Regina's own Josie Brooks is fresh off her gold medal performance in Newfoundland at the Canadian Masters National Championships as the Singles Ladies representative from Saskatchewan.
The win marked her second national championship of the year as she also won with her mixed team back in May at the National Five Pin Bowling Championships.
Although both wins were exciting for the 24 year old professional bowler, it meant a lot to bring home a gold medal for her solo performance.
“It was an experience process that I don’t think I’ll ever top with it being my first single gold as an adult, at such a young age, it’s indescribable even now,” she said.
“In St. John’s it was all up to me. You play a 21 game round robin and then there was a stepladder event this year. There was actually a four-way tie for the last spot. So I played against three other fantastic ladies and I had to win the tiebreaker to get in [to the final].”
“I struggled during [the tiebreaker], I was very nervous that it wasn’t going to click. As soon as I hear the first ball, something clicked in my head, I knew had to get it done right now or it wasn’t going to happen,” she added.
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She then earned her spot in the final which consisted of a best of three games.
Brooks won the first, lost the second, forcing a third where she ultimately came out on top.
“The thing I remember very clearly is running off the lane and hugging my coach and then I had to throw the last frame so I did that, then ran back to my coach. The next thing I knew a bunch of people were coming at me, hugging me, and congratulating me,” she laughed.
Brooks is only the fourth woman from Saskatchewan to ever win the Masters Single Ladies Gold Medal and first from Regina.
Her bowling career began when her dad, an avid bowler, introduced her to the sport at a young age.
She found herself hanging around the bowling alley often as their family knew the owner, Shelley Baer, of ‘Glencairn Bolodrome’ the local bowling Club in Regina.
Brooks began competing in the sport in 2010 as a young teen.
“It’s not easy. It takes a lot of practice. This is my 20th season and I just won the gold. So a lot of hard work, determination, I started young and had years of practice and amazing coaches. All of the support in the world and I think that’s all you really need to be successful,” she said.
“She’s got the desire,” Baer told CTV News. “She’s always been very dedicated, the most dedicated person I’ve ever known in the sport.”
Baer is ecstatic for Brooks’ recent accomplishments, especially having two national championships under her belt in the same year.
“No one else deserves it better than her. I’m just really proud, I’ve been here a lot of years with her and she’s just an inspiration to all of these children,” she explained.
“Her mom texted me all the way through [the final]. I believed she was going to win just because she had come so far. She struggled off the bat but she was determined.”
Despite her recent solo success, Brooks, was excited to share about her team’s gold medal in Edmonton back in May as well.
“We had a very strong team, our chemistry was amazing, which is a huge thing in the sport,” she exclaimed.
“It was a tough field but you know we persevered, we had gone through a lot of adversity that week and we managed to pull it off which was such an amazing feeling.”
She also takes pride in being from the small province of Saskatchewan and earning gold not once but twice this year on the national stage.
“I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to represent this province as many times as I have,” she said.
“The proprietors here and the centres are so encouraging and so supportive. I’ve bowled here my whole life and everyone here is just amazing and I’m so happy to be doing it again and again.”
