In 1957, a bowling center was built in John Sudduth’s small town of Warrenton, Va., where he went bowling with many of his friends, though he did not do very well at the time. Then he started going every day until he became better and started beating them.
When he was 11, he started working at the center, watching the kids while their mothers bowled. He worked at the center until he was 18 before going off to school.
He loved the sport of bowling and became one of the best youth bowlers in the area. During this time, he learned as much as he could about bowling, especially by watching the PBA tournaments on television.
In 1969, he went into the Army and spent 1˝ years in Germany, where he bowled every day. During this time, he would help people learn to bowl. When he was not helping others, he participated in tournaments every weekend, winning several events.
When he started bowling in the Washington, D.C. Area, his game had improved so much that he qualified fifth in the Nation’s Capital Area Bowling Association’s (NCABA) “Top 10” Rankings in the 1975-1976 season. He also won the Virginia State All-Events and Doubles. John placed second in several other tournaments, including the Don May Summer Classic (twice), Nation’s Capital Area/Baltimore Area Masters (twice), and NCABA Mini Masters.
During this time, he was involved with improving bowling in this area. It largely began in 1981, when Bowl America’s Irv Clark created a new position for John, “Bowler Development Coordinator.” Within the first year, John went to every seminar he could, including classes conducted by the PBA, Brunswick, and Century. He spent time in Las Vegas and trained under legendary instructors Don Johnson and Fred Borden. John went to virtually every seminar by Bill Taylor and spent several days with Tom Kouros. By doing this, he became a Master Instructor who trained many staff members and anybody else who wanted to learn how to teach bowling. He has taught over 1,500 people.
When John first started, he trained several Bowl America employees how to measure and drill a bowling ball. Before this time, the managers would take the measurements and send them to the main office, where the balls would be drilled and sent back to the center. Over a two-year period, he helped Bowl America create 14 pro shops in its centers.
One of John’s first jobs was to make sure that all lanes were properly oiled. He was sent to lane maintenance seminars, where he learned the importance of properly cleaning and oiling lanes each day. By buying updated lane machines, there was a more consistent scoring environment. Overall company lane maintenance became much better once these changes were initiated. In the the mid-1990s, Bowl America sent John to Jacksonville, Florida, where he became a regional manager for the company.
A PBA member for 35 years, he still tries to learn as much as possible about bowling. He gained additional knowledge about our sport while serving on the board of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America for 12 years with some of the top leaders in the game.
John Sudduth has spent his whole life learning, teaching, and bowling. He’s loved every minute of it and would not change any of these experiences for the world. He is a welcome addition to the NCAUSBCA Hall of Fame.
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