Wednesday, December 28, 2011
New From DV8
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The PBA Xtra Frame Tour
The tournament will be the third of four PBA Tour Xtra Frame tournaments on the 2011-12 PBA Tour schedule. The tournament will be webcast live, exclusively on pba.com’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel, from start to finish.
The newly-created Xtra Frame Tour will also include the Cheetah Open presented by Ebonite, Jan. 21-22, in Fountain Valley, CA; the Detroit Open presented by Track, March 11-12, in Allen Park, MI, and the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs presented by Hammer, March 31-April 1, in Indianapolis, IN.
PBA Tour titles and berths in the Round of 36 for the 2012 PBA Tournament of Champions will be awarded in all four events.
The PBA Ricart Ford Open will also offer a $10,000 first prize. The tournament is open to all comers with a $350 entry fee for PBA members and a $400 fee for non-members.
It will pay a prize fund of $66,000 based on a field of 130, with one in three players cashing. Thanks to the extensive live online coverage of Xtra Frame Tour events, PBA fans will be able to witness the pressures and drama of a complete PBA Tour event from qualifying through match play, concluding with the stepladder finals.
Xtra Frame also will provide live coverage of the preliminary rounds of the Tour’s three major championships: the USBC Masters, Jan. 23-29, in Las Vegas; the U.S. Open, Feb. 20-26 in North Brunswick, NJ, and the PBA Tournament of Champions, April 8-15, in Las Vegas.
Xtra Frame is available for a $7.99 monthly or 12-month subscription rate of $64.99 which includes year-round coverage of PBA activities, including PBA Tour, Senior Tour and selected PBA Regional events. The full-year package provides subscribers with hundreds of player and industry leader interviews, new product introductions, coaching tips and human interest features, and access to Xtra Frame’s huge archive of past PBA events plus much more.
USBC Intercollegiate Singles and Team Championships
The 2012 United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Singles Championships
will have a new format and be held in conjunction with USBC Intercollegiate Team
Championships at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Neb. The singles event will take
place April 17; team competition begins April 19.
The new one-day format will consist of six games of qualifying followed by head-to-head match play. The match-play portion will feature three-game total pinfall matches.
“We are excited to be marrying the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships with the singles championship,” International Bowling Campus Collegiate Manager Gary Brown said. “This change will add more energy and exposure to the singles championships as many of the fans and media attending the team championships will now see both events.”
Qualifying for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships takes place through one of the four sectional qualifiers. Bowlers at each sectional location bowl six games of qualifying and a total of 24 men and 16 women will advance. At each sectional, the top four men and top four women advance; the additional eight men’s spots will be based on the size of the field at each location.
Airfare, hotel, transportation and meals for each national finalist is paid for by USBC. The men’s and women’s USBC Intercollegiate Singles champions will also receive a paid entry into the USBC Masters and Queens respectively.
USBC will provide live video coverage of the ITC and ISC on BOWL.com.
The new one-day format will consist of six games of qualifying followed by head-to-head match play. The match-play portion will feature three-game total pinfall matches.
“We are excited to be marrying the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships with the singles championship,” International Bowling Campus Collegiate Manager Gary Brown said. “This change will add more energy and exposure to the singles championships as many of the fans and media attending the team championships will now see both events.”
Qualifying for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships takes place through one of the four sectional qualifiers. Bowlers at each sectional location bowl six games of qualifying and a total of 24 men and 16 women will advance. At each sectional, the top four men and top four women advance; the additional eight men’s spots will be based on the size of the field at each location.
Airfare, hotel, transportation and meals for each national finalist is paid for by USBC. The men’s and women’s USBC Intercollegiate Singles champions will also receive a paid entry into the USBC Masters and Queens respectively.
