E-dition No. 1,040 • Friday, January 25, 2019
Editor: Bob Johnson (bjibob@aol.com)
BowlerX.com to Sponsor PWBA Event in Orlando
BowlerX.com will remain a national sponsor on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour in 2019, and will be the title sponsor for the event in Orlando, Florida.
The BowlerX.com PWBA Orlando Open is set for Aug. 15-17 at Boardwalk Bowl, with the stepladder finals to be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
The 2019 season marks BowlerX.com’s second year of sponsorship of the PWBA Tour. Several PWBA members are on the BowlerX.com staff, including Liz Kuhlkin, who won last season’s U.S. Women’s Open at Boardwalk Bowl, and 2018 PWBA Player of the Year Shannon O’Keefe.
Matt Russo to Rep 900 Global and 3G Brands
Global Manufacturing has announced the signing of Matt Russo to a staff agreement to represent the 900 Global and 3G brands.
Russo currently is a member of Team USA. He was the 2017 National Amateur Champion and the 2017 and 2018 NAIA Collegiate National Champion. At the 2018 PABCON Champion of Champions event, he won gold medals in all four events in which he participated: Singles, Doubles, All-Events and Masters.
“I am happy to take the next step in my career as part of the 900 Global team,” Russo said. “It is an honor to represent this company at the highest level. I am excited and humbled to wear their logo on my chest and bring success to the 900 Global company. I look forward to all of the fantastic things in store for myself and the 900 Global brand.”
Said Wes Pye, Vice President of Sales: “We are very excited to have Matt join us at Global. He is a class individual and great bowler. We look forward to helping him continue to build his bowling career along with his representing our brands.”
Dale Garner, Director of Marketing, added, “When going down a checklist of what you look for in a staff member, Matt checks all the boxes. He is an incredibly talented bowler with a bright future, but it is his professionalism and character off the lanes that makes him such a great fit for our brands.”
Matt Cabanski, Marketing Manager/Product Development Analyst, added, “Personally, I’m very enthused about the opportunities Matt will afford us. With his two-handed left-hand dominant delivery, he can create a ball motion many others can’t. In my opinion, players like Matt represent the future of bowling. I couldn’t be happier knowing he is on our side. We’re very much looking forward to working with him.”
Hoosier Classic Evolves Into a Bowling ‘Festival’
By Dennis Bergendorf
So many collegiate teams wanted to be a part of the 50th anniversary Columbia 300 Hoosier Classic that it sold out its 144 slots almost immediately, and another 47 teams went on the wait list.
The event, scheduled for Feb. 15-17 at Indianapolis’s Western Bowl, is the final Tier 1 event of the 2018-19 United States Bowling Congress Collegiate season.
Billy Murphy, coach of the defending women’s champion Newman University Jets, said, “It’s the culmination of the year. All the best teams in the country are there. If you win that tournament, you’ve really done something.”
Seventy-eight men’s teams and 66 women’s will roll six standard qualifying games on Saturday, then come back Sunday for 15 Baker games. The fields in each division will be trimmed to the top eight teams, which will bowl single-elimination, best-of-three matches. The final two teams will bowl best-of-five for their respective titles.
The winners will get to autograph the custom masking unit above the championship pair. Tournament director Nick Hoagland says, “Every year teams are super, super excited to win and sign it.”
Co-sponsor Kegel will have two lane machines putting down patterns that won’t be announced until an hour before each squad.
The weekend is a bowling festival of sorts, beginning with an Ebonite Bowling International Demo Day on Friday afternoon, followed by the Lee Johnson Memorial Eliminator sweeper. The National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association and the NAIA Coaches will meet that night.
The Classic also serves as a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish, which plans to send a 5-year-old girl who is battling leukemia to Disney World.
Though the event is not affiliated with Indiana University, Hoosier bowling team alumni will hold a 50th reunion Saturday.
$2,500 Grants Awarded to 4 High School Programs
Four high school bowling programs have been selected to receive a $2,500 grant through the Youth Education Services (YES) Fund.
