E-dition No. 980 • Thursday, December 7, 2017
Editor: Bob Johnson (bjibob@aol.com)
Brent Perrier Passes Away After Brief Cancer Battle
Brent Perrier, who had retired on July 25 as CEO of Brunswick Bowling Products after nearly 37 years of service to the company in various capacities, died Sunday night following what Corey Dykstra, who took over as CEO after Perrier retired, described as “a short, but strong fight against cancer.”
Dykstra added that, “He will be long remembered by all for his love for life and many contributions to both Brunswick and the bowling industry. I will certainly remember him as a great friend and mentor.”
World Bowling CEO Kevin Dornberger observed 30 seconds of silence in Perrier’s memory with players, coaches and fans in attendance during the final day of the World Bowling Championships in Las Vegas on Monday.
“Brent went from someone I knew by attending meetings to a friend who went out of his way to advance the sport and the Olympic movement,” Dornberger said. “He believed in the sport.”
Perrier had just celebrated his 63rd birthday on Nov. 30.
We will have much more about Perrier’s significant contribution to the bowling business in the January issues of Bowlers Journal International and Bowling Center Management magazines.
Brunswick has posted a tribute video on Facebook. You can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/brunswick.bowling/videos/1739361369449140/
Dates, Site Set for 2018 Turbo Collegiate Expo
A move from the Midwest, new seminars and new coaches highlight the changes for Turbo Tech Collegiate Expo XIII, presented by Turbo Bowling Accessories.
The program of bowling education, coaching and recruiting for high school bowlers and coaches will visit North Texas for the first time in 2018. Cityview Lanes in Fort Worth will host the event July 8-11. The Expo is traditionally held prior to the Junior Gold Championships, USA Bowling National Championships and Youth Open, and has consistently drawn students from more than 35 states and more than 40 collegiate programs.
Online registration began Dec. 1, with final registration ending on April 30. As in previous years, a full field of 210 is expected to attend.
On-lane instruction and in-class seminars will be presented by Turbo Bowling’s Pro Staff, along with other invited guests. Presenters will include PBA and PWBA Hall of Famers, major title winners, and certified USBC Bronze, Silver and Gold-level coaches.
One of the new presenters is Brad Hagen, Coach of the Sam Houston State University Women’s Team. Hagen built the program from scratch, and immediately made it a national power. In six seasons, his teams qualified for five NCAA championships and won an NCAA national title.
“The Collegiate Expo is an event that has become a staple of any collegiate coach’s summer planning,” said Hagen. “The amount of quality information that is provided to all athletes and coaches, as well as their families, is first class. To have the opportunity to give back to our bowling community and be a presenter is something special.”
Hagen says his session will be a presentation of objective reality at the next level.
In addition, representatives from USBC will present seminars on the Junior Gold program, as well as Junior Team USA and the USBC Collegiate Bowling program. Gary Brown, Managing Director of the International Bowling Campus Youth Department, said the Turbo Tech Collegiate Expo is an added benefit to the Junior Gold experience.
“Incorporating IBC Youth in the Turbo Tech Collegiate Expo is a great way for us to share more information about High School, Collegiate and Junior Gold programs,” said Brown. “Events like this allow youth bowlers to learn more about the great opportunities our sport can provide.”
The culmination of the Collegiate Expo is the Audition Tournament, which allows the student-athletes to perform in a six-game tournament, competing for both scholarship funds and the attention of college coaches looking for players. An Open House follows, giving players a chance to meet with coaches and gather information on colleges offering bowling scholarships.
The Expo also provides valuable insight and education to coaches and parents of the bowlers. Seminars and programming is set up for coaches who seek to expand their knowledge, so they can enhance a current program or provide the basis for establishing a new program.
“The Collegiate Expo holds a unique position in the bowling industry that focuses on the development of youth bowling,” said Turbo President Lori Mraz. “Through the sharing of this information, the Collegiate Expo will help bowlers, coaches and parents, and continue to have a major impact on our industry.”
Sponsors for the Expo include Ballard’s Bowling Academy, Bowl4Life, Bowlers Journal, Bowlingball.com, Brunswick, BVL, Classic Products, Columbia 300, DV8, Dexter, Ebonite, 900 Global, Hammer, Kids Bowl Free, Kegel, KR Strikeforce, Logo Infusion, Motiv, On the Ball Bowling, Professional Bowlers Association, Roto Grip, Storm, Track, Turbo, Metro Detroit USBC and XBowling.
For more information and to register online, visit turbogrips.com.
PBA Returns to ESPN This Sunday
The five leading American players and the five top international players in PBA World Championship qualifying during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX Presented by Eldorado Resorts Reno Properties will face off in the second USA vs. the World team competition on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern, kicking off ESPN’s coverage of the 2017-18 Go Bowling! PBA Tour.
The USA team, captained by PBA Hall of Famer and 22-time Tour champion Marshall Holman, includes PBA Tour champions Kyle Troup, Bill O’Neill, Ryan Ciminelli, Tom Smallwood and PBA regional winner Matt McNiel. Making up the World team, captained by England’s Stuart Williams, are PBA Tour international standouts Jason Belmonte of Australia, Jesper Svensson of Sweden, Dom Barrett of England, Thomas Larsen of Denmark and newcomer Rafiq Ismail of Malaysia.
In what could be considered the all-star event of WSOB IX, players earned spots on their respective teams based on their finishing positions after a combined 40 games of qualifying in the PBA Chameleon Championship Presented by Reno Tahoe, PBA Shark Championship Presented by Xtra Frame, PBA Cheetah Championship Presented by PBA Challenge Mobile Game, and Pepsi PBA Scorpion Championship Presented by GoBowling.com.
The teams will compete in a best-of-two-game Baker format final, with a sudden-death rolloff should the teams be tied after two games.
The U.S. team will try to defend its title from WSOB VIII, when the Mitch Beasley, B.J. Moore, Matt O’Grady, Dick Allen and E.J. Tackett beat Sam Cooley, Barrett, Arturo Quintero, Francois Lavoie and Martin Larsen in a one-frame rolloff after each team won one game.
WSOB IX continues with back-to-back telecasts on ESPN of the Chameleon and Shark Championships on Sunday, Dec. 17 beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern, followed by the Cheetah and Scorpion Championships Dec. 24 at 1 p.m., PBA World Championship Dec. 31 at 1 p.m., and wrapping up with World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals Presented by PBA Jan. 7 at 1 p.m.
Other News You Can Use…
* The Crotched Mountain School in Greenfield, N.H., has harnessed bowling’s unique accessibility for the benefit of the special needs children it serves. Find out why bowling has turned out to be a perfectly accommodating activity for the school’s students, who span a broad range of diagnoses: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/magic-mountain-how-bowling-brightens-lives-of-special-needs-children-in-new-hampshire/
* For Matt Cannizzaro’s coverage of the World Bowling Championships from the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, visit bowlersjournal.com, where you’ll find his event-by-event reports. We’ll have a wrap-up on the tournament in the January issue of BJI.
* The guest this week on Phantom Radio is bowler, coach and radio host Sea J. Layton. To listen to the conversation, click here: https://kegel.squarespace.com/phantomblog/2017/12/6/sea-j-layton-phantom-radio.
* CONTACT: Please send business news, event information, etc. to Bob Johnson at bjibob@aol.com. For breaking business news, visit bcmmag.com or bowlersjournal.com, and “Like” Bowling Center Management and Bowlers Journal International on Facebook. BJI Cyber Reports are now archived at bcmmag.com.
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