USBC will provide live video coverage of the ITC and ISC on BOWL.com.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Shafer Wins Hardwick Division of PBA World Chapionships
Shafer, who has made a PBA-record 12 championship round appearances in major tournaments without a title, defeated Andres Gomez of Colombia, 191-177, to win the second of four PBA World Championship elimination rounds at South Point Hotel Exhibition Hall. The divisional finals consist of three one-game rounds, starting with four players, and eliminating the lowest-scoring player after each game.
Shafer will join Finland’s Osku Palermaa, winner of the Don Carter Division, and the winners of the Johnny Petraglia and Mike Aulby Division finals in the World Championship finals on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m. ET. The PBA World Championship offers a $50,000 first prize and the first major title of the 2011-12 PBA Tour season.
Shafer, who is celebrating his 25th season as a PBA Tour competitor, established command in the opening game, recovering from a missed split conversion in the second frame to reel off nine consecutive strikes for a 267 game. Venezuela’s Ildemaro Ruiz, making his PBA television debut, was second with a 258 followed by Gomez with a 222. The group’s top qualifier, 2009 PBA World Champion Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, MI, was eliminated with a 194 game after failing to convert 4-7-9 and 4-9 splits in the sixth and eighth frames, respectively.
Gomez led the group in game two, starting with five strikes on his way to a 219. Shafer was next with a 207 and Ruiz was eliminated after posting a 180.
Shafer jumped out to a 29-pin lead after four frames in the final game, but failed to convert the 3-6-10 in the fifth frame and the 3-6-7-10 split in the ninth. While Gomez had his own problems as the lane conditions deteriorated, he still had a chance to win after Shafer opened in the ninth frame. Needing two strikes and eight pins in the 10th frame to lock Shafer out, he left the 2-8-10 split.
Needing only seven pins to clinch the win, Shafer struck on his next shot. “
I threw that shot in the ninth frame as good as I could possibly throw it,” Shafer said, “but I just didn’t move far enough right. “I thought I had blown another one. I’ve had some bad breaks in majors when I bowled pretty good and guys I bowled against bowled better, but I’ve blown a few, too. You just don’t want to make that your history, your reputation.
“I usually don’t get excited and show up my opponent,” Shafer said of his emotional display after his 10th frame strike, “but that one meant a lot to me. Andres is a great guy, and he made a great shot in the 10th, too. I know he can make a great shot when he needs to make one, but it just didn’t work. I definitely got a second life, but I got to the finals and now we’ll see what happens next.”
The Hardwick finals were conducted on the PBA’s Scorpion lane condition, selected by Smallwood as the highest qualifier in the Hardwick field.
The Johnny Petraglia Division finalists will be the next group to bowl, on New Year’s Day at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Sean Rash of suburban Chicago (Montgomery), IL, who led all World Championship qualifiers by 296 pins, has selected the Scorpion pattern as the lane condition for this elimination round.
Other Petraglia Division players will be PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO; left-hander Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, NY, and Nathan Bohr of Wichita, KS.
Weber, who has won 35 PBA Tour titles including eight majors, has won more titles and more majors than the rest of the 15 World Championship finalists combined (17 titles, two majors). Bohr, the only non-titlist in the group, will make his PBA television debut.
The Petraglia Division finals air on Sunday, New Year’s Day, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Mike Aulby Division finals, completing the preliminary elimination rounds, will air on Jan. 8, also at 1 p.m. ET. Special pre-game shows will be webcast beginning on the Wednesday preceding the ESPN finals on pba.com’s Xtra Frame and a post-game Xtra Frame interview with the winners will immediately follow the Sunday telecasts.
900 Global Introduces the Train
Friday, December 16, 2011
Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, MI, who won his only Professional
Bowlers Association (PBA) title in the 2009 PBA World Championship, heads the
field of four players who will do battle in the Billy Hardwick Division
finals of the PBA World Championship Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in
high-definition on ESPN.
The Hardwick Division is the second of
four eliminator rounds that will trim the PBA World Championship field
of 16 finalists down to four for a Sunday, Jan. 15, battle for the
$50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour’s first
major title of the 2011-12 season.
