Jackson State University sophomore Laura Uzzell hopes to turn her bowling prowess from “good” to “great” now that she has attended an international course in bowling.
Uzzell was one of eight youth bowlers from throughout the country selected to train recently at the International Training and Research Center (ITRC) in Arlington, Texas, as part The National Bowling Association’s (TNBA) Youth Weekend.
She says she believes the experience has stepped up her game.
“Though it is often viewed as merely a game or hobby, I see bowling as much more than that,” Uzzell said. When she started at JSU, she said, she found that being “a ‘good’ bowler” among those “who participated for recreation” wasn’t good enough to compete on the collegiate level, much less beyond that. To go to the next level, she had to train harder and smarter.
“Getting the chance to work with world-class athletes who will constructively criticize my technique and form while sharing a great deal of knowledge is an opportunity of a lifetime,” she said, about the ITRC event.
Uzzell said ITRC provided the technical expertise she sought with world-class coaches and equipment, including: biomechanical motion tracking, video analysis from robotic cameras, state-of-the-art robotics and eye tracking of the bowler’s vision.
Now that she has returned from the training camp, she says, “I must now strive to be a great bowler and push myself further each day.”
Uzzell has been bowling since she was 6 years old. She is attending JSU on a bowling scholarship. She has bowled in two TNBA collegiate tournaments.
In its fifth year, the TNBA Youth Weekend allows the selected youth bowlers the opportunity to go through training sessions and exercises conducted by the Team USA coaching staff.
Meanwhile, The National Bowling Association is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. It was organized in Detroit in 1939 to encourage African Americans to develop their skills.
“Bowling is a multifaceted sport that demands more than just your physical body, but your brain as well,” Uzzell said.
“My hope by attending the TNBA ITRC Youth Weekend was to gain a valuable experience that I can not only use myself but be able to share with my team,” she added. “Collegiate bowling is a team effort and it would be … a waste if I kept what I learned (over that weekend) to myself.”
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TNBA membership and tournaments are open to everyone. For more information, see TNBAinc.org.
For more about bowling and Team USA, see: https://www.bowl.com/