Arkansas bowler reaches 55 years at USBC Women's Championships
June 06, 2017
By Scott Simon and Aaron Smith
USBC Communications
BATON ROUGE, La. - Suda Bailey of Cabot, Arkansas, celebrated a second milestone appearance at the United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships as she made her 55th consecutive appearance this week at the Raising Cane's River Center.
The 83-year-old began her tournament career at the 1963 event in Memphis, Tennessee, and she's had the opportunity to visit 39 cities and 27 states while making her annual visit to the world's largest participatory sporting event for women.
Bailey got her start in the sport after a friend asked her to join in a league, which was followed by an invitation to bowl in the USBC Women's Championships. She quickly agreed to make her way to Memphis' Imperial Lanes for her debut.
"It was a short drive from home, so that's why I said yes," said Bailey, who received a plaque, chevron and watch Monday to commemorate her most recent achievement. "When I said 'let's go next year (to Minneapolis),' our group's organizer said it was too far, but we saved money all year long, so we could go on the trip."
Bailey reached her 50th consecutive appearance at the 2012 event in Reno, Nevada, and was able to watch her teammate, Carolyn Evans of Little Rock, Arkansas, reach the same milestone two years later in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Evans made her 53rd appearance this week, with each being alongside Bailey.
"I wish I could have joined her today with 55 years, but I missed two years along the way," said Evans, who has competed each year at the Women's Championships since 1970. "I'll tell you what, these 53 years have been a blast."
Evans' daughter, Nancy Burrow, echoed the same sentiments.
Burrow started bowling alongside her mother and Bailey at the 1995 event in Tucson, Arizona, and made her 23rd consecutive appearance this week at the Raising Cane's River Center.
"My whole childhood revolved around this group of women, and it was my family vacation every year," Burrow said. "We would travel by car, no matter where we went, eventually making a caravan of four and five vans, and Suda just took care of all of us. We call her Mama Suda because wherever she tells us to go, we go."
The team bond is a clear characteristic of the group, and during her celebration, Bailey reminisced about a past teammate, Dot Cunningham, who made 48 Women's Championships appearances alongside Bailey and Evans before her death in 2014.
Although Bailey is unsure how long she'll be able to continue to compete at the event, there is some added motivation of being able to see Evans experience the same excitement in two years.
"Carolyn and I are the only two members remaining from the original team from 1963," said Bailey, a Central Arkansas USBC Women's Bowling Association Hall of Famer. "I will go to Reno next year if I can, but I'm not sure if I'll be physically able to do so. In fact, I'll be struggling to get through today. When your average drops 10 pins a year, you start to thinking about hanging up your ball and shoes."
In her 55th appearance, Bailey rolled sets of 327 in doubles and 309 in team event. She did not compete in singles.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Women's Championships page.
USBC Communications
BATON ROUGE, La. - Suda Bailey of Cabot, Arkansas, celebrated a second milestone appearance at the United States Bowling Congress Women's Championships as she made her 55th consecutive appearance this week at the Raising Cane's River Center.
The 83-year-old began her tournament career at the 1963 event in Memphis, Tennessee, and she's had the opportunity to visit 39 cities and 27 states while making her annual visit to the world's largest participatory sporting event for women.
Bailey got her start in the sport after a friend asked her to join in a league, which was followed by an invitation to bowl in the USBC Women's Championships. She quickly agreed to make her way to Memphis' Imperial Lanes for her debut.
"It was a short drive from home, so that's why I said yes," said Bailey, who received a plaque, chevron and watch Monday to commemorate her most recent achievement. "When I said 'let's go next year (to Minneapolis),' our group's organizer said it was too far, but we saved money all year long, so we could go on the trip."
Bailey reached her 50th consecutive appearance at the 2012 event in Reno, Nevada, and was able to watch her teammate, Carolyn Evans of Little Rock, Arkansas, reach the same milestone two years later in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Evans made her 53rd appearance this week, with each being alongside Bailey.
"I wish I could have joined her today with 55 years, but I missed two years along the way," said Evans, who has competed each year at the Women's Championships since 1970. "I'll tell you what, these 53 years have been a blast."
Evans' daughter, Nancy Burrow, echoed the same sentiments.
Burrow started bowling alongside her mother and Bailey at the 1995 event in Tucson, Arizona, and made her 23rd consecutive appearance this week at the Raising Cane's River Center.
"My whole childhood revolved around this group of women, and it was my family vacation every year," Burrow said. "We would travel by car, no matter where we went, eventually making a caravan of four and five vans, and Suda just took care of all of us. We call her Mama Suda because wherever she tells us to go, we go."
The team bond is a clear characteristic of the group, and during her celebration, Bailey reminisced about a past teammate, Dot Cunningham, who made 48 Women's Championships appearances alongside Bailey and Evans before her death in 2014.
Although Bailey is unsure how long she'll be able to continue to compete at the event, there is some added motivation of being able to see Evans experience the same excitement in two years.
"Carolyn and I are the only two members remaining from the original team from 1963," said Bailey, a Central Arkansas USBC Women's Bowling Association Hall of Famer. "I will go to Reno next year if I can, but I'm not sure if I'll be physically able to do so. In fact, I'll be struggling to get through today. When your average drops 10 pins a year, you start to thinking about hanging up your ball and shoes."
In her 55th appearance, Bailey rolled sets of 327 in doubles and 309 in team event. She did not compete in singles.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Women's Championships page.