ARLINGTON, Texas – A little more than a decade ago, Diandra Asbaty of Chicago was the premier female bowler in the world. She was inducted into the World Bowling Writers Hall of Fame in 2005, won the 2006 QubicaAMF World Cup and a host of medals during international competition.
She was a star despite the hiatus of the Professional Women’s Bowling Association during this time. Then, in 2012, Asbaty had a career-defining moment, winning the United States Bowling Congress Queens for her first major title.
Tuesday night, Asbaty will make her first national television appearance since winning the Queens as the 36-year-old right-hander is the No. 2 seed for the PWBA Greater Detroit Open, which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network.
Asbaty’s life already had changed before she won her first major as she and her husband, John, welcomed their first child, her son Madden, a few years earlier. In 2014, their daughter, Jersey, made them a family of four.
The kids had a front-row seat for Asbaty’s return to television at Super Bowl in Canton, Michigan, where Asbaty overcame a year of struggles and qualified for her first career PWBA TV finals. The impact Madden and Jersey have on Asbaty can’t be measured.
“Madden is about to be seven and Jersey is three,” Asbaty said. “I don't think that there could be a better motivation in my life to show my own children the power of believing in your dreams and the importance of picking yourself up when you fall down, how to be a gracious loser, and how to be humble winner.”
There’s no question Asbaty, like many players who were exiting college in the early portion of the 2000s, would’ve made the natural jump from college to the professional levels prior to the Tour’s hiatus beginning in 2003. Asbaty still wound up a winner as she traveled the world competing in the sport she loved, still waiting for the day the tour would return but with family as her focus.
“When the tour folded the year that I graduated college, initially I was really bummed,” said Asbaty, who was a two-time national champion with Nebraska. “I thought that was going to be my next step and then it wasn't there anymore. But then I got to travel all over the world and experience cultures and people from all over the world. I would never change that for anything. When the tour came back into 2015, I was ecstatic but in a different way. I was relieved that this younger generation will have an opportunity to become professional bowlers and I knew that I would compete in some capacity out there while also focusing on my family.”
When the PWBA Tour returned in 2015, one might’ve assumed Asbaty would’ve picked up where she left off in 2012 and have a successful PWBA career. But, Asbaty struggled in 2016 and despite the rough patch, had no plans of giving up.
With the help of a strong support system, a positive outlook, and a great friend from down under, she’s back where she belongs.
“2016 was a really rough year on the lanes,” Asbaty explains. “There were a lot of things that weren't matching up, I didn't feel like I was in the right space mentally and I might've put unnecessary pressure on myself. I worried about things that I couldn't control and there were some kinks in my game that I needed to work out. I dropped to 14 pounds (bowling balls) per Jason Belmonte’s advice, which has helped me match up my rev rate to ball speed. It’s made all the difference.
“But one thing is for sure, I never once contemplated not competing in 2017. You don't get to achieve the things that I have achieved in bowling by walking away when things aren't going well. I'm not afraid of failure. I'm motivated by it.”
When you don’t see Asbaty competing at a PWBA event, she’s generally hanging out with the family or providing the future of the sport avenues to excel and become leaders in life and on the lanes.
Asbaty wants to change lives in a positive way, and she does this through the Elite Youth Tour, a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower young leaders to build strong communities and create positive social change.
“My heart is focused a lot on my nonprofit, the Elite Youth Tour,” Asbaty said. “I feel an obligation to give back to the sport that has given me so much through youth bowling. And, I believe the EYT is a place where I'm building leaders and building our next generation of professional bowlers and I take that really seriously.”
Life has come full circle, in a sense, for Asbaty. She’s traveled the world, won a major championship, has a great family and is back on PWBA television after that was impossible for 12 years. She still is living a dream and is an example that, with a little belief and perseverance, you can accomplish your goals.
“It's no big surprise that I am in a different place in my life than a lot of the bowlers that I'm competing against,” Asbaty said. “But I also feel a great responsibility to show this younger generation that's out there you truly can have a family, be a great mom, and still reach for your dreams. I feel like that's a very powerful message to send them. It's really hard being a female professional athlete. For a lot of reasons. After all, the lessons that I'm teaching my children about following your dreams in life are so powerful when you can lead by example.”
All qualifying and match-play rounds of the 2017 PWBA Greater Detroit Open were held at Super Bowl in Canton, Michigan, on June 16-17.
The stepladder finals were held June 25 at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in conjunction with the live finals of the Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship and the taped finals of the PWBA Wichita Open and Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open.
