Marissa Naylor
The Asper School’s Marissa Naylor Represents Team Canada in Hong Kong Bowling Championships
Marissa Naylor is jet lagged. Like, bad.
At this point, she’s on fourth day of Manitoba time after two weeks of Hong Kong time (14 hours difference). It was enough to drive Naylor, who works as the Marketing Coordinator of the Asper School’s Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship to get a lunchtime coffee, and she’s not even a coffee drinker.
Was she in Hong Kong for business or pleasure? Well, depends on your definition: where does representing Team Canada for the International Bowling Federation (IBF) Championships fall?
Representing Team Canada
At any point during the last 20+ years, one of the most likely places to find Marissa Naylor would’ve been the bowling alley (the other is the golf course, but that’s another story).
Bowling steady (and competitively) since she was six years old, these days you can find her heading straight to the lanes from the Stu Clark Centre three or four times a week.
So, she’s had some practice. Much like an entrepreneur, she has harnessed focus and dedication over a long time to deliver an amazing product.
The skills she developed made her a perfect candidate for the Canadian team, but first, she had to make the team. This, Naylor says, can be a “ruthless” experience. Canada’s best bowlers come together and each bowl 36 games over three days. 12 a day. The scores are tallied, and the top six make the team.
She first made the team in 2023, and represented Canada at the IBF Championships in Kuwait. But just because she’s been at the IBF Championships before, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a completely different ball game this time around.
At the 2023 Kuwait Championships there were only seven national teams, but in Hong Kong, there was 32—many of the teams filled with pro bowlers paid to be there.
“It was a whole new level of competitiveness,” she said.
Naylor bowled in four events— Women’s singles, doubles, trios, and team bowling. The unfortunate part to report is that neither Naylor, or her Canadian teammates medaled. But in competitive bowling, making the cut can hinge on the tiniest score differentials.
“I’m talking five or 10 pins,” says Naylor. “So a nailbiter, in other words.”
The upside: Naylor gave her all, got to explore the culture of Hong Kong (Disneyland, “the big buddha,” and unique foods) and learned life lessons.
“That’s the beauty of sports,” she says, “it’s a double-edged sword, right? You want to make the cut but you also realize that not everything goes your way, and that’s okay.”
Community and the next challenge
Perhaps with some inspiration from the Asper School’s values of always prioritizing community impact, Naylor has begun giving back to the bowling community.
Over the last year, she has started coaching 12–21-year-olds. Up until then, she had been so busy that it wasn’t a priority.
“But then I was really thinking about it with a mentor of mine who helped me, […] And he was like, if you’re gonna coach, we need female representation. So in the bowling community in Winnipeg, specifically, there’s only a handful of coaches, and two of them are female,” Naylor says.
She’s proud to be someone female bowlers can turn to, and the time she’s cut out of her busy schedule has been worth it. “In 2025 diversity is so important, especially in sport.”
Already, she’s having the champagne problems of having to compete against people she’s coached in order to earn a spot on Team Canada.
For Naylor’s next challenge, she is already preparing for the 2027 championships, which are going to be in Korea. It’s the biggest stage yet, promising to again make the Asper School proud, in what can best be described as a blockbuster sequel to this year’s championship.
“In Korea, it’s like hockey in Canada, but for bowling,” says Naylor.
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Through the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship, Marissa Naylor will be holding a webinar “Marketing Strategy for Startups” on January 30th, 2026. She will be exploring how early-stage entrepreneurs can build a strong brand, attract the right audience, and turn limited resources into meaningful results. Learn how you can register for her webinar.