Two years ago, the now 22-year-old Denise Blankenzee from Julianadorp left for America to further develop her bowling talent, with a scholarship in her pocket. She is now back at her old nest. In the coming summer she will play at two major international tournaments together with Orange team mate and fellow villager Samantha Greiner.
Top bowler Denise Blankenzee back from America in his own Julianadorp – NH Nieuws
“I really got much better there,” says Blankenzee, who became Dutch champion several times and also won the European title among the youth. “I can now just say it. Previously I found it difficult to say and I said ‘I can bowl a bit’, but now I dare to say that I have become much better based on performance.”
The bowler from Julianadorp left two years ago to play with the Bearcats College team in Texas. “I am now on the road for 3 to 4 hours every day. You don’t have that here, life is very different here,” explains Blankenzee. “There it is seen as a real sport. So I am fully training six, sometimes seven days a week. Mentally and on the track we are busy with the team day and night.”
“Now I can say based on performance that I have become much better”
Blankenzee did not return to the Netherlands to rest. On the contrary: there is a solid program on the agenda. She has two big tournaments ahead of her, together with village and teammate of the Orange team Samantha Greiner. “We’re going to the World Games in Alabama in July,” Greiner said. “In August I will go to Aalborg in Denmark for the European Championship. An exciting time, but after all those corona years I am really looking forward to it.”
Greiner and Blankenzee have known each other for years. “Yes, Julianadorp is apparently a good village to start bowling. We are also just friends. I always follow her, if I can see it online on YouTube, I always watch it. I encourage her and I am very proud of what she has accomplished there,” says Greiner, who is of course also part of the Orange team.
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Top bowler Denise Blankenzee back from America in his own Julianadorp – NH Nieuws
Blankenzee is well placed in America and can even stay there for a year longer to compensate for the time lost due to corona. “I have a nice team. I also got to know many people from other teams who all have the same dream,” says Blankenzee. “It’s nice to have people around you who have the same lifestyle as me.”
It is no longer possible to go all the way back to the roots. The job in Julianadorp where she learned to play the sport no longer exists. She therefore now and then practices on the track at Hotel Den Helder, a few kilometers away. “Julianadorp was my place. Fortunately, also in America, I still have contact with my old coach Ronald. I am very grateful for that. And Den Helder is just fine.”
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