Three nights a week, four if she has to substitute for someone, Bridgeport's Monica Fitzgerald puts the tools of her trade in the trunk of her car and heads off to work on what's become her passion. Two of those nights, she's at the Nutmeg Bowl in Fairfield. The third, she's at Circle Lanes in East Haven. When she subs, she bowls in Danbury at Brookfield Lanes.
For the last 25 years, Fitzgerald has bowled, bowled and bowled some more. Over the last 15 years, she has really bowled, competing in 13 women's nationals, two U.S. Opens, two Open Nationals and two United States Bowling Congress Queens events.
Yeah, she's that good.
"Over the last 10 years over the summer, I don't think I've averaged under 200," said Fitzgerald, a Bridgeport resident.
She's not bragging, either.
This season, Fitzgerald won the Fairfield County USBCBA Association Doubles with a 786 scratch and won the singles portion of the same tournament. She placed second in the Danbury Women's Scratch Tournament (1,095 for five games) and took third nationally in the Mailographic 700 tournament (704 scratch).
But what really capped this run of success was Fitzgerald's finishes in the Connecticut Women's State Tournament and the Fairfield County USBCBA Local Association Tournament.
She won both.
Actually, she dominated both.
And the amazing thing is that, in the Fairfield County USBCBA Local Association event, the field was mostly men. In fact, only nine women placed among the top 60. Fitzgerald was first with a 2,302 score in the All Events handicap and a 2,068 All Events scratch. In the handicap division, she beat the second-best finisher by 77 pins, and in scratch, she won by 42 pins.
"I was the first woman to ever win it. That event has been going for 52 years," Fitzgerald, 34, said. "Probably 85 percent of the field was men. I beat them all and it wasn't close. The support I've received from all the men has been very positive, too. The men have been really gracious to me when I won."
Like we said, she's that good.
In the Women's State Tournament, Fitzgerald bowled an 811 scratch series, throwing a 300 game (along with a 246 and a 265) in the singles part of the tournament. She bowled nine games that day (the singles games were Nos. 4-6) and finished with an 838 handicap, a 2,173 scratch and a 2,254 handicap.
"I've had a lot of good placing this year, a lot of things have happened," Fitzgerald said. "The season is from September (2007) to May (2008), so all this has happened this season. This is pretty uncommon, I made history in several areas." Fitzgerald will leave for Detroit on June 23 to compete in her 14th Women's Nationals, an event that goes on for several months.
"Thousands of women bowl in this tournament. If I bowl like I did in the state tournament, I could definitely win it, but I'd have to have a really good day," she said. "The scores that are (currently) leading are not untouchable. I think all the leaders are pros, that's the same division I'm in. I think the high for singles right now is 736 (Corrine Ham of Cocoa, Fla.) and in the states, I had 811, so ..."
Like Fitzgerald said, to win, she would have to have a really good day. But she could. Over the past year, she has gotten into a stricter workout routine, exercising five to six days a week. She has worked with Tim Gillick at Buddies Pro Shop at Nutmeg Lanes to fine-tune her equipment, and she regularly goes to a chiropractor to work out any kinks before a tournament.
"I've gotten steadily better every year, so my average has always gone up," she said. "I feel great; I think you can bowl for as long as you want to mentally, and that's my plan."
Her plan over the next 10 months, however, is to prepare for the next USBC Queens (set for Reno, Nev., in 2009). "That's the biggest event for the women," Fitzgerald said. "You definitely want to be averaging 200 or so. It's tough. This year, I bowled and didn't do that well. I didn't come in last but I didn't make the cut. Next year, I want to do better. That's what I'm focusing on."
When she's not bowling, Fitzgerald works from home for CompuCom, a Texas-based company, managing IT support. But when work is over, it's off to the lanes. In fact, that's where she met her husband of 10 years, Terry.
"He was bowling in a (early) league and I was coming in for the late league and we'd keep passing each other," she said. "We did not go bowling on our first date. We went to a restaurant with a group of people. But soon after that, he asked me out and the rest is history."
In more ways than one.
Contact Chris Elsberry at celsberry@ctpost.com