PBA adds Two New Teams to League in Lieu of PWBA Season

For the first time ever the Professional Bowling Association has added two teams to their PBA League for females in the PWBA. The Phenix Fury and the Miami Waves comprised of five women each join eight other men's teams for this year's season.

On July 7, 2020 the league drafted 10 women from the registered list of PWBA players to join men who were already drafted to their respective teams earlier in 2020. Only the top 35 women, based on PWBA points, were eligible for consideration on these two teams.

This is not the first time that women have played in the PBA League since its creation in 2013, but it is the first time that there have been teams comprised of only women. Kelly Kulick, Danielle McEwan, and Liz Johnson have competed in past years, however no women were drafted for any existing team for the 2020 competition.

The draft that took place on July 6, 2020 began with the selection of Shannon O'Keefe to the Fury followed by Danielle McEwan to the Waves.

These two women's teams are not the only new additions to the PBA League for the 2020 season. Earlier this year two more teams were added from Las Vegas and Milwaukee. The League now has 12 teams and is split into two divisions, Anthony and Carter.

The League season will begin on September 26 and conclude on September 27 and will be broadcasted September 28 and 29 on FS1. The games will be played at Bayside Bowl in Portland, Maine where the reigning champions, Portland Lumberjacks will look to defend their title from the 2019 season.

League players for the 2020 season are as follows:

Carter Division:

Dallas Strikers managed by Norm Duke

Norm Duke of Clermont, Florida

Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania

Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, South Carolina

Nick Pate of Inner Grove Heights, Minnesota

Brad Miller of Lees Summit, Missouri

Philadelphia Hitmen managed by Jason Couch

Dom Barrett of England

Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan

Shawn Maldonado of Houston, Texas

Jason Sterner of Rochester, New York

Matt Ogle of Louisville, Kentucky

Brooklyn Styles managed by Johnny Petraglia

Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Florida

Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY

Rhino Page of Orlando, Florida

BJ Moore of Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Thomas Larsen of Denmark

Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters managed by Mark Baker

Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas

Jesper Svensson of Sweden

Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Florida

Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio

AJ Chapman of Wichita, Kansas

Las Vegas High Rollers managed by Amleto Monacelli

Francois Lavoie of Canada

Andrew Anderson of Holly, Michigan

AJ Johnson of Oswego, Illinois

Richie Teece of England

Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela

Phoenix Fury managed by Kim Terrell-Kearney

Shannon O'Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois

Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New York

Jordan Richard of Tecumseh, Michigan

Stefanie Johnson of Grand Prairie, Texas

Maria Jose Rodriguez of Columbia

Anthony Division:

New York City Kingpins managed by Carolyn Dorin-Ballard

Pete Webber of St. Ann Missouri

Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington

Kyle Sherman of O'Fallon, Missouri

Darren Tang of San Francisco, California

Osku Palermaa of Finland

Motown Muscle managed by Del Ballard Jr.

EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana

Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas

Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Arizona

Mitch Hupe of Canada

Matt McNiel of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Portland Lumberjacks managed by Tim Mack

Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas

Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina

Kris Prather of Plainfield, Illinois

Martin Larsen of Sweden

Packy Hanrahan of Greenwich, Connecticut

L.A. X managed by Andrew Cain

Jason Belmonte of Australia

Stuart Williams of England

Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona

Patrick Girard of Canada

Anthony Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas

Brew City Ballers managed by Marshall Holman

Sean Rash of Montgomery, Illinois

Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, New York

Dick Allen of Lexington, South Carolina

Christopher Sloan of Ireland

Zeke Bayt of Westerville, Ohio

Miami Waves managed by Bob Learn Jr.

Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York

Dasha Kovalova of Ukraine

Clara Guerrero of Columbia

Liz Kuhlkin of Schenctady, New York

Missy Parkin of Laguna Hills, California