Jillian Martin won the Queen’s earlier this week. And there’s just so many remarkable things about this story.

For one, she’s the youngest ever to win. Just 19.

She beat so many amazing bowlers along the way and bowled extraordinarily on TV. 

And she lost her first match.

For those who don’t know the technical details of how the Queen’s tournament is set up, let’s just say it’s very hard to win if you lose your first match. To qualify, you bowl to get into the top 63 + defending champion and then have double elimination. If you lose your first match at the Queen’s, the likelihood of making it to the end is very low… let alone to WIN it. I don’t know if anybody’s actually done that before. 

Jillian is also proof that the Elite Youth Tour is really preparing young bowlers for something bigger.

Jillian started with EYT when she was 10. When she left EYT, to begin bowing at the University of Nebraska, she had gotten to the point where she was winning it all.

Watching the final Queen’s matches on the television was also extra meaningful for me because Hope was in that final match too. In fact, Hope was the number one seed at the Queens. And, you may recall, I’ve written about Hope before. She was a little girl that I met at the Pro-Am the year I won the Queen’s Tournament. When I connected with her family, she came out to watch every single one of my frames until my Queen’s win that year. Here’s the original post where I mentioned Hope. 

Seeing Hope win the NCAA Championships 10 years after meeting her at Queens was a “full circle moment.” Later that year, she made the TV show at the 2022 Queen’s. Hope then made the top 5 out of 208 – while still in college. 

And yet, there was so much more to come. I had a feeling Hope’s story was just at the beginning, but I truly could not have dreamed how it would unfold.

So fast forward to this year, 2024, and it feels like the coming together of multiple full-circle moments.

This year, Jillian won, and Hope placed second.

It was a reminder that we don’t necessarily realize the magnitude of what we’re doing when we’re in the midst of something. But the impact of those moments sometimes runs so much deeper than we could have imagined…

When I am putting on the EYT tournaments, I am simply doing the best I can. Sure, I want to have an impact. But when I’m in it, I’m just really focused on putting on a top notch youth bowling event. I am pouring my heart into it for it to be a place where bowlers can learn how to become a champion – and gracious losers. But when they show up, I can’t know exactly what they will take away from those experiences. So when Jillian Martin was showing up at all of these events, all the way from Ohio, I can’t possibly know or foresee that she will be using all of what she learned at EYT for a PWBA major title. Or to become the youngest bowler to win the PWBA Queen’s – just eight years after she started with EYT.

And back in 2012, when I was at a Queen’s Pro-Am,  just connecting with people, and when I connected with Hope, an 11-year-old, I couldn’t have imagined how significant that moment would be. Or how much influence it was going to have on her future. Something so small, just meeting that family and connecting with them, created this significant result 12 years later.

I’m obviously not taking full credit for Jillian, or Hope’s amazing successes but I will acknowledge I was a small piece of what they would bring with them to greatness.

Thinking about it all, it is just extraordinary how these simple moments and interactions can have this magnitude of impact. And I think that is a really important lesson for anybody in life.

Whether you’re a pro bowler – or not even a bowler – you probably don’t understand the magnitude of right now.

They’re little moments at the time.

I felt really emotional watching the Queen’s final, not just because I was able to see their journey but also because I took those little moments seriously along the way—even though I didn’t know where they would lead for anyone.

Those moments may seem unimportant at the time, but my heart was in them, no matter what. And I have learned that if you do anything with your entire heart, it will certainly lead to something greater.

Jillian’s dad sent me the nicest text right after her Queen’s win.

“Thank you so much for everything. Truthfully, without you, and without your tour, none of this happens. There’s no Mabel. There’s no everyone along the way that makes her who she is. I’m forever grateful to you. And your positivity. Sometimes people never know the results from giving back to the sport. You get the ability to watch it happen right before your eyes. We will always have a special place in our hearts for you. Thank you.”

He didn’t have to send that. To send me such a thoughtful message, and to have the capacity to send it on what was probably the biggest day of his daughter’s life so far… was really touching and beautiful.

Now I see Jillian and Hope are keeping the ball of impact rolling into the future.

So many young people are already inspired by their triumphs, and they’ve started the ball rolling for others, whether through someone starting on a youth tour or getting a scholarship and just seeing all the possibilities. The impact of those moments isn’t going to stop with Hope and Jillian.

Whether we realize it or not, the magnitude of every moment runs deep into the future. 

So, is your heart all in even during life’s little moments, not just the big ones? Even if you have no way of knowing what they will all mean later on?