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A new season is upon us… are you ready?  Starting this Saturday, several area bowling centers will begin their registration and/or league preview days… with some leagues starting as early as next Saturday (8/20).  Check out the bowling center pages on this site for Fall Registration information.

What’s new this year? 

Here are just a few changes we’ve made based upon feedback received:

• All youth league bowlers will receive a special gift from the association at registration.
• We have new annual awards, including one to recognize those who recruit brand new youth bowlers to join leagues.
• The Annual City Tournament will take place in November (not February).
• The Challenge Tournament now includes a “Baker-format” game, plus more teams will qualify for the year-end invitational tournament.
• The JJBT tournaments will have the final match recorded & posted online.
• The Travel League will be including match-play every week.

Here are the top scores bowled in leagues during the week of 7/24-7/30:

Bowl America Orange Park – Tuesday Youth league – 7/26:

	Scratch Game:	Scratch Series:
Boys:	266 Matthew Waters 234 Evan Walsh 202 Evan Walsh	635 Matthew Waters 604 Evan Walsh 487 Trevor Gulino
Girls:	224 Heather Duncan 200 Heather Duncan 198 Heather Duncan	616 Heather Duncan 337 Jacqueline Brecht 309 Brielle Carson

If you do not see your center’s honor scores or believe the displayed information is incorrect, please contact your center’s Youth Director.

The next Youth Leaders meeting will be held on Sunday, August 7th at Bowl America Southside, starting promptly at 1:30pm.  This is the first meeting for the new bowling season, where we will plan out the entire year’s activities (among other discussion items).

Youth bowlers ages 12 and up, from all centers, are encouraged to join Youth Leaders; we’d like to have at least 2 from each center participate going forward.  Visit the Youth Leaders page to see what being a leader in the youth bowling community is all about!

League bowling is more fun with friends, so why not invite your friends to join a youth bowling league this year?  Would you like a little more incentive?

For this upcoming season, the First Coast USBC will recognize several youth bowlers that help to build the sport of bowling in our area.  We are running a contest to see who can be a great ambassador of new youth league bowlers.  Here’s how it works:

Existing youth league bowlers will earn two points for recruiting a brand new USBC member into a youth league at any time in the season (August – May).  If that new bowler participates in at least 12 weeks of the season, the referring bowler will earn up to 10 bonus points at the end of the season based on each new bowler’s participation level (percentage of attendance).  The top 3 referring bowlers in the First Coast USBC will receive bowling prize packs, which may include equipment, apparel, tournament entries and/or scholarship funds deposited in SMART.

Rules: A new USBC member is defined as a youth bowler that has never had a USBC membership, or never participated in a bowling league, as of 8/1/2016.  To avoid collusion and maintain fairness, relatives of an existing youth bowler or coach will not be considered as new USBC members for this contest/award.  The First Coast USBC Youth Committee will reach out to all new youth bowlers in the association to obtain verification of all referrals.

Here’s what you need to do to enter this contest:  Talk to your friends, neighbors and classmates about bowling in youth leagues and invite them.  It’s that simple!

The 2016 Junior Gold Championships have just wrapped up, and WOW… what an experience!  For those that we not able to attend, here’s a summary of what went on during this year’s Junior Gold:

The send-off

Before traveling to Indianapolis, we arranged for a local sports news station to interview several of the competing bowlers and take video of their group practice.  The news segment aired on the day before registration / practice sessions.

The pre-tournament festivities

Before the Junior Gold events officially started, several of the bowlers participated in a “Pro-Am” with dozens of professional bowlers, getting autographs and pictures taken while demonstrating their skills.  A couple bowlers participated in the Youth Open Championship tournament and did well, and we also had participation in an Adult/Youth Baker-style tournament.  Saturday (7/16) consisted of registration and two practice sessions, along with the opportunity to meet with collegiate coaches and professional bowlers at the trade show.  Sunday (7/17) included two more practice sessions, the trade show and the “Opening Ceremonies” event at the local baseball stadium.

The Tournament

Starting Monday, our bowlers competed against elite bowlers from across the country.  Everyone bowled 4 games a day for 4 straight days, on sport shot oil patterns that were not announced, and at different times throughout each day. 2 of our bowlers made the first cut (where only 1 in 7 bowlers advance), earning SMART scholarship funds.  Those bowlers making the first cut had the opportunity (from that point on) to be on one of the BowlTV live stream broadcasts, allowing the world to peek in and see the competition.

John Nunn (from Nassau Bowling Center) finished in 13th place out of 201 boys in the Under-12 division, and anyone watching the live streaming broadcast on Thursday night witnessed him throw a “five bagger” in his 210 game.  Marisol Dodson (from Jax Lanes Grove Park and the FCUSBC Travel League) made two cuts and finished in 58th place out of 792 girls in the Under-20 division.  Unfortunately, we did not have any of our area bowlers advance to the heads-up bracket portion of the tournament.  Florida bowlers in general did well, taking home one of the division championships.