The High School Grant Program, administered by International Bowling Campus Youth Development, annually provides up to four grants to high schools requiring funds to start a new bowling program or to assist existing programs that show financial need because of budget cuts or other changes.
The four schools selected to receive grants are:
* Adams Central High School, Monroe, Ind.
* Pulaski High School, Milwaukee
* Washington High School, Washington, Ind.
* Whitehall High School, Whitehall, Mich.
The Adams Central High School bowling program is in its second season of competition in the 10-team Hoosier Conference and does not receive funding from the school. Two parents and a teacher volunteer their time, and the program was financially supported by local businesses its first season.
Team members use donated bowling balls and equipment and, of the 10 members on the team this season, only one had previously participated in league/competitive bowling. Coach Erin Everett plans to continue to seek support through sponsorships and fundraisers, and the grant will allow the team to purchase equipment that is in better condition. It also will help to keep costs lower, so the team can be open to anyone who wants to compete.
The bowling program at Pulaski High School, the only bowling team in Milwaukee Public Schools, started in 2001 and competes in the winter season of the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club. Increases in league fees, along with cuts to the school budget, have created a funding challenge for the co-ed team that recently has had anywhere from seven to 15 students in the program.
Coach Ashley Newman said most of the bowlers are new to the sport, and she appreciates the opportunity to help students build a love for bowling. The grant will help pay for tournaments, linage for practice, and administrative fees. Students will continue to raise funds throughout the season.
Washington High School’s bowling program is a club sport and also does not receive any funding. As a student at the high school until 2009, coach Brandon Fitzpatrick started bowling because of the program and said he understands how bowling benefits students.
The team’s home center, King Pin Bowling Center, supports the team by allowing fundraisers and reduced linage. But the program, which does not charge players any fees to compete, struggles to raise funds each season and Fitzpatrick has absorbed some costs. He said the grant will help provide funding for several years.
Whitehall High School is a first-year program that is sponsored but not funded by the school, meaning athletes must meet eligibility requirements to compete. The team started competition in December and will have 23 competitions leading into the Michigan High School Athletic Association regional and state tournaments.
While the team has raised some funds, the grant will help push the program closer to covering budgeted costs for this season. Greg Russell, the school’s athletic director, said a goal is to show the program is a great experience for students so a recommendation can be made to the school board to fund the program in the future.
The High School Grant Program is a product of the YES Fund, a joint initiative of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and United States Bowling Congress, supported by top bowling brands including Bowling.com, Brunswick, Columbia 300, Ebonite, Hammer, QubicaAMF, Roto Grip, Storm and Track.
Visit BOWL.com/HighSchool to learn more about the program and other initiatives to support high school programs.
Other News You Can Use…
* Veteran PBA announcer Dave LaMont will fill in as the lead announcer for the Lubbock Sports Open live on FS1 this Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern. Rob Stone has previous commitments with FOX and won’t be available for Sunday’s PBA telecast.
* There was more good ratings news for the PBA following the telecast of the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman Doubles Championship. That telecast delivered 270,000 viewers on FS1, making it the most-watched of the three PBA telecasts on the network so far. Compared to last January’s 1-3 p.m. average on FS1, the telecast was up 82% (versus 148,000 viewers). We’ll dig deeper into the PBA ratings in next week’s Report.
* Months after tax concerns and questions surrounding Proprietors Cup founder Billy Eysoldt’s fundraising practices left the tournament’s future in doubt, Eysoldt announced on his Facebook page Friday that the event would proceed in 2019. Report: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/following-tough-time-eysoldt-announces-proprietors-cup-to-move-forward-in-2019/.
* Matt Ogle adopted the two-handed style after he’d given up on his pro bowling dreams following a debilitating injury. On this first Bowlers Journal Podcast of 2019, he tells the story of the devastation he overcame to become a PBA champion. Listen here: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/bji-podcast-matt-ogle-on-the-personal-devastation-he-overcame-to-realize-his-pro-bowling-dreams/.
* The website address for Creating the Difference that appeared in last week’s Cyber Report was incorrect. The correct address is CtDBowling.com.
* 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.
Bowling Center Management Online 
Leave a Reply