ADDISON, Ill. - Seven years ago, Sydney Brummett of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was a wide-eyed 13-year-old two hours from home and competing in the Junior Gold Championships for the first time.
She found herself beside the likes of standout young players like Josie Earnest and Danielle McEwan, who unknowingly became instrumental in her development and progression as a player.
Fast forward to 2016, and she was back on the lanes in Indianapolis as her own United States Bowling Congress Youth career came to a close at the latest edition of the Junior Gold Championships. Unbeknownst to her, she had become the competitor young players were looking up to, and, it's her footsteps they're hoping to follow in.
"In 2009, people like Danielle and Josie were bowling, and I really wanted to learn from them," Brummett said. "Now, I'm 20, and it was an honor for me to be able to help and influence people. It was cool to see it all come around and be on the other side of it. I never expected to be the one people would be excited to meet. It was a surprise and something I'll always remember."
While the realization was humbling and Brummett was appreciative, there wasn't much time for her to enjoy the moment. This year's Junior Gold event was just one stop on a whirlwind summer tour, and no sooner than the 20-year-old right-hander had secured her third consecutive berth on Junior Team USA, Indianapolis and youth bowling were in the rear-view mirror.
However, the rest of the trip might as well have been taken in a time machine, rather than on the open road.
Brummett's journey ended this week on the lanes at Stardust Bowl in Addison, Illinois, where she made her USBC Adult debut and again found herself with a priceless learning experience, closely watching the best in the game tackle the year's most demanding oil pattern. Among the competition joining her in Friday's cashers' round - you guessed it - Josie Earnest and Danielle McEwan.
"I had no idea what to expect coming into this week, but I knew it would be a terrific opportunity to learn some things," Brummett said. "I'd never been to this event, even to watch, but I'd heard about it. It really was as hard and grueling as everyone said, and I was very thankful for my spare ball this week. It's mentally tough, too, and you really have to use everything you've learned along the way. You have to use all your tricks and tools in figuring it out."
As someone who has bowled on Sport Bowling-certified lane conditions since she was 8 years old, has trained with the Team USA coaching staff and excelled with one of the most storied collegiate bowling programs, Wichita State, Brummett indeed figured things out at Stardust Bowl.
Through 24 games of qualifying this week in a field of 142 of the best female bowlers from 16 countries, Brummett averaged nearly 199 and qualified 25th for the fourth round of qualifying, eight additional games Friday to determine the 24 players who would advance to match play.
"Today didn't start off as well as I hoped it would, but even though it didn't look like I was going to make match play, I wanted to make sure I took advantage of the extra games and the chance to watch some of the best players around," said Brummett, who will be a junior at Wichita State this fall. "I'm always watching the people around me to see what they're doing that I'm not. Once I figured it out today, I was able to bowl a little better. It was such an incredible experience."
Brummett finished her first official adult bowling tournament in 37th place, ahead of hall of famers, world champions and some of the sport's most recognizable names. The effort earned her $1,750, and what's the first thing she thought about spending the money on? Slushies.
"I just love slushies," Brummett said. "So, me and my Dad were joking about how many slushies I'd be able to buy."
All joking aside, the money likely could be spent on the extra baggage fees recently incurred on her way to Chicago from South Florida as she transported her hardware haul from the recent Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas to a safety deposit box to safely keep the six gold medals earned while representing her country on the lanes.
That's right, after bowling nearly 40 games to maintain her spot on Junior Team USA for another year, Brummett was off to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the second international event of her Junior Team USA career. It was the perfect transition from a successful youth career to the adult ranks.
Along with becoming the envy of all the other competitors, she also became a security risk, with her bag full of gold rumored to have caused a traffic delay in the airport security line.
Over six days of competition in the Sunshine State, Brummett bowled another 32 games on the way to gold medals in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, mixed team, all-events and National All-Events.
"I also had never bowled in the Tournament of the Americas or been to Florida, so it was a great experience and a lot of fun," said Brummett, who also picked three medals at the 2015 Pan American Bowling Confederation Youth Championships. "I was excited to bowl team play again, and to come away with six golds, high game (279), high series (750) and the Sportsmanship Award, which I'm most proud of, shows how all the hard work came together. It turned it into something you can hold, something tangible."
There also are things she can't hold but will take away from the last few weeks on the road.
Some of those things were observations and lessons learned on her own, along with things collected from others, including Earnest, who once again was an important piece of the progress this month. Earnest, a veteran at the Tournament of the Americas, was there this year to represent Team USA in the adult division and picked up a handful of medals of her own before heading to the U.S. Women's Open.
After more than 100 games at the highest levels of competition, Brummett has proven she can compete and is excited about future endeavors on the Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour.
For now, the road back to Kansas is paved in gold for Brummett, who is ready to take what she learned back to her teammates in Wichita.
"More than anything, after this summer, I'm not really a different player, I just have had many more experiences," Brummett said. "I play with heart all the time, and I'll never give you less than 110 percent. I did some things and saw some things at these events that were new to me, and I'm excited to keep working on them and share them with my teammates."
The U.S. Women's Open continues Saturday with two more eight-game rounds of round-robin match play, after which the top five players will advance to Sunday's stepladder that will be televised live on CBS Sports Network at noon Eastern.
All qualifying and match-play rounds of the 2016 U.S. Women's Open are being broadcast live on Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit XtraFrame.TV.