All World Championship
competition will be conducted on a pair of lanes specially installed in
an exhibit hall at South Point Hotel and Casino.
Smallwood, 34,
became an instant hero among America’s blue-collar work force when he
defeated former PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott for the 2009 PBA World
Championship. Smallwood, who had lost his job with General Motors, had
decided to pursue his dream to become a professional bowler and stunned
the bowling world with his upset victory in Wichita, KS. Last season,
he won $100,000 as runner-up to Mika Kovuniemi in the PBA Tournament of
Champions.
Now Smallwood is back in position to try for another
major title as the top qualifier in the Hardwick Division. He earned
his place in the Hardwick group as the No. 2 qualifier over 40 games of
World Championship qualifying on five different lane conditions,
averaging 226.63 to finish 296 pins behind leader Sean Rash. As top
qualifier in his group, Smallwood has selected the PBA’s Scorpion lane
conditioning pattern for Sunday’s event when he will face Venezuela’s
Ildemaro Ruiz, Colombia’s Andres Gomez and 25-year PBA Tour veteran Ryan
Shafer of Horseheads, NY, in a battle for a berth in the World
Championship finals.
Both South American players are trying for
their first PBA Tour titles. Ruiz, who is making his PBA television
debut, qualified for the elimination rounds in seventh place. Gomez was
10th and Shafer tied for 14th. No international player has ever won the
PBA World Championship.
In Sunday’s eliminator round, all four
players will bowl a one-game match. The player with the lowest score
will be eliminated. The three survivors will bowl another game, with the
low man knocked out. The two finalists will bowl a final game, with the
survivor advancing to the World Championship finals.
The four
World Championship divisional finals have been named for PBA superstars
who excelled in the event during their careers. Finland’s Osku Palermaa
has already won the Don Carter Division berth. The Johnny Petraglia and
Mike Aulby Division finals, which will air on ESPN on Jan. 1 and Jan. 8,
respectively, will complete the divisional elimination rounds. The
championship trophy is named in honor of Anthony, the only player ever
to win the event six times.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Future of Bowling Is In The Young
The popularity of bowling continues to increase each year, partially due to a younger demographic gravitating to the sport. Students, for example, find bowling a fun and inexpensive form of casual entertainment. However, there is also a growing trend among high school and college students joining competitive bowling. In 2010, a record number of students competed in bowling tournaments.
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) reports over 50,000 high school and 3,500 college athletes competed in bowling tournaments in 2010.
According to the Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA), a bowling industry trade association, as of 2010 high school bowling had seen double-digit growth in five of its last eight seasons, and the number of varsity bowlers has more than doubled within the past decade. In 2010, 47 states recognized bowling on the high school varsity or club level – a drastic increase from 20 states in 2002. During the 2010-2011 bowling season, there was a record number of participants at the varsity level. As a result of the popularity in bowling among students, many colleges now offer bowling scholarships through the NCAA.
“Bowling has become quite popular as a competitive sport among high school and college students, as we have seen trends change drastically to include bowling as a varsity sport. Many bowling centers helped nurture this growth by creating youth-oriented leagues to spark an interest in student bowlers and create a passion for bowling at a young age. This forward-thinking concept created a new generation of bowlers that will continue to impact the popularity of bowling in years to come,” says Gary Smith of Brunswick.
In 2010, the USBC created the Youth Education Services (YES) Fund. YES initially began developing a sports model for bowlers 12 years of age and older. This specially-designed program involves testing team-based competitions, development of training and recruitment programs which targets the younger demographic. “Brunswick is proud to be a part of the YES Fund industry initiative. It is great to see companies make an investment into the future of our industry as we work together to create a more positive experience for our youth bowlers,” states Brian Graham, Brunswick Consumer Products.
