Kapolei sisters continue family’s bowling tradition with success

They aren’t twins, but that doesn’t stop folks from mistaking sisters Jayna and Janae Yockman for each other.

As a sophomore nearly one year ago, Jayna Yockman won the HHSAA girls bowling individual state title. Janae, a junior, placed sixth. Guess who gets complimented almost every day for the accomplishment of a state championship?

“Usually, they mistake me for Jayna. ‘Congratulations on winning states!’ I just say thank you because I don’t want to be mean,” Janae Yockman said. “A lot of people just tease me. They always think I’m the younger one because Jayna’s taller than me.

When Jayna Yockman stepped into Leeward Bowl with her Kapolei teammates last November, everything felt just right. She finished the two-day tourney with an eight-game total of 1,684 pins.

“It was more like I was in a zone. That day I kind of felt good,” she recalled. “I had a good feeling about that day. When we were practicing, I knew I was going to do well.”

Janae Yockman wasn’t quite in her zone during day one, but carded 191, 228 and 206 on day two to finish with a solid score of 1,527. The difference between first and sixth places was more than 100 pins over an eight-game span. Depending on who found her groove, just about any state bowling crown is up for grabs from year to year. All the preparation and dedication in the world helps, but the margin is much thinner than an average of 19 or so pins per game.

Case in point: Jayna Yockman’s career-best single game score is 279. Janae Yockman’s best: 280.

“When we had practice right before states, I bowled on the (oil) pattern,” Janae Yockman recalled. “I bowled the best on my team, 600-something for three games, but come states, I didn’t bowl as good. I think I just had an off (first) day. I think I was just nervous.”

The similarities don’t end there. Janae has a 3.9 grade-point average and is heading to Newman University (Kan.) after graduation with an eye on computer science or business administration. Jayna is a junior now and has a 4.0, but credits her older sister for helping her navigate a specific class when they were younger.

“When we were younger, I would always ask her for help with my homework, especially for English. She was always better at English,’ she said.

There are no secrets on the lanes. Just 10 frames or more, a girl and her 14-pound ball. Jayna Yockman taps into her unique superpower every time. She just doesn’t react. Strike. Spare. Seven-Ten split. Nothing.

The subdued persona isn’t a full-time gig.

“She’s very talkative when she’s at home,” Janae Yockman said of her younger sister. “I think she likes to keep to herself.”

The most obvious way to tell the difference between the Yockman ace keglers is that Jayna is left-handed and Janae is a righty. Jayna and her father, Kapolei coach Joe Yockman Jr., don’t make much note of it, but longtime Junior Bowling coach Sumi Onodera believes Jayna isn’t a natural southpaw.

“Jayna, to develop her skills as a left-hander, is one of the most remarkable things about her. You can’t tell she’s a right-hander just watching her,” said Onodera, who is also the head coach at Castle.

There are hints that Coach Yockman, who is also a southpaw, subtly encouraged Jayna to go lefty. He once had surgery on his left arm, switched to his right, and continued to win tournaments, according to Jasmine Yockman. If the story is true, it runs almost parallel to former Saint Louis and Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Now in the midst of a spectacular season for the Miami Dolphins, he once said that his father, Coach Galu Tagovailoa, switched his throwing arm from right to left when he was 6.

There are distinct advantages for lefties in both sports. Perhaps the edge is much sharper in the alley. The oil pattern on the left side of a lane is undoubtedly cleaner than the right side due to less usage.

“It would depend on how many people are bowling on your pair, each tournament, each match,” Onodera said. “If you have eight bowlers, four on each side, the percentages would fluctuate. It would be an advantage, especially being a girl and not having as much power as a male bowler.”

Jayna Yockman does not disagree.

“I think left-handed people kind of have it easier because the lane doesn’t break down as fast. When I was younger, people were telling me that, probably when we came back from Japan and I started bowling (competitively). I write and eat with my right hand. If I have to, I can eat with my left,” she said. “I can snap my fingers with both.”

