surreal experience," she said. "When the doctor came into the room to tell me I had cancer, I thought he was talking to someone else. I said to myself, it can't be me; I'm an athlete. This can't happen to me. He explained to me what they'd found and told me I could beat it. But I knew I was going to die."
Fortunately, the initial shock began to wear off and Sandelin decide to fight.
"I figured, why not treat this like a bowling event? I'd do my research, listen to my doctor, eat right, take care of my body. That was my goal - to perform well at an event - but my event was to get well and get my life back."
On July 8, 2005, Sandelin had her final chemo treatment, but it wasn't until November of 2006 that she found enough confidence to return to the lanes.
"I took over two years off. It took me a long time," she admitted. "My body was healed, but I didn't have the mental fortitude to get back on the lanes.
"When I realized the Senior Queens was coming, and I was going to be 50, my husband Steve and I started talking, and I decided, why not give it a try? I found my bowling shoes, got a couple of bowling balls and decided to find out if I could walk on the approach," she laughed. "I joined a handicap league and started to have fun again. I didn't take the game too seriously. Then I bowled our city tournament and I bowled really well. I won singles and all-events, but the Senior Queens was my first major competitive event since my surgery.
"I didn't go into the tournament in Charlotte (N.C.) wanting to win or expecting to win," she continued. "I just wanted to enjoy it. I didn't have high expectations. Just wanted to compete and have fun, and whatever happened, happened. I pretty much felt that way until the final ball."
The exception, Sandelin noted, was during her final match in the losers' bracket, when she needed to win in order to advance to the title match against undefeated Hall of Famer Virginia Norton.
"Before that match, I never thought that far ahead, but I was way down in that match and my old mental game kicked in and told me to go for it. I won that match and got into finals."
In the championship match against Norton, Sandelin said she couldn't have been in a better place, mentally or physically.
"It was almost like I had won before I bowled, just because I got to that point. Anything that happened from that point was going to be fine. Finish second? No problem," she said.
"But when we started match, I found out I got to play my favorite shot with my favorite ball, and I was on auto pilot. I wasn't thinking, just bowling. The fact that I had to win two matches against Virginia wasn't an issue. I had to win six matches the day before, so the thought wasn't overwhelming.
"It was just a great feeling. And to win? Oh, my gosh, how could I possibly dream about anything better?"
Certainly the title, the prize money, an opportunity to compete in the inaugural USBC Clash of Bowling Champions, and all that goes with it were nice touches, but as far as Sandelin was concerned, there was a much bigger victory involved.
"I got my bowling life back," she said. "Bowling is fun again. And I just had a checkup and got a clean bill of health. And the fact that I am now a full-time bowling coach, ironically, is helping my game as well. I find that saying all of the key things in teaching my students helps my own game - plus I get to practice every day, so life is good!
"Going into Senior Queens this year, my expectations are little higher, but I want to have the same attitude - whatever happens, happens."
The USBC Senior Queens is open to amateur and professional women bowlers ages 50 and older. Competition involves 10 qualifying games for all contestants on April 27 and 28. The top 50 advance to an additional five-game qualifying round on April 29, after which the top 31 will join Sandelin in the three-game, double-elimination match play finals. The tournament concludes April 30.
Other previous winners in the 2008 field include Fran Minton, Iowa Park, Texas (2001); Andi Whitlock, Middletown, Del. (2003); and Sandy Postma, Lansing, Ill. (2004 and 2006).
United States
Skore Lanes in Taylor, Mich. (April 26-30, 2008)
For United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Lucy Sandelin, it would be pretty difficult for life to get much better than it is as she prepares to defend her 2007 USBC Senior Queens title April 26-30 at Skore Lanes in Taylor, Mich. As Sandelin packed clothes and bowling equipment for her trek from her Tampa, Fla., home to suburban Detroit, where she'll face a field of roughly 150 women ages 50 and older in the Senior Queens, she recalled a much darker outlook on life.