Recently, Brunswick Bowling & Billiards announced its support of a new bowling exhibit located in the Iowa Hall of Pride. The exhibit was designed to celebrate notable achievements over the past 100-plus years by high school graduates in Iowa communities. A project of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), the Iowa Hall of Pride honors past and present Iowa high school students involved in extracurricular activities including athletics, academics, and the arts.
Most recently, Brunswick has offered $50,000 in matching funds to the World Tenpin Bowling Association for youth development worldwide. These funds will be used to help build the next generation of bowlers.
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) reports over 50,000 high school and 3,500 college athletes competed in bowling tournaments in 2010.
According to the Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA), a bowling industry trade association, as of 2010 high school bowling had seen double-digit growth in five of its last eight seasons, and the number of varsity bowlers has more than doubled within the past decade. In 2010, 47 states recognized bowling on the high school varsity or club level – a drastic increase from 20 states in 2002. During the 2010-2011 bowling season, there was a record number of participants at the varsity level. As a result of the popularity in bowling among students, many colleges now offer bowling scholarships through the NCAA.
“Bowling has become quite popular as a competitive sport among high school and college students, as we have seen trends change drastically to include bowling as a varsity sport. Many bowling centers helped nurture this growth by creating youth-oriented leagues to spark an interest in student bowlers and create a passion for bowling at a young age. This forward-thinking concept created a new generation of bowlers that will continue to impact the popularity of bowling in years to come,” says Gary Smith of Brunswick.
In 2010, the USBC created the Youth Education Services (YES) Fund. YES initially began developing a sports model for bowlers 12 years of age and older. This specially-designed program involves testing team-based competitions, development of training and recruitment programs which targets the younger demographic. “Brunswick is proud to be a part of the YES Fund industry initiative. It is great to see companies make an investment into the future of our industry as we work together to create a more positive experience for our youth bowlers,” states Brian Graham, Brunswick Consumer Products.
Recently, Brunswick Bowling & Billiards announced its support of a new bowling exhibit located in the Iowa Hall of Pride. The exhibit was designed to celebrate notable achievements over the past 100-plus years by high school graduates in Iowa communities. A project of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), the Iowa Hall of Pride honors past and present Iowa high school students involved in extracurricular activities including athletics, academics, and the arts.
Most recently, Brunswick has offered $50,000 in matching funds to the World Tenpin Bowling Association for youth development worldwide. These funds will be used to help build the next generation of bowlers.
Second Bracket For PBA World Championships on Sunday
Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, MI, who won his only Professional Bowlers
Association title in the 2009 PBA World Championship, heads the field of four
players who will do battle in the Billy Hardwick Division finals of the PBA
World Championship Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in high-definition on ESPN.
The Hardwick
Division is the second of four eliminator rounds that will trim the PBA World
Championship field of 16 finalists down to four for a Sunday, Jan. 15, battle
for the $50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour’s first
major title of the 2011-12 season.
All World
Championship competition will be conducted on a pair of lanes specially
installed in an exhibit hall at South Point Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV.
Smallwood, 34,
became an instant hero among America’s blue-collar work force when he defeated
former PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott for the 2009 PBA World Championship.
Smallwood, who had lost his job with General Motors, had decided to pursue his
dream to become a professional bowler and stunned the bowling world with his
upset victory in Wichita, KS. Last season, he won $100,000 as runner-up to Mika
Kovuniemi in the PBA Tournament of Champions.
Now Smallwood is
back in position to try for another major title as the top qualifier in the
Hardwick Division. He earned his place in the Hardwick group as the No. 2
qualifier over 40 games of World Championship qualifying on five different lane
conditions, averaging 226.63 to finish 296 pins behind leader Sean Rash. As top
qualifier in his group, Smallwood has selected the PBA’s Scorpion lane
conditioning pattern for Sunday’s event when he will face Venezuela’s Ildemaro
Ruiz, Colombia’s Andres Gomez and 25-year PBA Tour veteran Ryan Shafer of
Horseheads, NY, in a battle for a berth in the World Championship
finals.