Jayna Yockman is beyond the minutiae. Mental prowess is everything. Instead of blanking everything out and concentrating on her breathing, she processes her routine, and does it well.

“I pick up my ball and line up. I try to remember everything I’m supposed to do. I try to remember to keep my head over the ball and being forward. I breathe and then I go,” she said.

The footwork took some time to perfect.

“I take five steps. We used to use four steps, but it was kind of messing us up, trying to push and step with the same arm and same leg. We kind of worked on it on our own, I think, in 2018,” she noted. “I was 10.”

This fall will be the final hurrah for the Yockman sisters as teammates unless they bowl together in college. Now, it’s one last run at another HHSAA championship. The Hurricanes amassed 7,457 pins as a team in the state tourney last year, 120 pins more than runner-up Pearl City. The Chargers figure to compete for the crown with state runner-up Samantha Kanehailua, now a junior, and fourth-place finisher Alicen Ichimura, a sophomore, leading the way.

At the Survivor Tournament (15-under division) in Indianapolis in July, Yockman finished second and Ichimura finished fifth. Two Waianae bowlers, Kaila Kamahiai and Makanalei Carrick, finished among the Top 50.

The Hurricanes are midway through the OIA regular season. The Billy Tees/HHSAA State Championships will be on Oct. 27-28 at Leeward Bowl. Janae Yockman wants to close out her prep career with a bang.

“It’s been rough. I’m not bowling the way I want to right now, but our team is doing pretty good,” she said.

It was at Leeward Bowl during the summer when she posted her all-time best score.

“I was kind of lined up,” she said.

Eldest sister Shaianne, also a left-hander, was a two-time state runner-up at Kapolei. The family bonded through bowling with their father and mother, and even their grandparents. Joseph Yockman Sr. was a Hawaii Junior Bowling coach back in the day at Ewa Bowl. Son Joe Yockman Jr. was always around the alley, and by 15, recorded his first perfect game.

“I didn’t hit 200 until we came back in 2018,” said Jayna Yockman, who was just 10 at the time. “Dad had his perfect game at 15. I think it’s pretty crazy. That was only five years after he started (bowling competitively). I think he was just natural.”

Joe and Jasmine Yockman each had very young children from previous relationships. They met after becoming teammates on a tournament bowling team.

“I used to work at Aiea Bowl. I knew everyone,” Jasmine Yockman said. “When Joe came out of the Army, he asked where my boyfriend was. They’re all from Ewa Beach. My ex’s grandpa used to bowl with Joe’s grandpa. My ex and I broke up, and I ended up bowling on a team with Joe by chance. I would confide in him and he confided in me.”

Eventually, they married and had Jayna and Janae. When they were still in elementary school, the children were casual bowlers, tagging along with mom and dad. Joe Yockman Jr. was a state runner-up as a senior at Damien.

Since then, Joe Yockman Jr. has lost track of his total number of perfect games. However, he remembers the state final in an instant.

“My senior year, I remember I had a spare to win first place, a 2-4-7. I chopped it. It was Hilo Lanes,” Yockman said. “It was known for being on the dry side. It would hook, but not on that spare, no.”

The family moved to Japan when Joe, an electrical technician, was transferred by the US Navy. Finding youth bowling programs was an impossibility there, but Jayna and Janae found their footing outside of the sport.

Each excelled in school. Jasmine Yockman devoted all her time to their lives while Joe went to his job.

“Our main goal was just so they could have a better future. My job was to keep the girls in line because thy were so good with their grades. I’m the one who picks them up from the alley, picks up their friends, picks up food for the team,” she said. “I’m like the team mom. Bowling is our life.”

Janae Yockman raves about previous life as a kid foodie near Yokohama, Japan.

“I wish I could go back to the first day we moved to Japan and relive the experience again. All the food. We lived off base in Yokosuka. We ate out a lot because it was cheap. Sushi was $1 a plate with choke pieces of sushi,” she said.

