Bowling One-On-One with Dasha Kovalova: Five Time PWBA Champion
The PWBA is exciting to watch and full of talented bowlers from all around the world. These professional bowlers are grinding week-in and week-out on tour nationally and internationally throughout the year and they are a big part of what makes this sport so exciting and great. One such member and five time PWBA champion, Dasha Kovalova, brings with her a lot of heart, passion, determination and courage, not to mention incredible talent. I was fortunate to meet up with Dasha and I asked her about her bowling journey.
You started bowling at 10 years old. Your parents were coaches in Ukraine when your family was still living there. Some people may be surprised to know that bowling and competition in general wasn’t really your interest at a young age. What was it that ultimately inspired and lead you to become more acquainted and comfortable with bowling and competing?
“To be honest, at first my parents had to help me find my motivation since I wasn’t a very competitive child. I liked to read, draw, and read books, and competition gave me a lot of anxiety. I think what inspired me to bowl was a sense of community and a sense of belonging. I was (and still am) pretty socially awkward, and the bowling community here in the United States was very accepting of me. Wichita State University (WSU) definitely helped me to come out of my shell and find my people and taught me how to interact with people and make friends. And that led me to meet some of the most amazing people in my life, who I can no longer imagine my life without. So, I guess, I want to inspire other people, who feel like they don’t belong, and show them that with enough work and dedication, they can find good people to surround themselves with too, without changing themselves and faking their personalities.
Following a successful national (Ukraine) and collegiate career (WSU), you joined the PWBA tour in 2016 and have since gone on to win five PWBA titles, one being a major in 2019 (USBC Queens, Wichita, Kansas). Although you didn’t win a title this past season, you were always in the mix and competing at a high level. You reached the championship round four times, finished in 4th place in total points and 5th place in total earnings. You accomplished this given the challenges surrounding your life and your home country fighting a war. After having gone from not really being interested in competing as a young girl, to five time PWBA Champion, talk about how your success in bowling has impacted your life and career and what winning these titles means to you.
“My successes helped me out in a tremendous way. With the war going on in my home country, my parents had to flee. My career helped me to provide for them when they were struggling and gave them the security they needed to start a new life here in the USA. It also helped me to build my confidence and find myself. Winning in the PWBA Tour means a lot to me. When I started as a youth bowler, it took me a little longer to get the hang of bowling, and a lot of other youth bowlers were improving at incredible speed. I was also a big crybaby (still am, haha), so I would hear people saying that I would not make it in the bowling industry, that I am wasting my time and should just give up. So now I feel like I proved them wrong because I worked hard and didn’t give up. And I hope that it will inspire somebody else, who is struggling with a similar situation.”
*Photo image courtesy of Brunswick.
Watching you compete on tour and in the TV stepladder finals over the years has been a pleasure, you’re simply fun to watch. You seem to have a very strong sense of focus to your game, it’s especially noticeable on the approach. I know it’s not as easy as it may sometimes look from a spectator’s standpoint. Aside from great talent, mental and physical strength, what makes Dasha Kovalova so successful and tough to beat?
“Thank you for the compliment! I think my mental game was a little better in college, I was very strong mentally back then, but now I tend to doubt myself a little more. It is still pretty good, but I need to work on it. I know that my biggest advantage is sticking to my pre-shot routine and making sure I keep my head as clear as possible. I’ve lived with very bad anxiety all my life, so I know how to bowl with it too. I even had a phase where my body would not move, and I had to restart my shot multiple times. So, knowing that I made it through these moments and still was able to succeed, makes me motivated to keep working. And I guess my willingness to work and continue to improve despite struggles makes me hard to beat.”
With the 2023 season complete and 2024 not too far off, talk about how you keep your game sharp and what are your goals and expectations for the upcoming season?
“I practice a lot in between seasons and work on my mental and physical game. I have a group of people who help me out in Muskegon, MI., and I bother them a lot with various questions on how to improve. I am surprised they still answer my questions and do not run away when they see me 🙂. I also recently changed my span and pitches, which will give me more ball motion and will help my game to stay consistent and effortless. I also try to learn my arsenal and different types of ball motions, to make sure I can make decisions faster. My goals for 2024 season are to have fun while I bowl and enjoy my time on tour. I need to learn not to put a lot of pressure on myself, and bowl for me.”