Both South American
players are trying for their first PBA Tour titles. Ruiz, who is making his PBA
television debut, qualified for the elimination rounds in seventh place. Gomez
was 10th and Shafer tied for 14th. No international player has ever won the PBA
World Championship.
In Sunday’s
eliminator round, all four players will bowl a one-game match. The player with
the lowest score will be eliminated. The three survivors will bowl another game,
with the low man knocked out. The two finalists will bowl a final game, with the
survivor advancing to the World Championship finals.
The four World
Championship divisional finals have been named for PBA superstars who excelled
in the event during their careers. Finland’s Osku Palermaa won the Don Carter
Division berth. The Johnny Petraglia and Mike Aulby Division finals, which will
air on ESPN on Jan. 1 and Jan. 8, respectively, will complete the divisional
elimination rounds. The championship trophy is named in honor of Anthony, the
only player ever to win the event six times.
A special preview of
the Hardwick Division finals will be webcast on pba.com’s Xtra Frame beginning
Wednesday, and a post-game show will be presented on Xtra Frame Sunday
immediately following the ESPN finals.
Palermaa First Finalist For PBA World Championships
Finland’s Osku Palermaa took a big step forward in his quest to win his second Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) title, advancing to the finals of the PBA World Championship by eliminating PBA Tour veteran Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, NY, and England’s Stuart Williams and Dom Barrett in the Don Carter Division finals that aired Sunday on ESPN. Palermaa, Europe’s premier two-handed bowling star, won the first of four PBA World Championship elimination rounds at South Point Hotel Exhibition Hall in Las Vegas, NV, with a 223-188 victory over Barrett in the final game of the Carter finals. The divisional finals consist of three one-game rounds, starting with four players, and eliminating the lowest-scoring player after each game with the surviving player advancing to the PBA World Championship finals on Jan. 15.
In the opening game, Barrett led the group with a 257 game, Williams followed with a 215, Palermaa posted a 187 and Jurek was the first man eliminated with a 169. Back-to-back unconverted splits in the second and third frames contributed to Jurek’s early exit.
Barrett again led the group in the second game with a 201, Palermaa was second with a 188 and Williams was eliminated with a 170 game. In game three, three splits which he failed to convert doomed Barrett’s bid to advance to the World Championship final round.
The Carter finals were conducted on the PBA’s Viper lane condition, selected by Williams as the highest qualifier in the field of four.
Palermaa, who won his first PBA Tour title in the GEICO Shark Championship during the 2010 PBA World Series of Bowling, will join the winners of the Billy Hardwick, Johnny Petraglia and Mike Aulby Division finals in the PBA World Championship finals on Jan. 15 on ESPN. The PBA World Championship offers a $50,000 first prize and the first major title of the 2011-12 PBA Tour season.
“It was difficult today,” Palermaa said. “We didn’t make the lane condition easy. The key was to try to bowl a clean game, because no one was going to strike a lot.”
Palermaa, one of 52 international players who represented 16 countries in the World Series of Bowling, said his international experience was a big help in Las Vegas.
“We bowl on everything in all different kinds of environments,” Palermaa said of his world-wide experience. “We have to be good on all kinds of conditions or we don’t get a paycheck.
“I’ve been battling a flu-like virus for almost two months,” he added. “I’m feeling better, but if I can bowl like this in the finals, maybe I’ll want to be sick again.”
The Billy Hardwick Division finalists will be the next World Championship group to bowl. Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, MI, who won the 2009 PBA World Championship for his only PBA Tour title, is the top qualifier in the Hardwick group and selected the Scorpion pattern as the lane condition for the second eliminator round. Other Hardwick Division players will be Venezuela’s Ildemaro Ruiz, Colombia’s Andres Gomez, and four-time PBA Tour titlist Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, NY. Ruiz, who is making his PBA television debut, and Gomez are both seeking their first PBA Tour titles.
