Striking Spotlight

ARLINGTON, Texas – Youth athletes ready for team competition and the opportunity to advance to the USA Bowling National Championships can register for upcoming regional tournaments for the 2021-2022 season.

The 16-event regional schedule for the USA Bowling program will get underway in October, with the first event being held in the Southeast region at Buffaloe Lanes North in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Oct. 16-17.

Teams competing in the 12-and-under (U12) and 15-and-under (U15) divisions will have the chance to qualify for the 2022 USA Bowling National Championships, which is scheduled to take place July 13-15 during the Junior Gold Championships near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The winning team in each age-based division will earn a spot at the national event.

The schedule of USA Bowling Regional events with dates, region, center and city:

• Oct. 16-17 – Southeast, Buffaloe Lanes North, Raleigh, N.C.
• Oct. 24 – Ohio Valley, Poelking Lanes South, Dayton, Ohio
• Oct. 30-31 – Atlantic East, Murfreesboro Strike & Spare, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
• Nov. 6-7 – Upper Midwest, Bowlerama Lanes, Des Moines, Iowa
• Nov. 21 – Lower Great Lakes, Mike Aulby’s Arrowhead Bowl, Lafayette, Ind.
• Dec. 11-12 – Northeast, Rab’s Country Lanes, Staten Island, N.Y.
• Jan. 8-9 – Coastal South, Aloma Bowl, Winter Park, Fla.
• Jan. 22-23 – Heartland, Pheasant Lanes, Bloomington, Ill.
• Jan. 30 – Southwest, Mira Mesa Lanes, San Diego
• Feb. 12-13 – Upper Great Lakes, Concord Lanes, S. St. Paul, Minn.
• Feb. 27 – South Central, Sooner Bowling Center, Norman, Okla.
• March 6 – Pacific, Paradise Lanes, Tacoma, Wash.
• March 20 – New England, Walnut Hill Bowl, Woonsocket, R.I.
• March 27 – Mountain, King Pin Lanes, Colorado Springs, Colo.
• April 2-3 – Midwest, West Acres Bowling Center, Wichita, Kan.
• April 9-10 – South, Vestavia Bowl, Birmingham, Ala.

To register teams for a regional event, visit BOWL.com/USABowling and select Regional Tournaments.

Teams will bowl eight round-robin Baker matches to determine seeding for the double-elimination bracket at each regional competition. Bracket matches will be decided through a best-of-three Baker format, until a champion is determined in each division.

Single-day events will include both the seeding and match-play rounds. Two-day events will have the seeding round on the first day, with all teams returning on the second day for bracket play.

With team lineups during USA Bowling competition consisting of just four players, the events will feature a modified Baker format. The first two bowlers in the lineup each bowl three frames (1-5-9 and 2-6-10, respectively), while the other two team members each bowl two frames (3-7 and 4-8).

Team rosters can feature up to six players, giving each coach the opportunity to bring in substitutes during competition.

USA Bowling Regional tournaments started in 2013, building the foundation of what would lead to the inaugural USA Bowling National Championships in 2016. The national event grew from the USA Bowling program, designed as a team-based youth program to introduce the sport to children.

USA Bowling Leagues share a team-based structure, similar to all youth sports, where young athletes receive instruction, have regular practices with a coach and then compete against other teams during a season of 8-12 weeks.

USA Bowling is a product of the Youth Education Services (YES) Fund, a joint initiative of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and the United States Bowling Congress, supported by top bowling brands, including Bowling.com, Brunswick, Columbia 300, Ebonite, Hammer, QubicaAMF, Roto Grip, Storm and Track.

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.

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