ESTEVAN - Monique Ley’s bowling skills have resulted in another exciting opportunity for the local athlete.
Ley, who competes out of Estevan Bowl, has been selected for Team Canada at the upcoming International Bowling Federation’s Super World Championships in Dubai.
She was slated to fly to Dubai on Nov. 2, and return to Canada on Nov. 17. The tournament runs from Nov. 6-15.
Ley earned the opportunity after applying to Bowl Canada in February 2020. She was selected for the Super World Championships earlier this year. Four men and four women will travel to Dubai.
A separate team was selected for another tournament in Colombia, and they just returned from competing.
“Due to COVID, we couldn’t get together to do the trials. So everybody was just selected,” said Ley.
She credits her past success at the national and international levels for being chosen for the team.
“The furthest I travelled with Team Canada was to Russia in 2007,” said Ley.
But this tournament will be unlike anything she has ever experienced, and she expects it will be the highest level of competition she has faced. Ley and her Team Canada teammates will be entered in a tournament with 26 other countries.
“We have been discussing expectations as a team a lot lately, and I would really like to be in the top 10 for our team. It’s been a while since we’ve all competed, so we’re just working on being positive and taking one day at a time.”
Bowlers will compete in singles, doubles, mixed doubles, trios, team, mixed team and possibly even mixed trios events, meaning she’ll be at the alley every day.
“I’ve been looking, and it looks like a beautiful building,” said Ley. “I know that everything is up to par there, and they have the new of the new.”
The one thing she won’t be able to do is sightsee in the famed city, located in the United Arab Emirates. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Team Canada athletes will be confined to a bubble. They cannot leave their hotel except to visit the bowling centre.
“And so that means everything is ordered in. We can’t go to the pool or go to the gym or go out touring. So I’ll get to know my teammates quite well,” Ley said with a laugh. ‘We will be spending a lot of time together.”
