MARCH 2015 -
7
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
Juanita J Blocker
“A Trailblazer”
07-15-1918- 02-17-2015
By Phyl Knoll
Our dear friend Juanita Julia Blocker was born July
15, 1918 in Houston, Texas. Not long after, Juanita’s
father James, gave up his career in show business,
took a job with the railroad, and relocated in Los Ange-
les. Her mother Lenore and Juanita followed in 1921
and Juanita had called Los Angeles ―home‖ ever since.
In her early years, Juanita showed evidence of a born
athlete. By the time she graduated from Jefferson
High School in 1936, Juanita had been a member of
the Track, Basketball, Softball, Volleyball and the Ten-
nis teams. Besides being an athlete Juanita showed
her talent as a student leader and subsequently, was
the first black student to be elected to the Jefferson
High School Student Government.
Juanita attended (LACC)Los Angeles City College
played and coached Basketball and graduated in 1942
with a degree in Physical Education and Recreation
and was immediately hired by the Los Angeles County
Department of Parks & Recreation as one of their
Leaders. Volleyball was one of the sports Juanita
played and coached at the parks and, of course, in
those days the nets were held by portable Volley Ball
Standards. After suffering an injury from a fallen stan-
dard, Juanita invented a safety device to secure the
standards, for which she received a monetary award.
Those devices were then installed in all Los Angeles
County playgrounds and centers. Besides coaching
sports, Juanita possessed a talent in art projects and
writing. Under her close eye and tutoring her students
would many times, come away with First Place Blue
Ribbons from the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona
for their artwork and poetic writings.
The sport of bowling came into the picture in the
l940’s when while attending LACC, Juanita would often
go into what was then, Vogue Bowl at 49
th
& Central.
It wasn’t long before she was convinced ―I can do that‖
and thus the beginning of Juanita’s bowling career,
and, first encounter with a sports headliner. During
one of her practice sessions, a huge black gentleman
stepped up and offered to coach her. Lo and behold, it
was none other than Joe ―The Brown Bomber‖ Lewis,
the heavyweight boxer. Lewis who owned an east
coast bowling alley (as they were called then), hung
out at Vogue Bowl with a close friend Ernest Whitman,
a professional singer and movie actor.
Juanita loved ―this game‖ and proved to be one of the
few black women to average 185 and better. The Par-
ent Senate of the (TNBA) The National Bowling Asso-
ciation was formed in 1939 and Juanita joined the or-
ganization in hopes to use her bowling talents to open
some doors for the TNBA. Unfortunately, until well into
the 1950’s the black bowling athlete received little rec-
ognition and no opportunity to take their sport to a pro-
fessional level.
Although Juanita pursued her game of bowling, she
remained involved in other sports, because if you were
good, you made the team. She was recruited to a
women’s professional basketball team sponsored by
the popular ―Dad’s Rootbeer‖.
Their team traveled up and down the coast of Califor-
nia and as far away as Phoenix, Arizona, competing
against women military teams. As far as Juanita knew,
they were the only black female team in this travel
league. Juanita recalled the excitement when with the
influence of singer Nat King Cole and Charlotte Bass,
owner of the California Eagle Newspaper, (later known
as the Los Angeles Sentinel), their team received an
invitation to play the pre-game show to the famous
Harlem Globe Trotters at the Los Angeles Olympic
Stadium.
When basketball season was over, Juanita spent
more time on her bowling game but was also playing
shortstop and second base for the California Eaglettes,
a Los Angeles Parks & Recreation Women’s Softball
Team. They were sponsored by the California Eagle
Newspaper and Nat King Cole. Juanita held a batting
average of 275-285 and was largely feared by her op-
ponents for her ―steal-and-slide‖ techniques.
Juanita utilized her talent for the game and coached
other players. One particular player she coached was
none other than Richard Williams, father of the well-
known professional Tennis Stars, Venus and Selena
Williams, of Compton, California. Unfortunately, all
that vigorous activity took its toll and she was later in
life reminded every day by the pain she endured in
both her ankles.
Juanita played Tennis as well. She was third-seated
to the then well known, Pauline (Bobbie) Betz, a Wim-
bleton Champion. In fact, Juanita held the honor of
being the only player who then could beat Betz. Ironi-
cally, Juanita was coached by none other than….
Pauline’s mother, Stella Betz!
