ARLINGTON, Texas - When April Ellis of Jackson, Tennessee, returns to her kindergarten classroom this fall to begin her second year of teaching, she will have an interesting "what I did during summer break" story.
Ellis should be excited to share with her students the first time she appeared on television as a professional bowler, which will be Tuesday, July 12, at 11 p.m. Eastern when the Pepsi Professional Women's Bowling Association Lincoln Open TV show airs on CBS Sports Network.
Since the relaunch of the PWBA Tour in 2015, Ellis has competed in six events, cashing in five and has made two match-play appearances. Her previous highest finish was 10th, which came at the 2015 Storm Sacramento Open.
While the small sample size of success is promising, one of the main keys for success for Ellis is confidence, something she found during qualifying and match play at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska.
"I think the pattern was more conducive to what I consider my 'A' game," said Ellis, who will be the No. 4 seed during the TV finals. "I feel that was a big thing, but I also had a different kind of confidence during that week. I made some decisions on my own and they worked out, and that gave me a lot of confidence. That made me believe in my own ability instead of someone else seeing something and saying, 'Hey, maybe you should do this.' I trusted my gut and it paid off. That gave me a lot of confidence."
Ellis, who helped lead Pikeville to the women's title at the 2004 Intercollegiate Team Championship, is part of the large generation of players who graduated college without a professional tour to move on to. The amount of talent that Ellis competes against each week doesn't go unnoticed.
"I had collegiate success, which was great, but at the professional level, it's different," said Ellis, who was inducted into the Pikeville Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011. "The talent out here now compared to what it was when I was in college is great. Back then, I feel there was a good chunk of players that were great, but now you look out and you can definitely see the Junior Gold program working, collegiate bowling working to where these girls you see are amazing. They come out of college and they're incredible."
Jackson, which is about 80 miles east of Memphis, is Ellis' hometown and will serve several purposes when she goes home in August. As a teacher, Ellis will be able to give back to a school district she attended as a child, and, most importantly, Jackson provides Ellis the opportunity to be closer to her family.
"The key is my family's there," said Ellis, who was a National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association first-team All-American in 2003. "That is what I've always considered home. I lived in Texas - loved it. I lived in Wichita (Kansas) - loved it. But, my home is where my family is. I'm looking forward to going back, getting to see them more often and being a more active part of my 3-and-a-half-year-old niece's life. I miss so many moments and it breaks my heart. That's really the biggest positive for me."
The qualifying, match play and group stepladder rounds of the Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open took place June 10-11 at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Nebraska, and were broadcast live on Xtra Frame, the exclusive online bowling channel of the Professional Bowlers Association.
