NEW BERLIN – Kelly Kulick may be the least recognizable breakthrough athletes in America today. She has already done what golfing phenom Michelle Wie is still attempting to do: Compete as a women on equal footing with men.
Kulick was at Lake Street Lanes this past Saturday afternoon to meet members of the community and conduct a workshop for young bowlers. Kulick tours the country as a representative of Ebonite, and was the first woman bowler to qualify for a men’s tour event, while also placing well enough the past year to earn an exemption to the PBA for the 2006-2007 season.
Kulick, who travels extensively throughout the year, also served as the guest speaker for the Tri-County Bowling Association Hall of Fame banquet Saturday night in Sidney. “The road can be quite tiring,” she said. “I enjoy meeting new people, especially in small towns like this (New Berlin). I like to make that personal connection and to give back to the kids.”
Kulick did not take the traditional road to professional stardom. She wasn’t groomed as young bowler by parents (a la Tiger Woods), and was a three-sport athlete while in high school in New Jersey. She was a standout athlete in basketball and softball, and merely competed in bowling competitions on the weekend. Seeing her calling, however, Kulick turned her focus extensively to bowling as a senior, and she moved on to a standout career at Morehead State in Kentucky earning All-American honors, while also winning collegiate bowler of the year three times. She also completed her degree receiving a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. “I needed to have a career to fall back on in case bowling didn’t happen,” Kulick said. “Fortunately, it did happen.”
Kulick went on to win the U.S. Women’s Open, and struck gold on the newly-formed Women’s PBA. She won Rookie of the Year honors, and cashed several times as a winner. However, the women’s tour went belly-up in 2003, a full year before the men’s PBA started allowing women to compete on its tour.
With no real means to make a living in bowling, Kulick went to work for her family’s auto business. “I prayed a lot,” Kulick said, referencing her desire to still compete, “and I spent a lot of time with my family.
The doors to the PBA opened in 2004, and Kulick won the right to compete with the men based on her qualifying scores. She has since cashed several checks along the way on the men’s tour, and earned a full year’s exemption for the 2006-2007 season. She said that the sport of bowling puts men and women almost on equal footing as compared to nearly every other major sport in America. “What it comes down to is precision, adjustments, and cleverness,” she said. “With the technology that is out there today, a woman doesn’t need a 15- or 16-pound ball to knock the pins down.”
And for the recreational bowler, Kulick offered a few basic tips to help with scoring. “Finding quality shoes and using the right equipment are important,” she said. “It also helps to stay on balance, don’t try to do too much, and having good hand-eye coordination.”