Beyond the main tournament

The first-ever USA Bowling National Championship took place during the second half of the week, with regional champions competing in Baker-style team matches.  While we did not have a team in this tournament, we came VERY close; the Jacksonville U12 All-Stars barely lost in the Coastal South Regional back in January to “Team Georgia”, which that team dominated the brackets round and is in the televised final match (airing in August).

After wrapping up tournament play, some bowlers took the opportunity to do some sightseeing while others entered into the Storm Survivor Tournament — competing to earn their entry into the 2017 Junior Gold tournament (held in Cleveland, OH).  We’re sure all of them (and family members in attendance) are looking forward to getting caught up on sleep, but won’t soon forget the experience of competing on the national stage.  We look forward to having more youth bowlers represent the First Coast USBC in Cleveland next July!

 

The First Coast USBC awards entries into the National Junior Gold Championship tournament each year to its youth members. Entries are awarded at association-sponsored tournaments (City, Scholarship, & JJBT) and through the Travel League (a Junior Gold Prep league).

News 4 Jax Sports prepared a feature on the Junior Gold bowlers from the Jacksonville area ahead of their journey.  The video aired Friday night, July 15th, 2016.

To view the article and video, click the link below:

http://www.news4jax.com/sports/local-bowlers-competing-for-more-than-national-recognition

As mentioned in a previous post, 14 youth bowlers from the First Coast are headed to Indianapolis, IN to compete in the National Junior Gold Championships… which take place July 16th through 23rd.  Before starting on their journeys, most of these talented bowlers joined together Tuesday night to demonstrate their skills and share their thoughts in front of the Channel 4 local sports news camera!  “Stay tuned” to fcusbcyouth.com as we will work to post the featured video, as well as results of their performances throughout the competition.

Junior Gold Bowlers… maintain focus on the shot at hand, remember to breathe, visualize your targets, and “own the lanes”!  We wish the best of luck to you, and be sure to thank your parents & coaches for helping you prepare for this moment.

In case you’re wondering…

Junior Gold Championships is widely considered the premier youth bowling competition in the world.  Youth bowlers compete on multiple “Sport Shot” lane conditions (MUCH more difficult than your typical “House Shot” oil pattern), which are kept secret during the tournament, and over an entire week.  Junior Gold members cannot buy their entry into the championships; they must earn their entry through winning designated tournaments or leagues.  1 in 7 entrants will earn scholarship funds, the top finishers are selected to join the Junior USA Bowling team, and the finals are televised (just like the pros).

All First Coast USBC members are eligible to purchase discounted tickets to Armada FC soccer matches.  There is no minimum number of tickets to purchase in order to receive the special pricing.  To purchase single-match tickets, call 1-844-2-ARMADA and mention the promo code: FCUSBC

Here is the 2016 Armada FC Discount flyer

Calling all Level I coaches, and anyone wishing to become a certified coach —

USBC Coaching is holding a Bronze-level certification conference in our area this August.  This two-day conference, held at Batt Family Fun Center on August 13th-14th, is designed to increase coaching skills, knowledge and professionalism.  Rick Wiltse from the Kegel Training Center will be the instructor.

Registration closes August 1st, and space is limited.  The cost is $295 and attendees must be Level I coaches (and RVP-certified) before the conference begins.  For additional details about Bronze-level certification, visit the Coaching Resource Center at bowl.com today.

The registration form is provided below in PDF format.

JacksonvilleFL_Kegel_BronzeRegistration

The First Coast USBC Youth Leaders Chapter held their annual membership meeting on Sunday June 26th at Bowl America Southside.  During this meeting several bowlers joined the group, the bylaws were updated, and elections were held to determine officers for the upcoming year.

Welcome brand new members to Youth Leaders — Alex Evans & Kyle Johns representing King Pins, and Ethan Torrent representing Bowl America Orange Park.  Bowlers from all centers are encouraged to join; we’d like to have at least 2 from each center participate going forward.

The bylaws were updated based on recommendations from the Youth Committee Chairperson, removing language for non-merged associations, adding (reinstating) the Youth Leader of the Year award, and clarifying the dress code.

Local Chapter Election Results: Liz Speight was voted in as President, Matthew Waters was voted in as Vice President, and Chyna Romedy was voted in as Sergeant at Arms.  Their terms officially begin August 1st, 2016. Congratulations!

Lastly, we’d like to thank Harley Romedy for her years of service and dedication to both the local and state Youth Leaders programs. Harley served as our local Youth Leaders President and as the Zone 1 Director for the State.  Harley will be going to the University of Pikeville this fall, bowling for their team on scholarship!  Her sister, Chyna, was elected this weekend as the new Zone 1 Director, with Briana Pisani being elected as the Director-at-large.

The next local Youth Leaders meeting will likely occur in August — once determined, details will be posted on this website.