Mary Ann Bowles
Presented by Dan Cloppas:
Badminton became a part of Mary Ann's life in 1968 when she was a sophomore at Louisiana Tech University. A Physical Education credit was needed, and the suggestion was made that she take a badminton class. Little did she know the professor was a tournament badminton player. She was encouraged to take the advanced class which she did, and that led to becoming a member of the Louisiana Tech University Women's Badminton Team. The team traveled the South playing in collegiate/adult tournaments in Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. She fell in love with the sport, and tried to find club badminton wherever she moved.
Betty Markham was her first coach. Betty had often spoken of Margaret Varner, one of the great players of her time. How ironic that Margaret was inducted into the USAB Walk of Fame Plaza the same year Mary Ann was! At her first adult tournament who should be playing but Jim Poole and Don Paup, at the height of their men's doubles career. She was awestruck with their skill, quickness, footwork, and power--little did she know that was just the tip of the iceberg in the badminton world.
Much of her badminton career has been involved with the administrative side of the sport. When one serves as a Secretary for the Midwest Badminton Association and USA Badminton for nearly two decades, one takes a lot of minutes, keeps membership records, and prepares many reports. Mary Ann has served as the Region 2 Regional Director since 1991, being only the second regional director after Kevin Hussey. Committee memberships included the Membership, Nominating, State Games Liaison, Senior Council, Tournament, and Walk of Fame committees for USA Badminton. Tournament directing and hosting was also a big part of her life for a decade. Teamed with her husband, Russ, they hosted the St. Louis Classic from 1985 to 1996; hosted the Kansas City Open for three years; and hosted the Show-Me State Games badminton competition for three years.
Mary Ann served the U.S. Olympic Festivals in the badminton arena from 1989 to 1994. She was the Team Manager in the 1990 Olympic Festival held in Minneapolis, and the 1991 Olympic Festival held in Los Angeles. Team Coach was the assignment in the 1993 Olympic Festival in San Antonio, and Badminton Competition Manager was the responsibility in the 1994 Olympic Festival held in St. Louis.
Umpiring was also an interest for Mary Ann, and she was certified as a National Umpire in 1992. She has served as an umpire at numerous Midwest tournaments, the U.S. Adult Nationals, the U.S. Open, the U.S Senior Nationals, and the U.S Junior Nationals. She has also hosted umpiring clinics in Region 2 for the past decade. A co-founder of the Gateway Badminton Club in 1994 with her husband, the club meets weekly to host junior, senior, and adult players of all skill levels.
The Midwest newsletter, the Flick, has been the recipient of numerous articles written by Mary Ann on regional and national tournaments, player interviews, and editorials. She has also contributed to the Midwest website and to the USA Badminton magazine, website, and newsletter. She was a line judge at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and manned the USAB booth at the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim. Mary Ann has also been a player since her badminton class in 1968. She competes regularly in the U.S. Senior Nationals where she has won titles in 50 and 55 Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles. She won numerous open titles in Midwest tournaments, and was the Women's Doubles Midwest champion in 1988. Mary Ann has held numerous Midwest Senior titles, including a long run of Senior and Master Mixed Doubles titles with partner Len Williams. She was the recipient of the 2005 Charles and Ada Wurst Sportsmanship Award at the Senior Nationals.
Her favorite players in the early part of her playing career were Jim Poole and Don Paup, but her new favorite has been World Champion Howard Bach. She saw him win a national title at the Junior Nationals when he was only ten years old, and has followed his career closely since. Mentors were Betty Markham, Tom Carmody, Russ Bowles, and Dick Witte. She is a speed walker, and does strength training related to badminton when she's not playing her favorite sport.
Off the badminton court, Mary Ann was a Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS-formerly called Home Economics) teacher for thirty-one years in the Northwest R-1 School District south of St. Louis. A storyteller and bookseller for Borders Bookstores has become her second career. She and her husband Russ live in south St. Louis County where her hobbies are gardening and reading.
A real passion for badminton continues to simmer in Mary Ann's life. Her dream is to see U.S. players succeed internationally and to watch them eventually win the gold medal at the Olympics. There is still much hard work to be done with the U.S. coaching program, the recruitment of junior players, the recruiting of hundreds of new members for USA Badminton, and the introduction of badminton to the grassroots players in the U.S.
One knows the real passion for badminton when you hear the story of Mary Ann and her husband while they were in attendance at the 2005 World Championships in Anaheim. On the second day of play, they received a phone call from their neighbor who suspected something had happened in their townhome. They asked her to go in and see what the problem was. She did, and found water covering the floors along with the ceilings which had dropped onto floors and furniture. Mary Ann and her husband looked at one another and vowed they would not return to St. Louis, no matter what the problem was, until the World Championships were over. Little did they know until they returned the next week that a 6,000-gallon water leak had occurred in their upstairs bath which caused $80,000 in damages and a 9-week hotel stay. A passion for badminton? You bet!!!
