Monique Ley can add another accolade to her list of accomplishments in bowling.
The Estevan Bowl member and local resident has been named the Female Bowler of the Year for 2020 by the Canadian 10-Pin Federation. While last season had limited opportunities for competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was still able to accomplish a lot on the lanes.
She bowled a perfect game in January, placed 15th at the Manitoba Open, which Ley said is a really tough tournament, and she was also 15th in a field of 120 bowlers at the KFYR Open, a men’s competition in Bismarck, N.D.
“I had the high average in the season in Estevan,” said Ley.
Just like every other sport, the pandemic brought her season to a halt in March. Once Estevan Bowl reopened, she would go in once or twice a week.
“I got back into league in September, until November when they shut down leagues, so I’m just going in and practising when I can,” she said.
Right now she practises twice a week, but she expects to be up to three times a week eventually.
The perfect game she bowled in January wasn’t her first. She has three sanctioned perfect games, and has twice hit 800 for a three-game total. Her career high is 827, which would put her at an average of 274.
Ley started bowling when she was seven years old, and began travelling nationally through the sport at age 12 and internationally at 17. Bowling had allowed her to meet a lot of people she wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.
She moved here in 2007, and continued with her success.
Ley still hopes to be able to bowl competitively this year.
“I am very anxious to get back at it. I’m hoping the borders will open at least by September so I can get down there and get some training down there as well,” she said.
The award would typically be presented during the Canadian Team Trials in May, but those have been cancelled, so she won’t be receiving the award for 2020 until January of next year.
