FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Blair Blumenscheid
news.stormbowling.com
BRIGHAM CITY, Utah – Storm Products is proud to announce that Josie Barnes has joined the Team Storm pro staff. Barnes, a 3-time Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) champion, has earned medals around the world as a 13-time member of Team USA.
“I’m so grateful for Storm’s faith in me,” Barnes said. “I have had the opportunity to be a part of an awesome company for nearly 15 years, but prior to that many of my youth accomplishments came with Storm equipment. It means that I have a support system that believes in me as much as I believe in them.”
Barnes was one of the top youth athletes in the United States before a successful collegiate career at Vanderbilt University and was chosen as the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow in 2006.
“Anyone familiar with the sport of bowling in the last decade has heard the name Josie (Earnest) Barnes,” Gary Hulsenberg, Vice President of Business Development said. “Her dedication to the sport of bowling in every capacity is simply incredible. The way Josie interacts is completely in line with our company values. We’re excited for her to join Team Storm and continue to achieve her goals at the highest levels.”
Barnes started bowling when she was three years old. The bowling center quickly became her home away from home as her parents owned a 12-lane center in Vandalia, IL that they maintained for 25 years. As she grew, her parents encouraged her to dedicate herself to the sport with aspirations of competing at the collegiate level. Pretty quickly, Barnes’ competitive nature took over and she fell in love with the sport. Her family traveled 4-5 hours to compete in youth events regularly. Her dedication paid off as she collected youth titles locally, regionally and at the national level. She was chosen to represent the United States on Jr. Team USA in 2005 and spent five years in the program earning medals at youth events around the world.
“I’ll never forget I threw the Core Power LRG for my first 300 game and the Crystal Pin win at the Greater Iowa Miller Time youth event,” Barnes said. “It’s just one of the many fond memories I have from my youth successes with Storm equipment. It feels like everything is coming full circle.“
After her successful youth career, Barnes chose to compete collegiately at Vanderbilt University. In 2007, her team captured the NCAA National Championship and Barnes was selected as the Most Valuable Player. In her collegiate career, she was selected as a two-time NTCA Player of the Year and First Team All-American.
After her successful collegiate career, Barnes knew she always wanted to be part of the sport but was unsure in what capacity. At the time, women had few events to participate in throughout the year, but Barnes was determined to qualify for Team USA as an adult member. Barnes accepted an opportunity to begin coaching at Vanderbilt. Helping players dedicate themselves to the sport and help them improve gave her a new perspective. Her players provided her with the drive to continue to improve her own game and practice what she taught. In 2012, she earned a spot on Team USA for the first time as an adult member.
In 2015, the PWBA tour returned and she became a full-time touring member. She earned her first PWBA title at the PWBA Rochester Open (2016) and has added two additional titles at the PWBA East Harford Open (2018) and Nationwide PWBA Greater Cleveland Open (2019).
Beyond competing at the highest level, Barnes has continued coaching at the collegiate level and now serves as the Associate Head Coach of the program. In 2019, she gave birth to Lisa Ruth adding a new title to her accomplished resume – Mom.
Balancing her roles keeps her life exciting and she takes pride in being able to juggle her responsibilities effectively. Supporting young athletes and teaching them to work hard to achieve whatever they dream is something that brings her great joy. Win or lose, Barnes has always demonstrated great professionalism and shows optimism even in the darkest of moments.
Barnes has continued to work hard through the pandemic and exhibited great flexibility as things continue to evolve. She looks forward to the opportunity to compete on the PWBA Tour post-pandemic.
“I want to win!” Barnes said. “Whatever is out there I want to be competitive. I don’t think that fire will ever go away.”
About Storm Products, Inc.
Storm Products Inc. continues to lead the bowling industry in innovation through our high-performance bowling equipment featuring the Storm and Roto Grip Brands. In addition to creating the highest quality of products that the top athletes choose for PBA and PWBA Tour competitions, Storm strives to continue to inspire existing bowlers, foster and develop new bowlers, and educate those in our industry to provide exemplary service to all bowlers.
Striking Spotlight 