Hall Of Fame Inductee
Claudina Sula
Inducted into: Builder Division in 2024
Inducted into: Player Division in 2011
Location: Mississauga
- Builder
- Player
With this recognition and induction to the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Hall of Fame, Claudina Sula becomes just the 20th person to be so honoured.
Claudina was recognized as a bowler in 2011 for a career that was extraordinary with victories as a youth bowler, a young adult and a tournament bowler.
As a youth bowler, Claudina, under the coaching of Ted Woodhouse, won her first high average title at age 11, at Lakeshore Bowl in Mississauga and she continued to have success in her teenage years.
Claudina arrived in the adult ranks and was able to combine school and a busy tournament schedule. On the lanes, Claudina bowled in 18 provincial Opens, winning three provincial titles. In the Master Bowlers’ Association, she won nine tournaments and was the aggregate winner four times as the top bowler in Ontario. At the MBAC nationals, Claudina won two gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
In addition, her selection to the ladies’ team for the 1983 Canada Games was a career highlight as the Ontario ladies won a gold medal and were undefeated.
As well, during this time, Claudina graduated from Ryerson and completed a two-year Masters program in architecture at the University of Buffalo.
Claudina also qualified for the International Small Ball Championships, first bowled in the Philippines in 1980 and repeated at Rouge Hill Bowl in Scarborough in 1983.
This wide exposure to her chosen sport led Claudina to see the bigger picture that also included administration. In 1980-81 while just 21 years old, Claudina was included in meetings to form a new Lake Ontario Zone to serve the bowlers in the south end of the large Central Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association. While Angus Roy was the founding President, Claudina wrote the constitution for the new zone.
In the late 1980’s, as her national exposure grew, Claudina was invited to attend the Western Canada Bowling School, run by Tom Paterson in Saskatoon. While participating in this educational process, Claudina could see a similar school activity in Ontario. The program was adopted by the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association and, in 1991 a school was held, with 120 students in attendance, and was an instant success. It continues to this day and the annual All Star Awards are named in her honour.
Claudina’s efforts have been recognized over the years. In 1990, she was inducted to the Central Ontario Hall of Fame and, in 2016, she was accepted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame. As well, this group invited Claudina to join their Board of Directors, enabling her to continue to promote awareness of 5 pin bowling.
Today, Claudina and her husband, Rob, continue to live in Mississauga while their children, twins Samantha and Alexander, are forging new careers. Claudina has found a new passion and continues to “give back”, teaching architectural concepts at Humber College.
The pursuit of excellence, coupled with a desire to succeed, have played a large part in the career path of Claudina Sula. Inspired by her parents, Noreen and Aldo, who owned a successful photography studio, Claudina was also supported by her older brother, Frank and younger siblings, Jon Carlo and Eugenia.
As a nine year old baseball player, Claudina was invited to join the local bowling league at Lakeshore Lanes in New Toronto. Under the tutelage of instructor Ted Woodhouse, Claudina took to her new sport quickly and, by 1970, at eleven years old, she won her first high average title. Along with youth bowling, school became a primary focus for Claudina as she completed high school at St. Joseph's in downtown Toronto and pursued an architectural major at Ryerson and the University of Buffalo.
Following her degree, Claudina entered the adult ranks and led the Lake Ontario ladies team to a national gold medal in Winnipeg. As well, Claudina was named a tournament all-star and this selection earned her the honour of representing Canada at the first International Small Ball Championships held in Manila in the Philippines. Claudina excelled again and won the duckpin portion of the competition.
This Open experience in 1980 was just one of eighteen appearances at the provincial finals and, as well, Claudina was a singles representative fifteen times. Along with her team gold in 1980, she won again in 1992 and 1994 with ladies teams representing Toronto. Nationally, the 1992 team won gold in Sudbury and, once again, Claudina was one of the highest averages and named to the all-star team. The 1994 team took a silver medal in Winnipeg, losing to Alberta. As well, she won the Ontario Open singles title in 1989, only to finish second to Laurie Thompson of British Columbia.
This excellence in singles play was ideal for the Master Bowlers Association and beginning in 1982, Claudina won nine individual tournaments and was provincial aggregate champion on four occasions. In fourteen years and 824 games, Claudina averaged 253.74 ranking her in the top five averages of all time in MBAO history.
In all, Claudina bowled in eight Master Bowlers Association of Canada (MBAC) national championships winning two gold, three silvers and two bronze medals. The gold medals were obtained in 1983 in the singles in Saskatoon and, in 1992, with the Ontario ladies team in Victoria, British Columbia.
While these accomplishments were taking place, 5 pin bowling was selected for their only Canada Games appearance in 1983 in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Claudina was selected for the team at a 1982 training camp and the Ontario group was undefeated throughout the event and earned the gold medal.
Claudina's commitment to 5 pin bowling included more than the Open and the Masters and she was a active participant in the Metro Toronto Major League, which included all the top male and female bowlers in the Greater Toronto area. While her team won the league title in 1991, Claudina's major accomplishment in this area was her high average title that same year with a 262 mark. With this accomplishment, Claudina became the only woman to win the high average title in the fifty-five year history of the league. As well, in 1991, in Ottawa, Claudina began a Masters tournament with a 448 single and continued to roll a five game set of 1712, a record that stands to this day. Claudina also appeared on television four times including twice at the MBAC national finals as well as the Rose Festival and TSN. These accomplishments placed Claudina fourth on the Top 90 list of bowlers in Ontario that was compiled in the year 2000 and, nationally, inclusion in the top hundred female bowlers from across Canada.
This ongoing national recognition was also noticed by Tom Paterson, who was conducting provincial bowling schools across Western Canada and Tom invited Claudina to participate as an instructor at the Saskatchewan school. This exposure led Claudina to push the idea for a similar school in Ontario. Working with the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers' Association and, in cooperation with both the Master Bowlers' Association and the Youth Bowling Council through the Bowling Proprietors Association, Claudina and Cathy Daku, a former Saskatchewan bowler, developed the first Ontario bowling school in 1991 and it continues to this day. In total, more than 2,000 youth bowlers have participated and the all-star awards are currently named in Claudina's honour.
Claudina completed her Masters degree in Architecture at the University of Buffalo in 1985 and became a partner at WZMH Architecture. Subsequently she married Rob Sula in 1995 and they are busy raising twins, Alexander and Samantha, who are now eleven years old. Today, Claudina and her family live in Mississauga and, career wise, Claudina is now a partner with Adamson Associates, an international architectural company located in downtown Toronto.