Prior to 1950, (ABC), the American Bowling Con-
gress, and the (WIBC) Women’s International Bowling
Congress Rules banned non-Caucasians from bowling
in their events, but that did not discourage Juanita from
becoming a bowler of note. She knew the game well
and wanted to become a Certified Bowling Instructor.
While working as the Manager for Studio Bowling
Academy, Los Angeles, (since closed) owner Victor
Bernath sent her to Instructor’s School where she was
tutored by the best; National Hall of Famer Buddy
Bomar, Bill Bunetta and California’s own, Helen Duval.
It wasn’t long after that Georgia Veach, Founder and
President of the (PWBA) Professional Women’s Bowl-
ing Association accepted Juanita’s application for
membership. She had the honor of being the first black
woman member of the PWBA on the west coast during
the 1950’s and 1970’s. Juanita applied for sponsor-
ship from AMF, but they were not sending black bowl-
ers on tour, so armed with a 189 average and the
sponsorship of PWBA members, Donna Zimmerman
and Merle Matthew (since deceased), Juanita put her
busy schedule on hold and hit the ―pro trail‖ as a mem-
ber of the Greater Los Angeles Women’s Traveling
League. The schedule required visiting 28 different
centers per season, which at that time, was no easy
task. Bill Stennis, owner of the well-known Golden
Bird Restaurant chain, sponsored their team and Jua-
nita proudly recalled bowling with teammate Georgia
Veach and crossing lanes with the famous bowling pro
Marion Ladewig. While traveling to tournaments
across the United States Juanita endured anxieties
and indignities most of us cannot even imagine. Times
when she could not practice bowling until after mid-
night until all ―other‖ bowlers were through. She was
unable to eat at the bowling alley café counter where
the ―other‖ bowlers were seated. Juanita was blessed
with an innate understanding of the times and the im-
portance of which it took to break barriers. And, she
did. Juanita set numerous records. Over 300-400
Continued on page 10
PBA, Rolltech Announce
Exclusive Technology
Partnership
Statistical analysis, real-time scoring, Pro
Interaction to enhance PBA fan experience
By Bill Vint
CHICAGO (Feb. 23, 2015)
– Rolltech Inc., an ad-
vanced bowling technology firm that is bringing new lev-
els of insight and connection into the sport, and the Pro-
fessional Bowlers Association have joined forces to
change the way fans interact with the sport and their
favorite bowlers.
Rolltech has been working with the PBA to provide
enhanced live scoring and statistical data for PBA Tour
events over the past two years. The company is now the
PBA’s exclusive provider of mobile and web applications
related to tracking individual, league and event bowling
scores and statistics as well as connecting bowlers for
real-life borderless competition.
In addition to providing its statistical and real-time scor-
ing services to the PBA for use on the multi-media PBA
Network platforms, Rolltech offers similar services to the
grassroots bowling public.
―
At Rolltech, bowling is our life,‖ said founder and CEO
Rich Belsky. ―Rolltech is a work of passion and a work in
progress. We set out to find an easier way for bowlers to
connect with the sport and improve by using detailed
statistics based on how they perform. Our journey has
been long and arduous, but we're proud of the tool we've
created, and we’re extremely excited to work with the
PBA in showcasing how Rolltech can work for casual
and league bowlers as well as the world’s most skilled
professionals.‖
By tapping into the automatic scoring systems at PBA
Tour events, Rolltech is able to provide precise frame-by
-frame live scoring and statistical analysis, which is be-
ing used on
the PBA’s official website; Xtra
Frame, the PBA’s online video streaming service; ESPN
telecasts, and through the other media outlets that com-
pose the PBA Network. Additionally, superstars like Ja-
son Belmonte, Mike Fagan and Bill O’Neill have re-
corded their games using Rolltech and shared them, in
real-time, with fans; including a recent 300 by Belmonte.
―Rolltech is an amazing platform that allows me to en-
gage with my performance and fans like never before.
This is the future of the sport,‖ said Belmonte.
―The PBA has worked closely with Rolltech to develop
an entirely new level of insight into the sport by tracking
statistics that we’ve never seen before,‖ PBA Commis-
sioner Tom Clark said. ―With Rolltech’s assistance, we’re
helping our fans better understand the intricate aspects
of our sport.‖
Rolltech offers both automatic and manual score track-
ing, making its product available to bowlers around the
world. Rolltech is currently in use in more than 2,500
bowling centers in 36 countries. Rolltech offers a ―pro‖
plan that includes additional services to bowlers using
Rolltech’s mobile application, which is available on
iTunes or Google Play.