The Hardwick Division finals air Sunday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. A special pre-game show will be webcast beginning Wednesday on pba.com’s Xtra Frame and a post-game Xtra Frame interview with the winner will immediately follow Sunday’s telecast.
PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DON CARTER DIVISION FINALSSouth Point Exhibition Hall, Las Vegas
Round One (lowest score eliminated): Dom Barrett, England, 257; Stuart Williams, England, 215; Osku Palermaa, Finland, 187; Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 169 ($4,000).
Round Two (lowest score eliminated): Barrett 201, Palermaa 188, Williams 170 ($4,500).
Championship (winner advances to PBA World Championship finals): Palermaa def. Barrett ($5,000), 223-188.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Columbia 300 – Dark Encounter
The
“Elastin” chemical breakthrough carries into the Columbia 300 Dark Encounter.
The original Encounter featured a
pearl version of the revolutionary Elastin coverstock. The chemical engineers
at Columbia 300 have taken this technology to a new level by creating even
larger pores and increasing the length of the polymer chains in a solid version
of “Elastin.”
The
Dark Encounter's “Encounter” core is the same dynamic core found in the original Encounter. Columbia
explains “The proven core along with a great new cover will provide the big
hook you’ve been looking for.”
Available January 5th, 2012.
Available January 5th, 2012.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
First Ever World Bowling Tour Champions Crowned
Mika Koivuniemi reinforced his position as an international bowling star, defeating Sean Rash of suburban Chicago (Montgomery,) IL, 237-224, to win the inaugural GEICO World Bowling Tour (WBT) Finals title at South Point Casino and Hotel. American women’s star Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, won the WBT women’s title, 207-162, over Sweden’s Sandra Andersson. Koivuniemi, a native of Finland who now resides in Hartland, MI, completed a 10-month international quest to win the World Tenpin Bowling Association’s inaugural WBT title, presented by the Professional Bowlers Association, by reeling off a string of six strikes to erase Rash’s early 11-pin lead and taking advantage of Rash's missed 10 pin in the ninth frame. Both finals, conducted as part of the third annual PBA World Series of Bowling, aired Sunday on ESPN. Koivuniemi, a 44-year-old two-time PBA Player of the Year, has won titles in 15 different countries during his career and easily won the WBT qualifying points title over Rash. World Bowling Tour points were awarded in eight tournaments held in Finland, the United States, France, Kuwait, Thailand, Korea and Australia. “It has been a good year for me,” Koivuniemi, the reigning PBA Player of the Year, said. “I really feel like I bowled well and I deserved to win. It all started in Helsinki last January when I won the Brunswick Ballmaster Open. I’ve been battling for 10 months to get here, and it came full circle back in Las Vegas.” The opening men’s match between Rash and Australian two-handed player Jason Belmonte had been highly anticipated after the two rivals had exchanged heated words during a summer GEICO PBA Team Shootout confrontation when Rash accused Belmonte of deliberately making distracting noises with his plastic water bottle. Their rivalry had intensified during WBT meetings since the June episode. But in their first televised showdown since that episode, Rash took advantage of a pair of open frames by Belmonte for a 214-204 victory. Belmonte had a chance to win, but needing two strikes in the 10th frame, he left a solid 10 pin on his first try. “Belmo and I are fierce competitors. We don’t think we can lose at any time when we’re on the lanes,” Rash said of the rivalry. “I hope the fans enjoyed the match. Jason threw a great shot in the 10th frame, but he left a ringing 10 pin which was good for me, bad for him. “That bottlegate thing happened months ago. People need to move on," Rash continued. "Things happen. Jason and I are going to bowl against each other for many years to come. But when I’m on the lanes, no one is my friend. The only people cheering for me are my wife and my parents and Team Brunswick, and that’s all that matters to me.” In the women’s finals, Dorin-Ballard, a PBA Women's Series champion and 20-time Professional Women's Bowling Association titlist, cruised to a 207-162 victory over Andersson after the 20-year-old Swedish player missed single-pin spares in her first two frames and failed to strike until the seventh frame. Andersson advanced to the title match by defeating her Swedish national teammate, Nina Flack, 190-160, in the opening match after Flack started her game with back-to-back splits. Koivuniemi and Dorin-Ballard each won $10,000. Rash and Andersson won $6,000 as runners-up, and Belmonte and Flack earned $4,000 each. The WTBA has announced the World Bowling Tour will return in 2012 with an expanded 14-event schedule. Next Sunday the 2011-12 PBA Tour season officially gets underway with the first of four elimination rounds leading up to the Jan. 15 PBA World Championship finals. The Don Carter Division finals will air Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Carter Division finalists are England’s Stuart Williams and Dom Barrett, Finland’s Osku Palermaa and Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, NY.