In retrospect, it hardly seemed possible that a woman who had won the AMF World Cup as a teenager, a pair of USBC Women's Championships doubles titles with partner Cindy Coburn-Carroll, a U.S. Amateur Championship (1997) and World Tenpin Bowling Association gold medals as a nine-time member of Team USA could just walk away from bowling. But she did.
"After the 2004 WTBA World Championships, I was exhausted," she reflected. "I didn't bowl at all in 2004. I was just physically, mentally beat. Obviously, as I found out, it was because I wasn't well."
What Sandelin didn't realize until Jan. 6, 2005, was that she had cancer. A tumor the size of an egg blocked her fallopian tube, and she has ignored all of the warning signs.
"It was a surreal experience," she said. "When the doctor came into the room to tell me I had cancer, I thought he was talking to someone else. I said to myself, it can't be me; I'm an athlete. This can't happen to me. He explained to me what they'd found and told me I could beat it. But I knew I was going to die."
Fortunately, the initial shock began to wear off and Sandelin decide to fight.
"I figured, why not treat this like a bowling event? I'd do my research, listen to my doctor, eat right, take care of my body. That was my goal - to perform well at an event - but my event was to get well and get my life back."
On July 8, 2005, Sandelin had her final chemo treatment, but it wasn't until November of 2006 that she found enough confidence to return to the lanes.
"I took over two years off. It took me a long time," she admitted. "My body was healed, but I didn't have the mental fortitude to get back on the lanes.
"When I realized the Senior Queens was coming, and I was going to be 50, my husband Steve and I started talking, and I decided, why not give it a try? I found my bowling shoes, got a couple of bowling balls and decided to find out if I could walk on the approach," she laughed. "I joined a handicap league and started to have fun again. I didn't take the game too seriously. Then I bowled our city tournament and I bowled really well. I won singles and all-events, but the Senior Queens was my first major competitive event since my surgery.
"I didn't go into the tournament in Charlotte (N.C.) wanting to win or expecting to win," she continued. "I just wanted to enjoy it. I didn't have high expectations. Just wanted to compete and have fun, and whatever happened, happened. I pretty much felt that way until the final ball."
The exception, Sandelin noted, was during her final match in the losers' bracket, when she needed to win in order to advance to the title match against undefeated Hall of Famer Virginia Norton.
"Before that match, I never thought that far ahead, but I was way down in that match and my old mental game kicked in and told me to go for it. I won that match and got into finals."
In the championship match against Norton, Sandelin said she couldn't have been in a better place, mentally or physically."It was almost like I had won before I bowled, just because I got to that point. Anything that happened from that point was going to be fine. Finish second? No problem," she said.
"But when we started match, I found out I got to play my favorite shot with my favorite ball, and I was on auto pilot. I wasn't thinking, just bowling. The fact that I had to win two matches against Virginia wasn't an issue. I had to win six matches the day before, so the thought wasn't overwhelming.
"It was just a great feeling. And to win? Oh, my gosh, how could I possibly dream about anything better?"
Certainly the title, the prize money, an opportunity to compete in the inaugural USBC Clash of Bowling Champions, and all that goes with it were nice touches, but as far as Sandelin was concerned, there was a much bigger victory involved.
"I got my bowling life back," she said. "Bowling is fun again. And I just had a checkup and got a clean bill of health. And the fact that I am now a full-time bowling coach, ironically, is helping my game as well. I find that saying all of the key things in teaching my students helps my own game - plus I get to practice every day, so life is good!
"Going into Senior Queens this year, my expectations are little higher, but I want to have the same attitude - whatever happens, happens."
The USBC Senior Queens is open to amateur and professional women bowlers ages 50 and older. Competition involves 10 qualifying games for all contestants on April 27 and 28. The top 50 advance to an additional five-game qualifying round on April 29, after which the top 31 will join Sandelin in the three-game, double-elimination match play finals. The tournament concludes April 30.
Other previous winners in the 2008 field include Fran Minton, Iowa Park, Texas (2001); Andi Whitlock, Middletown, Del. (2003); and Sandy Postma, Lansing, Ill. (2004 and 2006).