{"id":49008,"date":"2026-04-12T20:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/at-18-i-was-managing-a-wendys-years-later-i-earned-a-record-496900-in-a-single-bowling-season\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T20:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T20:41:19","slug":"at-18-i-was-managing-a-wendys-years-later-i-earned-a-record-496900-in-a-single-bowling-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/at-18-i-was-managing-a-wendys-years-later-i-earned-a-record-496900-in-a-single-bowling-season\/","title":{"rendered":"At 18, I was managing a Wendy&#8217;s. Years later, I earned a record $496,900 in a single bowling season."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69dbe6cc05c9b303c4e775dc?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Kyle Troup playing bowling\"\/><figcaption>Kyle Troup stars on the new HBO documentary &quot;Born to Bowl&quot;<\/p>\n<p>\/TIM FULLER<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Kyle Troup, 34, has been a professional bowler since he was 16.<\/li>\n<li>In 2021, he set a bowling earnings record, making $496,900.<\/li>\n<li>Troupe stars on the new HBO documentary &quot;Born to Bowl&quot; and is glad the sport is getting attention.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <\/em>Kyle Troup<em>. It has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Growing up, my parents used to pay me if I could beat them at bowling. I got $5 if I beat my mom, and $20 if I beat my dad, Guppy. He was a professional bowler with the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), and my brother and I often went to PBA events with him.<\/p>\n<p>Around the time I was 13 or so, I started beating my dad so often that he dropped my pay down to $10 per victory, then $0. I figured I must be getting pretty good.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to be just like my father \u2014 and not because he was a professional bowler. People loved him, whether he was bowling or not.  He was a cool, popular guy who often hung out at the bowling alley bar after his games. He loved his life and career, and it was clear he was having a lot of fun.<\/p>\n<h2>I started working at Wendy&#039;s early in my bowling career<\/h2>\n<p>At 16, I started bowling with the PBA. In the first few years, I didn&#039;t win much money at all. Still, the experience of bowling for money and spending my own income to bowl taught me a lot.<\/p>\n<p>Around the same time, I started working at Wendy&#039;s. By 18, I was a manager there, and still making next to nothing bowling. I&#039;ve always been good with money, so I was getting by, but one time when money was tight I remember thinking &quot;What could I be doing if I wasn&#039;t chasing the dream of being a professional bowler?&quot;<\/p>\n<p>After a minute, I realized I didn&#039;t need that answer. I was going to be a professional bowler, and that was that.<\/p>\n<h2>A record-setting year helped establish my financial future<\/h2>\n<p>By my early 20s, I started winning more tournaments and, therefore, earning more. By 2016, I made about $44,000 \u2014 enough to leave my job at Wendy&#039;s.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in 2021, I had a great year. I won the PBA Player&#039;s Championship and earned a record-setting $496,900 that season. That&#039;s not much compared to many other professional sports, but for me, it was a blessing.<\/p>\n<p>I worked with a financial advisor and invested a lot of that money to build the foundation for my future. Bowling is a physical activity, and I know I won&#039;t be able to do it forever. Since 2021, I&#039;ve felt financially set. That allows me to go out and be the best version of myself each week I&#039;m on tour.<\/p>\n<h2>Becoming a dad has given me purpose beyond bowling<\/h2>\n<p>About five years ago, I met Breanna, and we got married last year. She had two kids who were about 6 and 11 when we met. Becoming a dad to them has given me perspective about what&#039;s important in life. My life isn&#039;t about bowling anymore; it&#039;s about my kids.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69dbe83f05c9b303c4e775df?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Couple getting married\"\/><figcaption>\n<p>Courtesy of Kyle Troup<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The PBA tour schedule can be hard on the family. I&#039;m gone for about three to four months, traveling around the country for competitions. I&#039;ve always had that schedule, but being away from my kids took some emotional adjustment.<\/p>\n<p>I used to stay in hotels while I was on the road, but that was draining: I was always in a hotel, a restaurant, or a bowling alley. Now, I stay at Airbnbs with my best friend, who&#039;s also a professional bowler. Being in a house means we can cook healthy meals and generally feel more at home, even when we&#039;re on the road.<\/p>\n<h2>I&#039;m happy with what I&#039;ve achieved<\/h2>\n<p>I would love to win a title again, since it&#039;s been a few years. At the same time, I can see that I&#039;ve already achieved a lot, from winning Player of the Year to providing for my family to raising money to help more kids explore the sport.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I want to give back to this sport. I&#039;m happy it&#039;s getting more attention, including the new HBO series. I get to play a game for a living, and I really enjoy what I do. That&#039;s a blessing in my life.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kyle Troup stars on the new HBO documentary &quot;Born to Bowl&quot; \/TIM FULLER Kyle Troup, 34, has been a professional bowler since he was 16. In 2021, he set a bowling earnings record, making $496,900. Troupe stars on the new HBO documentary &quot;Born to Bowl&quot; and is glad the sport is getting attention. This as-told-to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-49008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}