Friday, December 2, 2011
St. Ambrose freshman Lockport's Kyle Anderson named Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow
Kyle Anderson of Lockport, IL,
has been selected as the 2012 Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award recipient.
Presented by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the award annually recognizes
star qualities in a male high school senior or college student who competes in
the sport of bowling.
“It means so much to me to be selected for this award,” Anderson said. “I am honored to be selected for a national award honoring Chuck Hall and one that has been given to others who I have admired as bowlers. It actually humbles me to think about it.”
A freshman at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, Anderson is studying accounting, finance and business. He also is taking sports management courses, and someday would like to have a career in the bowling industry.
Anderson started bowling at age 5, and when he was 6, he said his league director gave him a medal for Bowler of the Year. From that point, he was hooked on the sport.
A May 2011 graduate from Lockport High School, Anderson had a weighted grade-point average of 4.13 on a 4.0 scale. He was a three-time winner of the Porter Pride Award, given to a Lockport student for athletic leadership and academic achievement.
On the lanes, he was the first individual to win back-to-back high school bowling titles in Illinois, winning the state title in 2010 and 2011. A five-time competitor at the USBC Junior Gold Championships, he finished eighth at the 2011 event in Las Vegas. He placed 17th at the 2011 North Pointe High School Singles Championships.
Anderson was selected to the Dexter/USBC High School All-American Team for 2010-11. He has been active in community service projects and helps with the care of his 87-year-old neighbor, a widow who lives alone and cannot drive, by bringing food, newspapers and books and walking her dog.
The Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award is named for the former Young American Bowling Alliance executive director, who spent much of his life helping young people through his association with junior bowling.
For being selected for the award, Anderson will receive a $6,000 scholarship that will be formally presented at the 2012 USBC Convention to be held in April in Arlington.
“It means so much to me to be selected for this award,” Anderson said. “I am honored to be selected for a national award honoring Chuck Hall and one that has been given to others who I have admired as bowlers. It actually humbles me to think about it.”
A freshman at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, Anderson is studying accounting, finance and business. He also is taking sports management courses, and someday would like to have a career in the bowling industry.
Anderson started bowling at age 5, and when he was 6, he said his league director gave him a medal for Bowler of the Year. From that point, he was hooked on the sport.
A May 2011 graduate from Lockport High School, Anderson had a weighted grade-point average of 4.13 on a 4.0 scale. He was a three-time winner of the Porter Pride Award, given to a Lockport student for athletic leadership and academic achievement.
On the lanes, he was the first individual to win back-to-back high school bowling titles in Illinois, winning the state title in 2010 and 2011. A five-time competitor at the USBC Junior Gold Championships, he finished eighth at the 2011 event in Las Vegas. He placed 17th at the 2011 North Pointe High School Singles Championships.
Anderson was selected to the Dexter/USBC High School All-American Team for 2010-11. He has been active in community service projects and helps with the care of his 87-year-old neighbor, a widow who lives alone and cannot drive, by bringing food, newspapers and books and walking her dog.
The Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award is named for the former Young American Bowling Alliance executive director, who spent much of his life helping young people through his association with junior bowling.