Jayna’s favorite teacher, Mr. Calvin Grosshuesch, taught fourth grade. Janae had also been in his class the year before. One day in 2017, during fifth grade, they arrived at school to learn the bad news.

“This was Sullivan School on base (in Japan). Mr. G was always just super nice and I felt comfortable. He passed away during the summer after I was in fourth grade. Someone posted it and our mom showed us. I didn’t know what was going on,” Jayna remembered. “I think it was instant when we were in the car and we were all crying.”

Jayna hasn’t forgotten him. All these years later, after the Yockmans moved back to Hawaii, rooted deeply into bowling again, he is still Jayna’s favorite sensei.

Joe Yockman Jr. coached the youth team at Barber’s Point Bowling Club, a group of 60 keiki in the Ewa Beach area. While he works by day and plays in leagues and tournaments during his free time — at 53, his average today is still 226 — his daughters have found their niche. Their competitiveness and personalities reflect their parents.

“Janae is the more social one and Jayna’s really quiet, keeps to herself,” Joe Yockman Jr. said. “When Jayna bowls, her reaction is almost the same whether she’s bowling good or bad. Janae is a little more animated when she bowls, especially when she bowls good.”

The emotions are there, Jayna said. Stoic mode is a must, her best way to sustain consistency.

“For me, it’s like I’m just trying to focus on doing well,” Jayna said. “If I’m bowling bad, I try to keep my mindset pretty positive.”

In a matter of months, Janae Yockman will be on her way to college. All those memories will be tucked away in the bowling alley of her mind. She will be thousands of miles away from her bowling partner.

“I’ll miss having someone there,” she said. “Having that company.”

JANAE AND JAYNA YOCKMAN

Kapolei bowling

JANAE YOCKMAN

Senior

Gear

>> 20 bowling balls (14 pounds)

1. Storm Phaze V. Blue/green/gray. “It’s my benchmark ball, I always go to it to see what the lane is like.”

2. 900 Global Reality. Pink/blue/purple, “The Reality hooks more than my Phaze.”

3. 900 Global Zen. Blue/yellow/purple. “It goes straighter than the other balls.”

>> Shoes: Dexter.

>> Glove: Mongoose.

>> Top 3 movies/shows

1. “Barbie”

2. “Business Proposal” “I’ve seen this two or three seasons.”

3. “Falling Into Your Smile” “It’s a Chinese drama.”

>> Top 3 food/snacks/drinks

1. Chocolate milkshake Cupies Maui

2. Bibimbap, Pearl’s Kitchen (Kapolei)

3. French fries, McDonald’s

>> Top 3 homemade foods

1. Spaghetti (mom)

2. Chicken and squash (mom)

3. Beef stew (mom)

Honorable mention: Kraft mac and cheese

>> Top 3 music artists

1. Olivia Rodrigo — “get him back!”

2. NewJeans — “ETA”

3. Le Sserafim — “Unforgiven”

>> Favorite class: Algebra II, junior year.

>> Favorite teacher: Miss Kito Hong (English), Mr. Patrick Ena (Social Studies). “I hang out and talk with them a lot about whatever. We chill in their classrooms a lot.”

>> Favorite athlete/team: Kansas City Chiefs. “My dad cheers for the Cowboys. My sister doesn’t cheer for any team. My mom cheers for the 49ers.”

>> Funniest teammate: Kaui Lee-Tynan and Jayden Kekoa. “They just joke around a lot with our team.”

>> Smartest teammate: Jayna. “My sister has the highest GPA out of all of our teammates.”

>> GPA: 3.9.

>> Time machine: “I would go back to the first day we moved to Japan and relive the experience again. All the food. We lived off base in Yokosuka. We ate out a lot because it was cheap. Sushi was $1 a plate with choke pieces of sushi.”

>> Hidden talent: Drawing. “Cartoons. I can draw whatever, just whatever I’m feeling.”

>> New life skill: Cooking and driving. “I got my permit and I’m taking a driver’s test soon.”

>> Bucket list: “I want to go to South Korea, Paris and DisneyWorld.”

