Pictured Above Are The 2015-16 MMA Women's Team Champions. From Left To Right Are: Brandi
Calderon, Angela Wolfe, Trinette Green, And Michelle Dragon. Photo Courtesy Of Michelle Dragon.
As The Sister Of Brett Wolfe. Following In His Footsteps Has Been Rewarding For Brandi Calderon.
Her Accolades Include Being An Academic All-American At ASU, And Starting As A Freshman in 1999.
By Michael 'Chip' Begg - Managing Editor - thetenpinexpress.com - Director Mesa Metro Association.
Tempe - - - All throughout her elementary, high school, and collegiate years, Brandi Calderon always enjoyed reading a good story about someone who has accomplished something big in the game of bowling. What she may not have imagined, however, was that one day someone would write such a story about her own bowling accomplishments. Well, that day has finally arrived for her.
Brandi is the younger sister to local professional bowler Brett Wolfe. Their parents, Bill and Becky Wolfe, got them both interested in bowling at a very young age. She was four or five years old when she bowled in her first Adult/Junior league with her parents and brother. She loved the game of bowling right away. The first bowling ball she owned as a junior bowler was an 8 pound Blue Laser, and her first real memory was picking up the 4-7-9-10 split with it. After that, her parents could see her competitive streak come out almost instantly.
"I am younger than Brett by four years. Because of the age gap, I would not say we were super-competitive toward one another. However, I definitely used and still us Brett's successes and his accomplishments to motivate me," she said, of the sibling rivalry when growing up.
Undoubtedly, the pressure to be as good as he is has always weighed on her shoulders.
"If I am being honest, I feel a great deal of pressure to excel in bowling and live up to what Brett has been able to accomplish. It is not uncommon for people to tell me it should be easy, because I am Brett's sister," she said, on following in Brett's footsteps. "However, I know that I also put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to try and live up to what I perceive as the expectations around me. There will always be people that compare me to Brett and expect me to be able to do what he has done and continues to do. My hope is that, one day, I can accomplish even a fraction of what he has done."
As time has gone on, she feels she has been able to handle the pressure much better.
"Most days I believe I can rise to the occasion and use that to me benefit," she said. But, there are always going to be off-days where things don't go quite right. That's okay, because that is when we learn the most."
As we all know, bowling has its share of ups and downs. For Brandi, her brother has always been there as a solid support and a shoulder to lean on.
"He has been watching me bowl for 30 years and understands my game really well," she said, of his guidance. We are so lucky to be in a situation where our family gets to bowl frequently together, so he is always involved in helping me grow and succeed in the sport."
The two have many fond memories of family trips for bowling tournaments, and they have shared in each other's successes along the way.
"It has always been important to me that my big brother is proud of me," she said. "And I will continue to try to keep up with him as best I can."
It did not take Brandi long to make her big brother proud of her. From the time she was 12 years old and made it to her first championship match at the Showboat Invitational in Las Vegas (a large junior tournament that drew competitors from all over the country), Brett could see she had her sights set on becoming the best bowler she could be.
"I shot about 190 in the final match, and scored almost 30 pins higher than my opponent in that game, but I lost the tournament because she had more handicap than I did," said Brandi, of the title match in her division. "That's part of the game and I understood that, but I decided at that point I was going to work very hard to become the most competitive scratch bowler I could possibly be."
Brandi went on to win many local and national bowling scholarships, and several junior bowling tournaments including: the state finals for the then Coca-Cola National Championship tournament in 1996, where she went on to represent Arizona at the national finals in Memphis, Tennessee.
"The JBT was starting to gain real momentum in Arizona around the same time that I went adult, so, unfortunately, I did not have a chance to bowl many JBT events. I think it is fantastic that the youth bowlers have such a strong tournament club with events almost every weekend," she said, when asked about her experience bowling in any JBT events. "The exposure that the junior bowlers have not only to bowling competitively on different patterns, but also, to meeting new friends from all over the country is really special. The folks that run the JBT tournaments work very hard and have given the youth bowlers a wonderful opportunity to progress in their game and make great friends."
The best piece of advice she got about bowling, was not from her brother, but from her parents.
"The best piece of advice they gave me," she said. "Was to let my bowling do the talking."
Brandi began competing as an adult at 18 years old, and she wasted no time jumping on to the big stage.
"The first adult tournament I bowled in was a qualifier for the U.S.Open. Go big or go home, right? I finished second in the qualifier and won half of my entry fee into the U.S.Open," she said, of her first exposure as an adult competitor.
That year at the U.S.Open, the men and women crossed together, so she had the opportunity to compete with, and against all of the professional bowlers that she admired while she was growing up.
"It was a bit intimidating, slightly surreal and totally amazing all at the same time," she also said, of the Open experience."While I didn't win the U.S.Open (or even come close, for that matter), I didn't fall apart, either. That was a good sign to me maybe I had the potential to be a strong competitor in this sport."
