In the middle of global pandemic, her athlete’s visa ended, and she was forced to return home to the UK. With a PWBA Tour on stake, however, she did not give up and after long and exhausting negotiations with the US authorities, she managed to get a tourist visa, meaning she will be able to participate in PWBA Tour in April. All about bowling drills on the mattress, growing popularity of bowling, basketball and Lithuanian cuisine ‘Apollo4bowling’ spoke with the pride of UK bowling – Verity Crawley.
Let us begin our interview with several questions you heard hundreds of times (but they are essential for our readers to know you better) – how did your bowling journey begin? How old were you when you started to bowl?
I started bowling back when I was 5 years old, my brother and I joined a ‘Youth Bowling Club’. We would bowl three games every Saturday morning and it was from there that my love for the game started to develop. I was very lucky to have access to some very good coaches whom I worked with on a weekly basis. I really enjoyed working on my game and I just loved being in the bowling centre. I used to travel with my parents every weekend to compete all over the UK.
When did you shot your first ever perfect game? Do you still have a count on them? Can you compare feeling of hitting perfect for the first time and hitting it now?
I shot my first 300 at the European Youth Championships in Denmark, when I was 17. It’s an achievement that I hold very close to me, primarily because I was representing my country and I had my family behind me cheering me on. Since then, I have had seven sanctioned 300 games, they are all very memorable to me. The notable feeling of all 7 perfect games, is that it wasn’t on my mind that I could possibly shoot 300 until around the 9th frame.
Which trophy of yours is the most important to you?
It is really hard to pinpoint the most important trophy, as every win is special. I would say winning gold in singles at the European Youth Championships, back in 2012 was very monumental for me. I believe that medal boosted my confidence and actually opened up opportunities to move to the United States to study at University.
Global pandemic changed schedule of every athlete. For European players – even more, as a lockdown in here is stricter. How did you feel, when U.S. athlete visa ended, and you had to get back to the UK? I mean, it had to be tough knowing you won’t be able to practice and compete in dozens of different competitions in U.S. for a while.
It was heartbreaking, honestly. I felt so sharp and so ready to compete in the January PWBA events, that it was as if someone just kicked me in the face. Subsequently, a huge part of me was very happy because I hadn’t seen my family in over a year.
Few days back you shared wonderful news – you finally got tourist visa approved, which means you’ll be able to bowl in PWBA Tour. Almost two months (you left U.S. 11th of January) on lockdown, and the only bowling lane you have had was a mattress. Do you feel confident for the upcoming event?
I believe I will be ready. I will do everything I can to be ready. Of course, there is doubt in my mind, due to the two months off I will have had, but I know in my heart that I did all I could do whilst in the UK and that feeling outweighs the doubt.
Anyway, seeing your family for a bit longer than usual must have felt nice. How did they react on your return to the UK? Were they supportive or tried to get rid of you ASAP? On the other hand, leaving all the friends and Kristijonas in U.S. couldn’t be easy, was it?
They had a mix of emotions just like me. They were extremely happy that they would get to see me, however sad at the fact I would miss out on competing. I had sacrificed not going home for Christmas, so that I could stay and bowl the PWBA Tour in January. I had never been away from home at Christmas and I know it was difficult for my family. Therefore, it was exciting to know that I would get to see them and probably for more than just a couple of weeks. It will certainly be hard leaving them again when I go back, but they fully support me in everything I do. I am also very thankful for technology, to be able to stay in constant contact with them.
It is never easy to leave somewhere you call home and I feel like whether I am in the U.S. or the UK, I am always missing someone.
There are two types of players – those who invest all their time in practice, preparations and equipment in order to win trophies (and money of course), and others, who, in addition, put their time and effort in making this sport more popular. And you are one of them – famous social media ambassador of the sport of bowling. How did you start it? And as we can see outside bowling company’s getting involved and branching out with players, do you believe that social media helps bowling to grow?
I believe social media is a fantastic platform to be able to interact with people. It allows people from all over the world to be able to connect with each other, for little or no cost. For me, it started by posting my results from the PWBA tour. The good and the bad. It can be easy to hide the bad performances and ‘pretend’ they didn’t happen. I wanted to share with people the reality. Show people that my journey is a rollercoaster, with lots of ups and downs. I do believe social media helps bowling to grow, even if I can get one person to pick up a bowling ball and go practice, then that’s a win in my mind.
In previous months, something amazing happened in the world of Lithuanian bowling. Kristijonas Sergejevas made his debut in PBA Players Championship and finished 8th in the South Region. Shortly after that he partnered with Storm Products. How did you like his performance?
I am very proud and happy for him. Seeing how hard he works and knowing the knowledge and talent that he has; I wasn’t surprised by his phenomenal performance. Simply put, he is really good.
And still, inspite his majestic performance in previous months, who is better player – Kristijonas or you? Let me be more specific. Let’s say you play one on one. Final game for the title and 1M$. Who would you bet on? Yourself or him?
Can we split the money? Honestly though, of course I would bet on myself.
It is said that Lithuanians are quite good storytellers about their homeland. After spending lots of time with Kristijonas, would you approve or deny this statement? As I already know your answer, please tell me – ‘ar jau laisvai kalbi lietuviškai’? Has he made you any national Lithuanian dishes (like šaltibarščiai, cepelinai) already?
I think I would have to deny that statement, however I cannot talk for everyone! I am pretty far away from speaking any form of Lithuanian, I know some basic words but that’s about it. It’s a very hard and confusing language to learn. He’s not made me any šaltibarščiai, because he doesn’t like the dish, and neither would I. I am looking forward to one day travelling to Lithuania with him and trying some traditional foods like cepelinai. On Christmas Eve, we celebrated Kūčios and I actually made him some kūčiukai. Apart from that, all I have tried is šakotis, a ‘Nomeda’ candy bar, ‘Vilniaus’ and Sostinės chocolates.
My sources whispered, that you probably should know who the all-time best basketball team in Lithuania is. Can you name it and are you forced, as every Lithuanian girl, to watch a game once or twice a week?
BC ‘Žalgiris‘ Kaunas is the only basketball team I ‘support’, but I use that word loosely. I am certainly not forced to watch them, and I have to admit, I have not watched a whole game. But… go team!
