Later this month Shaianne Yockman, a member of the Weber State University Bowling Club, will take her talents to New York. Yockman will take part in the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships that will be held in Buffalo later this month.
Yockman, a freshman from Hawaii, felt nervous during the final of the Utah Pepsi Championship. She was able to shake off the nerves and win which earned her a spot to travel across the country to bowl against some of the best talent that America has to offer.
“It was my first time winning a tournament away from my family and friends,” Yockman said. “I really had no one to cheer for me but it was more nerve-racking that I was facing a girl that had won a lot of tournaments before. But after I won, I felt really good, it was a nice surprise.”
Yockman attributes her winning the tournament to the experience that she has gained in her short time of being a collegiate bowler. It gives her a chance to compete against the best in the nation.
“The experience that I have gained has helped me in all aspects of bowling,” Yockman said. “I want to excel just like the best in the country and Coach Fred (Meaders) has really helped me with that.”
During the championships in July, Yockman will not only have the chance to show some of the other competitors what she is made of, but she will also have a chance to win scholarships and earn a spot on the USA junior team.
“I hope that I can make the cut, that is the most important thing,” Yockman said. “As long as I keep my head in the game and not worry about what the others are doing. If I do that then I should do good.”
The journey to becoming the best didn’t just happen when Yockman set foot on campus in Ogden. Since she was 3 years old, she remembers bowling with her father, who has traveled with the Professional Bowlers Association, but she didn’t take the sport seriously until she was in the eighth grade.
“I grew up going with my father traveling around the Professional Bowlers Association,” Yockman said. “Even though I have certain expectations from my dad being so good. I still try to have fun even though it can be so competitive most of the time. Getting a new high score or averaging over 200 always makes me enjoy bowling a little more.”
Even as she excelled in high school and started to get better and better, Yockman knew that she wanted to take her talents to the next level. College bowling was something that she really had a desire to do and Weber State made her an offer that was hard to turn down.
“I was looking for a school that offered a bowling program,” she said. “After sending out my information, Weber was really quick to respond and had a good offer for me and that’s how I fell into it.”
The Junior Gold Championships will start on July 12 in varying bowling lanes throughout the Buffalo, New York area.