Outside of bowling, what are some other hobbies or other interests you might have? A lot of people know about your artistic skills and artwork but many readers may be learning about this for the first time. Have you always been artistic? What inspires you to create such beautiful artwork?
*Artwork images copyright of Dasha Kovalova
“Well, I like playing Video Games (my favorites include Cult of The Lamb, Dredge, Portal, and Left 4 Dead.) I also read a lot; my recent obsession is Fourth Wing. I also enjoy hiking and going to the gym. I am not very exciting 🙂. I do enjoy drawing. I wasn’t aware that I could draw until I was about 14 years old, I think. I started watching anime at that age (the anime that got me into drawing was Naruto if anybody was wondering) and I wanted to draw my own character in that universe. I very poorly traced one of the female characters from the show onto a sheet of paper, and after that, I started to doodle more and more. I even changed majors in college to be an artist (my OG major was Sports Management). Artwork has always been a way to calm myself down and to escape reality for a little bit. And I can use it to design my own jerseys, so that’s cool too! I usually draw inspiration from mythology, everyday life and music.”
On tour, you are surrounded by competitive, talented, and charismatic personalities. You can tell there is great respect, admiration and support amongst the professionals on tour. Are there certain bowlers you might have special admiration for and why?
“To be honest, I admire every bowler who puts themselves out there to compete on tour. They deserve a round of applause for being brave and following their dreams. But if I must name people, I admire Liz Johnson and Kelly Kulick, they are such an inspiration to me!”
With the popularity of the sport of bowling rising and its fan base growing, what advice would you give to those who are looking to improve their own game?
“My biggest advice would be to have a good spare system and learn how to consistently make your spares. It will help your game a lot. My other advice would be about being nicer to yourself on and off the lanes. There are plenty of people in this world, who already could be cruel to you. Be nice and grateful for your performance, recognize the good and the bad, learn from your mistakes and move forward.”
Thank you so much Dasha, for spending time with us sharing your bowling journey and more about yourself. You are as genuine and authentic as they come and that’s why you are so admired,.. and because you can bowl a little bit too 😉. I know that people around the world are sending prayers every day for your home country of Ukraine during these extremely challenging times. To be able to help your parents flee the country and start a new life in the USA through your determination and success with professional bowling is truly amazing and inspirational, to say the least. You have impacted the sport of bowling and the PWBA in so many ways, let alone your incredible achievements. I know the bowling community world-wide looks forward to watching you compete in 2024. Best of luck to you this upcoming season.
“Tim, thank you so much for taking your time to interview me. I had a lot of fun, and enjoyed sharing things about myself. I am looking forward to the 2024 season as well!”
*Photo images courtesy of USBC, PWBA, Brunswick, Gregg Ellman and Dasha Kovalova. Artwork images are a copyright of Dasha Kovalova.
PWBA Titles
- 2022 PWBA Pepsi Classic, Dallas, TX
- 2021 PWBA Twin Cities Open, Eagan, Minn
- 2021 PWBA Louisville Open, Louisville, KY
- (Major) 2019 USBC Queens, Wichita, KS
- 2019 Pepsi PWBA Louisville Open, Louisville, KY
National Team Accomplishments (Ukraine)
- One bronze medal at 2017 World Games
- One silver medal (singles) at 2016 European Women’s Championships
- Eighth place at 2014 World Cup
- One bronze medal (Masters) at 2014 World Youth Championships
- One gold medal (singles) at 2014 European Women’s Championships
- One gold medal (singles) at 2013 World Games
- One bronze medal at 2013 European Cup
- 2012 European Cup Champion
- 2012 U19 European Champion (all-events, Masters)
- 2011 U19 European Champion (singles, all-events)
Collegiate Accomplishments
- 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 NCBCA first-team All-American (Wichita State)
- 2014-2015 NCBCA Most Valuable Player (Wichita State)
- 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 IBMA Collegiate Bowler of the Year (Wichita State)
- 2012-2013 NCBCA honorable mention All-American
