Correen Acuff, Finishing Successful First Season On PWBA Tour.
Story And Photo Courtesy Of GCU Club Sports. Pictured Is: Correen Acuff.
"I think my journey has been a culmination of perseverance, confidence and consistency."
Correen Acuff, GCU Class of 2018 bowler and someone that current Lopes' Bowling Head Coach Ben Canfield credits with being "an integral part" of starting the Grand Canyon University Women's Bowling team, allowed us to take a 50,000-foot view of her journey on the lanes following her 4th-place finish at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Queens Tournament Finals last week.
Acuff still resides in Surprise, Arizona, though that isn't where her journey began.
"I think it really started when I was 10 or 11," said Acuff. "My dad would take me to Saturday morning leagues when we lived in Washington. I noticed that I was pretty good and really leaned into bowling shortly after that."
A competitive youth career turned into a college career when Acuff committed to bowl for Lindenwood University, a private college in St. Charles, Missouri that had a women's team nationally ranked in the top 10 at the time.
For Acuff, the time in Missouri was short-lived, finding the act of balancing school with the constant responsibility as a college athlete to be a bit overwhelming. More than that, she wanted a nursing degree – something that Lindenwood did not offer at the time.
It was then that Canfield reached out to Acuff about the potential of bowling for GCU, with the themes of the conversation being the lower commitment level of a club team environment and the excitement of starting a women's program.
"There was definitely a different feel bowling for a club team, but I loved that I could still compete while adding more schoolwork and other activities to my schedule," said Acuff. "I was able to balance clinicals and get certified nursing assistant experience while still bowling."
Acuff bowled for the Lopes in the first two years of the program's existence (from 2016 through 2018), helping the team get to multiple tier 1 events while also bowling the first 300 game in school history herself.
Following her time as a Lope, Acuff leaned on her consistency and commitment to get her to her ultimate goal of making the tour and competing at the highest level.
"As a mother of three kids and a nurse, I knew that I couldn't practice as much as some of my competitors, but I knew that I had the skill to make it happen and I was committed to finding a way," said Acuff.
Part of that way includes staying after hours at the local AMF Union Hills lanes to fit practice in, or temporarily cutting her hours at the hospital to clear the time necessary to bowl the near-65 games required in a two-week span to qualify for the PWBA Spokane Open, the USBC Women's Open Championships, and the USBC Queens Finals.
If it wasn't obvious by the success that she's experienced, Acuff's perseverance was highlighted yet again on tour when she suffered an inflamed tendon in her ring finger, an injury that prevented her from closing her fist.
"It happened during the final game of the 4th match," said Acuff. "I felt a pop in my finger and pain through my hand up to my forearm. I almost withdrew, but I was able to tape it up and settle in to finish out the game."
To the surprise of no one who has seen her journey, Acuff has already shaken off the injury by getting back to the lanes last week.
"There were times when I struggled. Going a whole Junior Bowling Tour season without making a single cut. Battling injuries. The journey wasn't all highs, and it wasn't all lows," said Acuff. "I think if you look at how far I've come, you can see a steady attitude and a lot of consistent work, and that's stuff that anybody can do."
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MMA Annual Meething This Sunday At Mesa East Bowl.
MESA METROPOLITAN USBC ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING
DATE: Sunday June 11, 2023
TIME: 1:00 PM
Mesa - - - LOCATION: Mesa East Bowl Conference Room
ALL MMA Bowlers are invited and encouraged to attend. Some of the things to be discussed/presented are (but not limited to), Current Status of the Association, Presentation of Hall of Fame Inductees, Presentation of Youth Bowlers of the Year, Election of new Board Members and other business that may be brought before the membership.
Applications for the board can be found at www.bowlmesa.com, under Forms.
Positions to be elected are (1) Vice-President and (6) Directors. Any person wishing to be considered for one of these positions MUST turn in an application before, or on, May 11th (30 day notice) to be interviewed and considered for the ballot.
Mesa East Bowl is located at 9260 East Broadway Road in Mesa. Phone number is: 480-984-1158.
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Bowlero 9 Pin No Tap. Courtesy Of Kristi Smith-Thompson.
Chandler - - - Bowlero Kyrene 9 pin no tap, this weekend!! Saturday June 10th @ 1pm
Senior Division for 50+
Break the bank is at $116. Check in will start approximately 11:30 am. Preregister by commenting, DM'ing, or email. You can also just walk in. We are CASH ONLY, and there is no ATM in the bowling center.
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E&BC Tournament News. Courtesy Of E&BC.
Reminder, less than two weeks away:
Union Hills - - - Handicap Tournament Location: AMF Union Hills in Phoenix, AZ. When: Saturday, 6/17/23. Event Entry Fee $60.00; Prize Fund Incentive (PFI)(aka Progressive) $25.00; Re-Entry Fee $50.00; Both squads offer a Win-A-Spot $15.00 for future entry with PFI (Progressive) ($85.00 value). 2 Squads: 1st squad check in 11am - 12pm w/ tourney play at 12pm. 2nd squad check in 1:30pm-2:30pm w/ tourney play at 2:30pm. Bowlers will bowl 4 games each squad.
All totals ordered high to low. Cut to cashers finals 1 in 5. Finals/Cashers round 3 games. If you qualify, you cash. $1,000.00 1st place guaranteed with PFI with 60 entries. High game and series pots available. Eliminator and brackets available. We are also offering a scratch alibi side event at $30.00.
You will be bowling on the E&BC Tournaments Goblin Shark Oil Pattern. $2.00 of the PFI will rollover to the end of year final event along with $3.00 of the entry fee, in which the end of year event to be November/December 2023. Collegiate bowlers who show their active/current college ID will have an entry fee reduced to $50. We will be accepting Venmo up until 6/14/22. You can Venmo entry fee only ($60.00) to: @E-BCTournaments, Contact me via messenger for other options to pay entry fee prior to tournament date. Day of the event is cash only. Any questions, or if you'd like to sign up early you can email me at ebc_tournaments@yahoo.com.
For upcoming events, please visit our website at www.ebctournaments.com.
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More To Come.