Brandi's bowling career really started to flourish when she went to college at Arizona State University (ASU), between the years of 1999-2003. She started as a Freshman on the Women's bowling team, and ended up to be a three time academic and athletic All-American. She majored in Justice Studies, and minored in Women's Studies. She graduated Magna Cum Laude.
During her sophomore year in 2001, the ASU women's bowling team finished second to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships. Brandi was the only non-anchor bowler to be named as a member of the IBC All-Tournament team that year. During her junior and senior years, she anchored the ASU Women's bowling team.
Over the course of four years, Brandi achieved many personal and team successes. She bowled her first 800 series ever during a college tournament at Sam's Town Lanes in Las Vegas. She was part of the team that shot the only baker format 300 game during the entire collegiate season. The team won several tournaments together, and, ultimately, she racked up five individual wins and several top 10 finishes.
She bowled her first 300 game when she was 17, and it came in the Metro All-Stars traveling league.
In the last five years, Brandi has only bowled in leagues three out of the five years. She and her husband Mike Calderon, own Bowl 300 Pro Shop and Bowl 300 Pro Shop-West. "Sometimes, life just gets really busy," she noted. "And something has to give."
But, she still managed to post book averages of 212, 206, and 218 during those years. She is also part of a team that has won back-to-back MMA women's team tournament titles. Those titles coming at AMF McRay in 2015, and Mesa East in 2016. Her teammates include her sister-in-law, Angela Wolfe. Angela's sister, Michelle Dragon, and Trinette Green.
"It is always a good feeling to win and know that all the hard work has paid off," said Brandi, when asked, how it feels to win back-to-back titles. "Our team has good chemistry, and we just try to enjoy ourselves and have fun when we bowl together. There is lots of laughter along the way."
This year, Brandi also participated in seven PWBA events. Including the USBC Queens and the Luci Bonneau Memorial Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event.
"That was a remarkable and humbling experience. The women that bowl on the PWBA tour are phenomenal players. So many of them make something that is really hard look insanely easy," she said, of the experience. "With regard to lane conditions and equipment there is a constant learning curve. No matter what information I read, or how many different lane conditions I bowl on, I learn something new every time I bowl. I do my best to bank that knowledge and call upon it when the time is right."
It had also been quite a while, since Brandi had competed in tournaments at this level.
"I knew going in that I would be a little behind the eight ball. But, I tried to absorb all of the information that was out there for me, so I can come back stronger and more prepared next year," she said. "Some things I got right, and others, I was way off the mark. But, there is no substitue for experience. The only way to get better is to go out there and compete at the level at which you succeed."
Brandi's best individual finish this year came at the USBC Queens in Las Vegas.
"Unfortunately, I missed the cut to match play by 18 pins," she said, of the Queens. "But, I did cash. So, that was a bonus!".
She was also fortunate to have her husband, Mike, with her at these events. Mike works for Ebonite International as the PBA Tour Rep, and has a great deal of experience working with the professional bowlers on tour.
"Mike is my biggest supporter and my number one fan. Having him join me this year was such a comfort. He has a way of instilling confidence in me and reminding me of my abiliity," she says, of her husband. "Particularly, at times when I lose sight of it.
"Interestingly, I didn't ask him for advice as much as I thought I would during the actual competitions. As it turns out, I paid more attention to things he has been telling me all along than I realized," she added. "I think it surprised both of us sometimes when I would make the moves on my own! However, having him there to help me analyze what I saw after the fact, and formulate a game plan for the next day was invaluable.I felt pretty lucky to have him out there all to myself."
In general,Brandi feels her experience with the PWBA tour this season went as expected.
"I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to go out there and compete," she said, looking ahead to 2017. "It lit the fire inside of me, and I am ready to put in the extra work and the extra effort to go try my hand at it again next season."
Despite the hard work, Brandi feels she will never be totally satisfied with her game.
"I will always want to be better, stronger, and smarter. I think my game is very fundamentally sound, but there is a lot of fine-tuning to be done before next year," she says, on where she feels her game is right now. "The physical components of my game are on the right track, and I have been working to become more of a student of the game with each endeavor."
But, no matter what, the big picture is clear for her.
"Of course," she said. "Ultimately, I would love to win an event or multiple events next year!".
When she isn't bowling or helping out at Bowl 300 Pro Shop, Brandi works as a Paralegal at a boutique law firm in Tempe. She plans to stay in the bowling industry and continue bowling competitively for as long as she can. She enjoys being able to bowl with her family, and hopes they all can continue achieving more and more success in the sport.
On being such a competitive brother/sister combination in the sport.
"There is always the potential for us to achieve a brother/sister accolade in bowling that may not be achieved again for a long time," she said. "We are working on that one!"
And when you least expect this to happen, it will.
Arizona State Bowling News - September 26, 2016