I surprised a lot of people last weekend when I showed up at the EYT Tournament. And I was surprised with the amount of people who sent me messages, shocked that I was at a youth bowling tournament a week after I had knee surgery. Messages from my best friend, Allison, as well as other professional bowlers who were amazed that I showed up.  

As you likely know, I had a major surgery two weeks ago. And, sure, it was a big deal.

And yes, there was an opportunity to not show up last weekend. I could have easily stayed home. Most people probably would have. I had the perfect out after this major surgery. I also knew if I couldn’t go for any reason my team would handle it all, without any issues. I am not most people though. I knew all along that my surgery was a week before an EYT, and it didn’t even cross my mind that I wouldn’t go. In fact, I always planned on going. 

Staying home just didn’t make sense to me. I thought to myself, if I can be safe with my knee, what’s the difference between staying home and going?

I knew I could be really intentional about just sitting and not being too active walking around the way that I normally would be. So, I thought, I can sit around at home, or I can sit around at the tournament. I knew I could get to the tournament safely, with my EYT teammate, Kayla, driving me there. I knew I wasn’t in any kind of miserable pain. And I knew I would rather be sitting at the tournament than sitting at home.

I wanted to be there.

If things weren’t going well, or if I couldn’t get around at all, then I would have made the smart choice to not go, but when I was walking unassisted and not in any debilitating pain, I knew I just had to go.

Maybe it was a bit of FOMO. These events are so close to my heart I don’t want to miss a moment of them.

When I am committed to something, I always choose to opt in even if there is an easy opportunity available to opt out. When you’re faced with a decision, and you do have an out, do YOU take it? 

That opting-in says what it means to you.

I have an amazing team of people who do a great job and they could have covered the tournament. I had all the reasons that I could have just relied on them to handle it. They know how to get everything done. I am lucky to have such an incredible team around me. I completely trust them. But then I would have missed out.

I would have missed out on seeing little Ruby win her first ever big tournament. Ruby is in the U12, and she is just 10. She’s been bowling EYT events for probably a year and a half. She’s always there. She always shows up. And then, on Saturday, she won. Being there for that was so significant to me. It made me emotional on Saturday witnessing it, and it makes me emotional thinking about it now to write about it. There’s a picture of her that I posted on social media, when she had the sweetest look on her face at the ball return. She was looking back at her mom and had this really cute smile, like it was the moment she just realized she had won for the first time. 

Seeing those new faces just light up from winning for the first time was just so soul-filling for me last weekend.

Besides Ruby, another kid who just won his first tournament was Miles. Not only did he just win, but he also just beat someone who has already won a lot. Luke Switalski has been winning everything lately, and last weekend Miles beat him. It was really fun to be there in person for that, not just hear about it. That was such a big deal for Miles. He absolutely loves bowling. He shows up every week. Now he also has a big win, against another very talented young bowler. He said, “There are so many great bowlers at these events and I feel very proud that I am able to compete with them. This win makes me want to work even harder.”

If I wouldn’t have been there, I wouldn’t have witnessed those moments in person. I wouldn’t have seen all these new winners win: Ruby and Brendan and Macy and Miles. Had I missed all that, I would have been upset with myself.

Tournaments like that, where new people win, are so important for these young bowlers. When there’s a new winner, it really validates all their hard work. It shows them the rewards in always showing up and giving it their all. Another winner, Brendan in the U12 Boys, has been consistently showing up every month, and last weekend was his first win too.

When you show up all the time and haven’t had a win yet, it can be easy to let doubt creep in. You can start to ask yourself, am I good enough to win? But then there’s these moments that happen that prove that you are. It shows you that you don’t have to doubt yourself. And when you keep showing up, you keep giving yourself that opportunity to win. When you don’t show up, that opportunity also doesn’t show up. It’s not necessarily going to be easy, but it’s going to be possible. And even just seeing other new people win sparks that hope, and helps you keep pushing harder to keep putting in the effort, to keep showing up. 

There’s such a power in showing up. It’s for yourself, and it’s for inspiring others. It’s why I showed up last weekend. It’s why I see all those bowlers showing up month after month. The inspiration in showing up can propel everyone forward.