Striking Spotlight

ARLINGTON, Texas – The 2021 Junior Gold Championships will feature a record-setting prize fund topping a half-million dollars and award more individual scholarships than ever before.

International Bowling Campus Youth Development (IBC Youth) has added an additional $226,250 in prize scholarships on top of paid entry funds to the 2021 Junior Gold Championships. The additional scholarship awards come from available unassigned SMART funds in the Junior Gold Tournament SMART account.

The added scholarships raise the total prize fund for the 2021 event to a tournament-record $502,100 in scholarships and prizes. The 2021 tournament has 3,129 participants and will fund scholarships and prizes for 1,272 athletes.

“IBC Youth and Junior Gold want to set the example for youth tournaments across the nation,” IBC Youth Managing Director Gary Brown said. “USBC has published studies showing the need for tournaments to add more unassigned SMART funds to events, so Junior Gold is adding the bulk of its unassigned funds to the 2021 tournament.”

IBC Youth will use the following method to add the additional scholarship dollars to the tournament:

* Additional scholarship dollars will be added to every age division at the Junior Gold Championships.

* Within each age division, the additional dollars for that category will be split evenly between the boys and girls.

* The additional scholarship dollars will be used to create equal awards among boys and girls in each division for those advancing to match play and award scholarships to more participants across every division and age group.

* The additional scholarship dollars move the prize ratio from a minimum of 1:7, based on paid entry, to a minimum of 1:3.

“This approach in adding scholarship dollars to Junior Gold makes an important shift in equalizing the scholarship opportunity for girls at the top of each division,” USBC President Melissa McDaniel said. “We need to keep attracting and retaining bowlers of all genders and ages. This scholarship structure is a great step toward those goals.”

For future Junior Gold Championships, IBC Youth intends to continue this concept of adding available unassigned SMART funds to all the divisions, with funds split equally among boys and girls to create equity for those advancing to match play, and a prize ratio approaching 1:3 for all.

“Rewarding 1,272 young bowlers with scholarships and prizes at the 2021 Junior Gold Championships is a record and a tremendous success story for bowling,” BPAA Executive Director Frank DeSocio said. “This level of scholarship award is record-breaking and unparalleled in youth bowling. The event is a wonderful example of the industry’s investment in youth setting the stage for future growth at all levels.”

Future investment earnings from SMART may vary, so the payout list and added scholarship funds will change annually for future Junior Gold Championships.

To view complete prize lists for the 2021 Junior Gold Championships, visit BOWL.com/Junior_Gold/Junior_Gold_Home/2021_Results.

For more information on the Junior Gold Championships, visit BOWL.com/JuniorGold. To learn more about the Youth Open Championships, visit BOWL.com/YouthOpen.

About International Bowling Campus
The International Bowling Campus (IBC) is the headquarters for the bowling industry and directly serves the more than 69 million bowlers in the United States. The IBC houses the resources of the United States Bowling Congress, the governing body and membership organization for the sport; the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America, representing the business interests of bowling centers; IBC Youth Development; Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm for the industry; the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame; the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association; the International Bowling Media Association; the Bowling News Network; the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America; Bowlers Journal International and Bowling Center Management, the industry’s premier magazines; and the International Training and Research Center.
# # #