For her entire adult life she has bowled for a living, building one of the most impressive resumes her sport has ever known. But in contrast to many of toady’s athletes who have adopted a "Me first’ persona, Leanne Barrette has always tried to be a sportsman as well as an athlete.

"It’s not like we’re hitting tennis balls back and forth at one another," Barrette said. "It’s like golf. You post your score and if anybody beats it that’s the way it is. I’ve always felt like I’ve had to have a good image and a good temperament on and off the lanes. It isn’t anything I’ve had to try to do, that’s just the way that I am. I try to be respectful of others."

But make no mistake, as much as she respects her rivals on the PWBA tour Barrette enjoys beating them. In seasons as a professional she’s been to the winner’s circle 23 times, has won the 1999 WIBC Queens title and has been named PWBA player of the Year twice. Clearly a decade-and-a-half as a professional has not dulled her competitive instincts.

Barrette got her start in bowling at the age of seven in her hometown of Fremont, Cal., situated halfway between Oakland and San Jose. Her parents were avid league bowlers and Barrette spent many days and nights at Cloverleaf Bowl. Aside from a brief flirtation with softball in high school she’s been bowling ever since.

She was encouraged by her parents and also her grandfather, who had been a fine bowler himself and seemed to sense that his granddaughter would one day make try to make something of herself in the sport.

"He always encouraged me," Barrette recalled. "I think he pretty much knew what I was going to do."

Barrette got her first exposure to professional bowling through television. At the time ABC-TV televised the PBA winter tour every Saturday afternoon and Barrette became a fan of the sport in general and Mark Roth in particular. She got to see live bowling when the PBA came to Northern California but in those days women’s bowling received virtually no national media attention and aside from bowling in a pro-am on one occasion Barrette had virtually no exposure to the women’s tour until she turned pro in 1987 at the age of 19.

But she caught on quickly. In 1987, her rookie season, Barrette won three times and was named the PWBA Rookie of the Year and she’s been a major force on tour ever since. Her best year was 1991 when she won three times, was named Player of the Year on tour and Bowler of the Year by the Bowling Writers Association of America and was the tour’s leading money winner.

In 2001, her 15th season, Barrette won twice and earned more than $89,000 including television incentive bonuses. She was also expected to be named a WIBC All-American for the seventh time.

Along the way Barrette has also won two Robby Awards for sportsmanship and professionalism. The award is presented by the PWBA players to one of their peers each year.

"You start pretty good and that carries you for awhile and you’re feeling good about it and then you have ups and downs."

As ESPN has given the PWBA increased exposure Barrette has been a familiar face on television screens across America. She has made 96 television appearances.

Surprisingly, she still gets nervous every time the camera’s red light goes on. "It’s not like I’m scared nervous," she said. "It’s more like an anxious nervous. I really have to concentrate on myself, staying calm and all that. For me to even think about what the other person is doing is just going to get in the way of bowling my own game."

For Leanne Barrette the girl of seven bowling was a pure joy. For Leanne Barrette the woman bowling is a job, a job she enjoys but still a job. She sees herself going home in five or six seasons, getting off the road and leaving the tour behind.

But she has left an indelible legacy on her sport, as an athlete and as a person, a legacy that athletes in other sports would do well to take note of.