Bowling
Buffalo gets shot to host international youth events
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Buffalo is known for having a strong bowling community and for two weeks this month they'll get to show it off to the world.

For the first time, Buffalo will host the tenth annual United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships. The event, featuring a record-number 1,728 entrants, including participants age 10 to 21 from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and U.S. military zones in Europe and the Far East, will take place July 7-13 at AMF Thruway Lanes and AMF Airport Lanes in Cheektowaga, and AMF Transit Lanes in Williamsville. The Junior Gold Championships is the largest individual youth bowling tournament in the country.

Buffalo will also host the inaugural USBC Youth Open Championships July 13-21 at Thruway Lanes and the Pepsi USBC Youth Championships July 16-18 at Transit Lanes. An adult-youth national tournament is scheduled July 9-12 at Lancaster Lanes during the Junior Gold Championships.

Greater Buffalo USBC President Nancy L. Walczyk said Buffalo put in a bid for the Junior Gold Championships in 2003 and won the rights in 2005. One reason she wanted to bring it to Buffalo was the closeness of the bowling centers. Thruway Lanes is a 60-lane center and Airport Lanes and Transit Lanes have 66 and 52 lanes, respectively. To be considered as a host site, an area needs to have three bowling centers with at least 48 lanes or more and located within a 30-mile radius.

"I think there are no other centers in the nation that are as big in that small of an area," said Walczyk. "The centers are only 15 minutes apart."

The centers also needed to be members of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America and participants of the BPAA's national Pepsi contract.

USBC Youth Tournament Manager Maureen Vicena said Buffalo also has the hotel room availability (700 rooms needed) to accommodate all bowlers and their families.

Bowlers participating in the Junior Gold Championships will bowl three rounds of six games over the first four days of competition, July 9-12. The top 96 males and 48 females who advance to the semifinals will return to Airport Lanes on Friday morning for a six-game block. The top 32 males and 32 females will continue on Friday afternoon for another six-game block to determine male and female U.S. Junior Amateur champions. Winners will be determined by total pinfall.

The top five finishers are automatically placed on USBC Junior Team USA, which will serve as representatives in international competition in 2008. The National Selection Committee will choose an additional three boy and three girl Junior Gold Championships bowlers to join the team.

To qualify for the Junior Gold Championships, bowlers must have an average of 165 (girls) or 175 (boys). More than $100,000 in scholarships will be awarded. The only Buffalo area competitors are Depew's Charles Zmozynski, Hamburg's Dan Darnley, Lockport's Marion Michelle Singleton, and Youngstown's Zane Tester. All bowlers entered in the Junior Gold Championships will also attend a Buffalo Bisons baseball game on July 8.

The Junior Gold Championships are conducted on Sport Bowling lane patterns. Sport Bowling is when lane conditions are more challenging than normal league competition and makes the bowler place more emphasis on hitting accurate shots.

Bowlers participating in the Youth Open Championships will take part in non-qualifying singles, doubles, and four-player team competition.

"You pay an entry fee and bowl," said Vicena. "You can bowl with any other USBC bowler."

More than 1,400 competitors have applied for the Youth Open Championships. The tournament has four divisions 129 and below; 130-159; 160-189; and 190 and above) and will be based on actual pinfall. One out of every four entrants in singles, doubles, or team will receive scholarships and one out of six will receive scholarships in all events.

Two hundred athletes from all 50 United States, U.S. military zones, Puerto Rico, and Canada are scheduled to compete in the Pepsi Championships. It is a handicap tournament with bowling averages ranging from 80 to 200. Bowl.com, the official Web site of the USBC, said athletes participating in the Pepsi Championships will roll two four-game qualifying blocks before the field is cut to the top 16 in each division. The semifinalists will then compete in a single-game, double-elimination format. The top four finishers in each division will receive scholarships.

The adult-youth tournament at Lancaster Lanes, a 36-lane house, can accommodate over 300 teams and will allow parents a chance to bowl with their kids, said Vicena.

Many bowling administrators have volunteered their time to help, including New York State USBC Youth Directors Pat Zonneville and Frank Wilkinson and Association Manager Penny Clinton-Jensen. Wilkinson was recently named national youth leader of the year.

The two-week bowling event concludes with a New York State Bowling Family Workshop at the Adam's Mark Hotel on July 21. The main speaker is USBC Chief Executive Officer Roger Dalkin.

All four tournaments should generate a boost the economy. Chuck Giglia, national sales manager for the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau, expects the events to generate over $2 million for Erie County.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com