For being selected for the award, Anderson will receive a $6,000 scholarship that will be formally presented at the 2012 USBC Convention to be held in April in Arlington.
Rockford's Megan Buja named Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow
Rockford, IL's, Megan Buja from University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) has been selected to receive the 2012 Alberta E.
Crowe Star of Tomorrow Award. The award is presented annually by the
United States Bowling
Congress (USBC) to a female high school senior or college student who has
excelled in the sport of bowling as well as off the lanes.
"Being selected as the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow winner is definitely an honor," Buja said. "Former winners of this award have gone on to become important figures in the world of competitive bowling, and it is incredible to receive the same award that these women received."
Buja is a sophomore at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she is majoring in Human Ecology - Dietetics. She plans to become a physician's assistant or attend medical school.
A two-time member of the Dexter/USBC High School All-American Team, she was a four-year member of the Jefferson High School bowling team and was captain her last two years. She helped her team win the state title in 2008 and had a 300 game as Jefferson was the state runner-up in 2010, her senior year. Off the lanes, she was class valedictorian, editor of the school yearbook, class secretary and student council member.
Sue Williams, coach of the Jefferson High School program, has known Buja since she started competing in the area's middle school program.
"At age of 12, she showed the determination to be the best she could be, not only on the bowling lanes, but also academically and socially," Williams said in her recommendation. "I have come to appreciate her many fine qualities, and I have watched her grow as a bowler and a person."
Buja already has enjoyed success on the collegiate level as a member of the UMES team that captured the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships and NCAA Women's Bowling national titles in 2011. She also qualified for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships. She made the Dean's List in fall 2010 and spring 2011 and was a National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Academic All-American.
Her community volunteer activities include serving as a middle school and junior league bowling coach, working as a lane monitor for Special Olympics, church mission trips and participating in the Relay for Life.
Named in honor of the seven-term president of the Women's International Bowling Congress, the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow Award is presented to a female USBC member who exhibits star qualities such as distinguished bowling performances on the state and national levels, academic achievement and extracurricular and community involvement.
For being named the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow, Buja receives a $6,000 scholarship that will be presented at the 2012 USBC Convention in Arlington in April.
"Being selected as the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow winner is definitely an honor," Buja said. "Former winners of this award have gone on to become important figures in the world of competitive bowling, and it is incredible to receive the same award that these women received."
Buja is a sophomore at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she is majoring in Human Ecology - Dietetics. She plans to become a physician's assistant or attend medical school.
A two-time member of the Dexter/USBC High School All-American Team, she was a four-year member of the Jefferson High School bowling team and was captain her last two years. She helped her team win the state title in 2008 and had a 300 game as Jefferson was the state runner-up in 2010, her senior year. Off the lanes, she was class valedictorian, editor of the school yearbook, class secretary and student council member.
Sue Williams, coach of the Jefferson High School program, has known Buja since she started competing in the area's middle school program.
"At age of 12, she showed the determination to be the best she could be, not only on the bowling lanes, but also academically and socially," Williams said in her recommendation. "I have come to appreciate her many fine qualities, and I have watched her grow as a bowler and a person."
Buja already has enjoyed success on the collegiate level as a member of the UMES team that captured the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships and NCAA Women's Bowling national titles in 2011. She also qualified for the USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championships. She made the Dean's List in fall 2010 and spring 2011 and was a National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Academic All-American.
Her community volunteer activities include serving as a middle school and junior league bowling coach, working as a lane monitor for Special Olympics, church mission trips and participating in the Relay for Life.
Named in honor of the seven-term president of the Women's International Bowling Congress, the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow Award is presented to a female USBC member who exhibits star qualities such as distinguished bowling performances on the state and national levels, academic achievement and extracurricular and community involvement.
For being named the Alberta E. Crowe Star of Tomorrow, Buja receives a $6,000 scholarship that will be presented at the 2012 USBC Convention in Arlington in April.