Sherry Spause's 50-plus years in bowling began as a six-year-old AJBC bowler on George Air Force Base in California. Her family has enjoyed a long history with bowling. Both her dad and her uncle worked as pin boys in the 1940s in upstate New York.
In the 1970s, Sherry bowled as a YABA member in Florida , earning a spot on the local travel team. After a move back to California, Sherry completed her bachelor's degree in journalism and started work as a newspaper editor, winning two California newspaper Publishers Association awards for her work.
Later, she married her current husband, Paul, and their family grew to five with the addition of their three children: Matt, Scott, and Jordan. The family then moved to Maryland after a two-year layover in Ohio. When Sherry enrolled Matt and Scott in the Fort Meade youth bowling program, it ignited a need to learn more about the sport in order to coach them. She enrolled in USBC's Level 1 -- back when the course lasted eight hours.
Soon after, Sherry accepted the position of Fort Meade Youth Bowling director in 2003, eliminating the secretary's fees and making the position volunteer.
To raise funds, promote the program, and create a fun event for the youth bowlers, Sherry organized an official attempt to break the backward bowling record for the Guinness Book of World Records. The event raised $1,300 for the program, and Coach Joe Scrandis broke a world record bringing international attention to Fort Meade. Sherry's media background resulted in newspaper and online media coverage. Joe's accomplishment appears in the 2005 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.
Under Sherry's directorship, the program grew to 165 youth bowlers through outreach in local schools. The program's growth even made USBC's radar, and representatives reached out to discuss the program's methods for success.
Also, Sherry was one of the first -- if not the first -- director in our area to eliminate age restrictions on SMART scholarships, making them available to every youth bowler in the program. In addition, annual fund-raising efforts allowed her to offer a free tournament entry to every youth bowler for both the NCAUSBCA and state youth tournaments.
In 2012, Sherry completed her USBC Silver Certification after wrapping up the required Bronze Certification.
In 2013, Sherry coached her son, Matt, through the NCAUSBCA Youth Invitational Scratch Singles Tournament, resulting in his first-place finish in Division B. In 2014, it was Scott's turn, with a third-place tie in Division C, and Jordan in 2019 placed sixth in Division D.
Sherry coached the MYTC Travel league from 2010 to 2017 and the Junior Gold Prep league from 2016 to 2020. She also served on the NCAUSBCA Board of Directors from 2012 to 2014. Since she started with the Fort Meade program 21 years ago, Sherry has logged more than 11,000 hours volunteering her time and resources throughout Central Maryland.
In 2023, Sherry wanted to ensure access to cutting edge technology support for the Fort Meade Youth Bowling program, so she conceived and executed the donation of a Specto Bowling data collection system to The Lanes Fort Meade. All youth Bowlers enrolled in the Saturday program enjoy free use of the system, and coaches can use it during coach's hours on Saturday mornings.
Each year, the program helps two or three youth bowlers sign with collegiate bowling programs across the country, and it also distributes more than $5,000 in scholarships. In fact, the April program awarded more than $10,000 in a single in-house tournament that included every youth bowler enrolled.
A couple of years ago, Sherry decided to combine her journalism experience with her love of the sport to start writing A book on the subject of injuries. So far, the journey has rewarded her with conversations with Wendy Macpherson, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Del Warren, Danny Wiseman, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Liz Johnson, and Norm Duke to name a few. Work on the book continues.
On the lanes, she has rolled five perfect games, with a top series of 809, and a high book average of 220.
Sherry Spause's untiring efforts in promoting youth bowling have merited her a special spot in the NCAUSBCA Hall of Fame.
Back to Hall of Fame