Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., who won the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions to become the only woman ever to win a PBA Tour title, will become the first bowler inducted into the Boys and Girls Club National Alumni Hall of Fame on May 1 at the Orlando World Center Resort Marriott in Orlando, Fla., as part of the organization’s 2013 National Conference.
Kulick will be inducted along with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, Rosen Hotels and Resorts founder Harris Rosen, astronaut Winston Scott, paralympian Blake Leeper, Coast Guard Commander Robert L. Smith, Congressman Joaquin Castro and entertainer Raphael Saadiq.
Kulick will be enshrined among a “Who’s Who” list of Boys and Girls Club Hall of Famers including such diverse figures as former Secretary of Commerce William Daley, former NATO Commander Gen. Wesley Clark, U.S. Senator Harry Reid, world of entertainment stars Danny Glover, Cuba Gooding, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Smokey Robinson, Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington; NFL stars Tony Gonzalez, Sid Luckman, Ahmad Rashad and Gale Sayers; baseball stars Luis Gonzalez, Jimmy Piersall, Brooks Robinson and Frank Thomas; NBA stars Magic Johnson, Bob Lanier, Shaquille O’Neal and Bill Walton; boxers Evander Holyfield and Sugar Ray Leonard, and many others.
Kulick said her time as a member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Union County, N.J., began at age 4 and provided positive, rewarding experiences which remain a positive influence to this day.
“I learned to communicate with others and developed team building skills,” Kulick said of her Boys and Girls Club experiences. “I met so many people along my travels. I learned to have an open mind and treat people the way I would like to be treated.”
It was actually swimming that first appealed to Kulick’s athletic interests with BGC.
“I used to gaze through the glass window and watch all the kids swim,” she remembered. “That’s how I learned to swim and later joined the swim team.”
In addition to her historic Tournament of Champions title, Kulick owns two PBA regional titles. She also is the first woman to win the USBC Queens and U.S. Women’s Open back-to-back (2010), the only woman to win four consecutive women’s major titles (PBA Women’s World Championship, PBA TOC, USBC Queens, Women’s U.S. Open) and has won more Women’s U.S. Open titles (three) than any player other than the legendary Marion Ladewig (nine). Kulick also has won numerous medals in international competition as an eight-time member of Team USA.
“I was very surprised and honored to hear that I was chosen, especially considering the accomplishments of my fellow inductees,” she said. “My time was somewhat short with the Boys and Girls Club, but it was very rewarding. I learned the importance of keeping close ties with my community and giving back whenever I can.
“I am proud not only of the path I have carved for others and that my accomplishments in the sport of bowling were instrumental in my being chosen for this honor.”
For more than 100 years, Boys and Girls Clubs of America has enabled young people to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,000 Clubs serve some 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native American lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles.
XTRA FRAME VIEWERS SAW SCARBOROUGH’S 900 SERIES LIVE; NOW ON YOUTUBE
PBA’s Xtra Frame viewers had an exclusive opportunity to witness the first 900 series in PBA history, when the Xtra Frame crew covering the PBA50 Sun Bowl in The Villages presented by Hammer aired Joe Scarborough’s back-to-back-to-back 300 game performance live on the internet on Sunday, April 21.
For those who missed it live, you can watch the final three games of Scarborough’s series on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KvVlNdpy8). More than 14,000 people watched the YouTube coverage in the first day it was posted.
The record-setting PBA series generated national news media coverage via Associated Press, and quickly went viral on social media platforms.
PBA REGIONAL ROUNDUP: NORTON, AMATEURS SAMBUENO, NAKASHIMA WIN IN HAWAII
● Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, Calif., defeated Rhino Page of Dade City, Fla., 245-214, to win the PBA John Gonsalves Memorial West/Northwest Open presented by Storm at Schofield Army Base Lanes in Hawaii on Thursday, April 18.
Norton’s win in the first of three PBA West/Northwest Region tournaments taking place over the extended weekend was his fifth in PBA Regional competition. He earned $2,000.
Former Junior Team USA member Toby Sambueno of Henderson, Nev., won the second leg of the Hawaii series, defeating Michael Haugen Jr. of Carefree, Ariz., 248-166, to win the PBA Naval Station West/Northwest Open presented by Storm at Naval Station Lanes at Pearl Harbor on Sunday.
Sambueno, a Hawaiian native, earned $2,000, but does not receive credit for a PBA title because he is not a PBA member. He defeated Stuart Williams of England, 213-195, while Haugen eliminated Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., 247-193, in the semifinal round.
Amateur Tracy Nakashima of Hilo, Hawaii, wrapped up the Hawaiian series with a 193-180 victory over Josh Blanchard of Gilbert, Ariz., to win the PBA Kona West/Northwest Open at KBXtreme Lanes Tuesday, wrapping up a three-event series of PBA West/Northwest Regional tournaments in Hawaii.
Nakashima earned $2,000 but he also does not receive credit for a PBA title because he is not a PBA member.
with the Kona West/Northwest Open at KB Xtreme Lanes in Kailua April 22-23.
● Todd Book of Wapakoneta, Ohio, defeated Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., by 17 pins to win the PBA Debbie & Leo Nunan Memorial Central Open presented by Track at AMF Stardust Lanes in Grove City, Ohio, on Sunday.
Book finished with a 9-3 match play record and a total of 4,755 pins for 20 games, including match play bonus pins, to win second PBA Regional title. He also earned $2,500.
● Amateur Gerald Marrs of Huntley, Ill., defeated fellow amateur Ken Kempf of Appleton, Wis., 290-169, to win the PBA Bowl-A-Vard Lanes Midwest Open in Madison, Wis., on Sunday. The win was Marrs’ first in PBA Regional competition. He earned $2,100, but does not get credit for a PBA title because he is not a member.
The Madison tournament was the first standard event in a PBA Midwest Region “lower entry fee” test program, offering bowlers a reduced entry fee structure ($155 for members, $225 for non-members), a one-day format to reduce travel expenses, and a one-in-four payoff ratio (compared to the standard one-in-three ratio). The Madison event drew a field of 59 players compared to similar events which averaged 38 entries a year earlier.
● B.J. Moore III of Apex, N.C., defeated Mike Williams of Montgomery, Ala., 227-224, Sunday to win the PBA Rocky Mount South Open at The Bowling Center in Rocky Mount, N.C. Moore earned $2,500.
● Closing out the April schedule will be the PBA50 Cherokee Lanes South Open presented by Motiv in Canton, Ga., over the April 25-27 weekend along with the Rockaway Lanes Eastern Open presented by Storm in Rockaway, N.J., and the Country Club Lanes Central Open in Elkhart, Ind.
For complete PBA regional schedule and entry information, visit pba.com and click on “Regional Tours” under the Schedules tab.
QUICK NOTES:
● PBA Hall of Famer John Jowdy of El Cajon, Calif., celebrated his 93rd birthday on Sunday, April 21. The long-time Columbia 300 sales rep and world-class bowling instructor said he “isn’t doing so well” these days. “At 93, everything is falling apart,” he said. “I’m just going along one day at a time.”
● PBA members Andrew Cain of Phoenix and Mike Fagan of Dallas have been elected to three-year terms on the United States Bowling Congress Board of Directors by the Athletes Advisory Council. Cain, 31, has been an athlete representative on the USBC Board since 2007 and currently is serving as USBC President. Fagan, 32 and a first-time USBC Board member, replaces USBC Hall of Famer Wendy Macpherson, who decided not to seek re-election. AAC members of the board are elected by elite athletes who have been members of Team USA within the past 10 years.