>> Youth sports: “My first sport was probably gymnastics. Then bowling. Then jiu-jitsu. Gymnastics lasted like we moved to Japan. We only did jiu-jitsu for a year.”

>> If you could go back in time, what would you tell you younger self? “I would say don’t let others define you. Be confident and live life.”

>> Shout outs: “Shout out to my parents, my brother (Landen), my grandparents. Uncle Jody (Yamamoto). Uncle John (Saguibo). Auntie Gail (Saguibo). Auntie Stacie (Tanudra). Uncle Timmy (Tanudra). My bowling family. Barber’s Point Bowling Club, Coach Linda Painter, coach Bev Brennan.”

JAYNA YOCKMAN

Junior

Gear

>> Total bowling balls: 20

1. DV8 (Damn Good Verge). Purple. 14 pounds. It goes kind of straight, but it’s even. I start off with it so I know what it’s going to do on the lanes.

2. 900 Global Reality. Pink/blue’purple. Usually when the lane has more oil. That ball hooks more than my Verge.

3. 900 Global Zen. Gray/blue/purple. That ball hooks less than my Reality, but more than the Verge.

>> Shoes: 3G.

>> Glove: I don’t use a glove.

>> Top 3 movies/shows

1. “Wednesday Addams” “The ending was kind of shocking.”

2. “The Notebook” “I watched by myself on the plane.”

3. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” “Tom Holland is in it, (but) I think Andrew Garfield is the best Spider-Man.”

>> Top 3 food/snacks/drinks

1. Steak, medium rare, Chili’s (Kapolei).

2. Chicken nuggets, McDonald’s. “No sauce. I don’t like any sauce.”

3. Lemonade, Raising Cane’s. “I think their lemonade is fresh because it has the pulp in it. And I like their ice.”

>> Top 3 homemade foods

1. Hamburger mushroom soup (mom). “Sometimes I make it, too.”

2. Shoyu chicken (mom)

3. Kalua pig (dad)

>> Top 3 music artists (and your favorite song by each)

1. Billie Eilish — “What Was I Made For?”

2. Sabrina Carpenter — “Vicious”

3. SZA — “Snooze”

>> Favorite class: Algebra II. “(My sister and I) weren’t in the same class, but we took it the same year.”

>> Favorite teacher: Mr. Calvin Grosshuesch, fourth grade.

“This was Sullivan School on base (in Japan). Mr. G was always just super nice and I felt comfortable. He actually passed away in 2017. The summer after fourth grade, he passed away. Someone posted it and our mom showed us. I didn’t know what was going on. I think it was instant when we were in the car and we were all crying.”

>> Favorite athlete/team: “I don’t have one.”

>> Funniest teammate: Auli‘i Kaauamo. “He’s just kind of awkward and it’s kind of funny. I think he laughs with us.”

>> Smartest teammate: Janae. “When we were younger I would always ask her for help with my homework, especially for English. She was always better at English.”

>> GPA: 4.0.

>> Time machine: “I’d probably go in the past, like the 1700s. Somewhere in Europe to experience a ball. I think it would be fun to experience something.”

>> Hidden talent: I can solve a Rubik’s Cube. ‘“My fastest time is under a minute. I’m not that good. The world record I think is around 5 seconds. I think they just memorize the algorithms and know which way to move.”

>> New life skill: Driver’s permit.

>> Bucket list: “I want to travel to Europe. Iceland, Italy. Washington and Oregon. I want to see the waterfalls.”

>> If you could go back in time, what would you tell you younger self? “I would say don’t be afraid to have fun because of what other people think. Be yourself.”

>> Shout outs: “Shout out to my parents, my brother (Landen), my grandparents. Uncle Jody (Yamamoto). Uncle John (Saguibo). Auntie Gail (Saguibo). Auntie Stacie (Tanudra). Uncle Timmy (Tanudra). My bowling family. Barber’s Point Bowling Club, Coach Linda Painter, Coach Bev Brennan. The Onoderas.”