ARLINGTON, Texas – The first all-female teams in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) League were selected Tuesday as the Phoenix Fury and Miami Waves now are set to make a run at the Elias Cup in 2020.
The top 35 competitors from the 2019 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour points list were eligible to be drafted, and reigning PWBA Player of the Year Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, was the first player selected by the Phoenix Fury and team manager Kim Kearney.
The Miami Waves, led by manager Bob Learn Jr., selected five-time PWBA Tour champion Danielle McEwan with the second pick.
O’Keefe will be joined on the Fury by Liz Johnson, Jordan Richard, Stefanie Johnson and Maria José Rodriguez.
McEwan’s teammates on the Waves are Dasha Kovalova, Clara Guerrero, Liz Kuhlkin and Missy Parkin.
The PBA recently announced the addition of the Fury and Waves to the league, bringing the total number of teams to 12.
The 2020 PBA League Elias Cup tournament was rescheduled because of COVID-19 and public health concerns. The PBA announced during the draft that the new dates for the event would be Sept. 27-28 at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine, and broadcast live on FS1.
The group of eligible players for the draft included 21 PWBA Tour champions, 13 major winners, two PBA Tour champions (Liz Johnson and Kelly Kulick), two PWBA Players of the Year (Liz Johnson and O’Keefe), two United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famers (Liz Johnson and Kulick) and athletes from 11 countries (Canada, Colombia, England, Germany, Indonesia, Latvia, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Ukraine, United States).
Liz Johnson, Kulick and McEwan previously have competed in the PBA League, and 2020 PWBA Hall of Fame inductee Carolyn Dorin-Ballard serves as the manager of the NYC KingPins.
The PWBA Podcast on BowlTV.com will welcome both teams onto the show in the next two weeks. The Miami Waves will be on Friday, July 10 at 2 p.m. Eastern, and the Phoenix Fury will be featured Friday, July 17 at 2 p.m. Eastern.
The draft was broadcast live on FloBowling.
2020 PBA League draft order
Tuesday, July 7
*Draft order was determined by a coin toss.
1. Phoenix Fury – Shannon O’Keefe
2. Miami Waves – Danielle McEwan
3. Phoenix Fury – Liz Johnson
4. Miami Waves – Dasha Kovalova
5. Phoenix Fury – Jordan Richard
6. Miami Waves – Clara Guerrero
7. Phoenix Fury – Stefanie Johnson
8. Miami Waves – Liz Kuhlkin
9. Phoenix Fury – Maria José Rodriguez
10. Miami Waves – Missy Parkin
