The definition of perseverance is as follows: persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. If you're looking for an example to help you understand the meaning, we give you Hammer staff member Amanda Vermilyea.

Amanda's Early Success

Growing up, Amanda always dreamed of winning a PWBA title. This drove her to work hard to become one of the best bowlers in the nation.

Her success kicked off in 1999 when she won the Youth Masters Championship at just 14 years old. That was followed up with taking home the David Dahm's Sportsmanship award at the Junior Gold Championship. Things really took off after that.

Amanda earned a spot on Junior Team USA from the years of 2003-2006, as well as Team USA from 2004-2007. She also picked up the prestigious Alberta E Crowe Star of Tomorrow award in 2004.

After her early success, it was time to take her skills to the college bowling world.

During her years at collegiate bowling powerhouse Nebraska, Amanda was a member of the 2004 and 2005 NCAA National Championship team. She wrapped up her college career by picking up the 2007 NTCA National Player of the year as well as the Hero Leadership award that same year.

You could say she was on the fast lane to success.

Mrs. Vermilyea found early success in the pursuit of her dreams of a professional title by making back-to-back U.S. Women's Open telecasts in 2007 and 2008.

Amanda's Adversity

Then life reared its ugly head, like it tends to do at times.

Amanda was born with a condition called Klippel-feil Syndrome which is a congenital, musculoskeletal condition characterized by the fusion of at least two vertebrae of the neck. Most common symptoms include a short neck, low hairline at the back of the head, and restricted mobility of the upper spine. This caused her to be born with fusion from C3-C4 naturally and have restricted mobility along with scoliosis.

The fact that she had all of the previously mentioned success while dealing with this condition is nothing short of amazing.

Unfortunately in 2009 Amanda suffered a setback with her health.

Per Mrs. Vermilyea, "the parts of my spine that were not fused decided they were worn out and my doctor decided it was time to fuse the remaining vertebrae. I am currently fused from C2-T2 (Cervical2-Thoracic2)."

Refusing to give up on her dreams Amanda was determined to work her way back to the lanes, but life wasn't quite finished putting major obstacles in her way.

In August of 2014, it was discovered that Amanda had a brain tumor (ganglioglioma) on her left temporal lobe. This caused her to have daily seizures and her body was breaking down a little more each day.

Thankfully she was able to have this removed and, according to Amanda, "the Mayo Clinic saved my life."

It would've been easy to throw in the towel, focus on her family and give up on her dreams. The amount of work, pain, time and mental toughness it would take to even throw a bowling ball again would be excruciating so what were the chances she would be able to get back to where she was before these setbacks?

Amanda's Perseverance

However, Amanda is no quitter.

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt, "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty."

Amanda started slowly by doing foul line drills before working her way up to a three-step delivery and finally back to a four-step with a push away.

In 2018 she decided to make her return to competitive bowling by signing up for the 2018 USBC Queens event.

After 15 grueling games, she ended up finishing with a 201 average. That was good enough for 97^th, missing the top 64 cut but 100 pins.

Her spot in the standings certainly doesn't tell the whole story. She competed. She finished all 15 games. She survived.

Mrs. Vermilyea's path to redemption was just getting started.

Competing in the 2019 Women's Championships in Wichita, KS, Amanda managed to put up sets of 618 in doubles, 709 in singles and a fantastic 789 in team for an all events score of 2116 which was good enough for a 5^th place finish in All-events of the Diamond division.

"It felt great being out there and competing with my peers," Amanda said. "During the event I used a combination of a Columbia300 Savage Life, a Hammer Web and a Hammer Statement Solid. I even managed to have the front 9 with both the Savage Life AND the Web during the event!"

To top off what has already been an incredible year, Mrs. Vermilyea was also inducted into both the MJBT (Minnesota Junior Bowlers Tour) and Minnesota State Hall of Fames. Her husband, Erik, was inducted into the MJBT Hall alongside her.

With the 2019 PWBA season coming to an end, Amanda will continue her career at Prime Therapeutics where she is a Senior Administrative Assistant while also competing as often as she can on the lanes.

During her down time she enjoys taking walks with her six-year-old son PJ and her dog Colby.

"Taking my walks helps me stay strong and healthy for bowling as well as helps to improve my overall health," she said.

Amanda refuses to give up, she refuses to stay down and in 2020 she will once again take to the lanes to chase her life-long dream of becoming a PWBA champion.