Dakota Fox (pictured) of Palmyra, Mo., has been selected as the 2013 USBC Annual Zeb Scholarship recipient. The $2,500 scholarship is awarded each year to a USBC Youth member who is in their junior or senior year of high school, has a minimum 3.0 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) and has given back to their community through service. As this year's recipient, Fox will receive an expenses-paid trip to attend the awards ceremony that will be held in conjunction with the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships.
The International Bowling Campus Youth Department announced the receipt of a generous gift from Bowling Builders Business International (BBBI) Kids Bowl Free to the Youth Educational Services (YES) Fund. The gift will be used help IBC Youth develop its youth bowling programs. The Youth Education Services (YES) Fund is a united effort by
industry leaders in the sport, initiated by BPAA and USBC, dedicated to youth bowling development and marketing.
Samantha Schnur (l.) of Bel Air, Md., and Conner Sarich (r.) of Columbus, Ohio, have been selected as the 2013 USBC Youth Ambassadors of the Year by the USBC Youth Committee. The award annually recognizes one female and one male USBC Youth bowler for exemplary contributions to the sport, academic accomplishments and community involvement. Schnur and Sarich each will receive a $1,500 scholarship.
Joey Kopera of Orland Park, Ill., a freshman at St. Ambrose University, has been selected as the 2013 Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow Award recipient. The annual award recognizes star qualities, including distinguished bowling performance, academic achievement and civic involvement, in a male high school or college student who competes in bowling. The award winner is determined by the United States Bowling Congress Youth Committee.
Lavonne (Mitch) Mitchell (pictured) of Buford, Ga., who has been involved with youth bowling for more than 40 years, has been selected to receive the 2013 Kerm Helmer Horizon Award. The award, named in memory of the longtime Erie Community College coach, recognizes leaders in the bowling community who have displayed the courage, determination and ability to develop far-reaching programs of national scope that provide fun and exciting opportunities for collegiate and/or youth bowlers. 
John Dill of Wheaton, Ill., has been selected to receive the 2013 David Dahms Coach of the Year Award by the United States Bowling Congress Youth Committee. Named in honor of the youth bowling leader instrumental in the creation of what now is known as the Junior Gold program, the David Dahms award recognizes a coach who has been actively involved in a USBC Youth program and has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to coaching, sportsmanship and knowledge of USBC Youth rules.
The Buffalo, N.Y., area will play host to bowling's biggest youth tournaments in 2014 - the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships and the USBC Youth Open Championships.
The North Pointe Junior Gold Championships, which will be conducted July 12-18, 2014, will utilize six bowling centers in the Buffalo area - AMF Thruway Lanes, Transit Lanes, AMF Airport Lanes, Classic Lanes, Tonawanda Bowling Center and AMF Lancaster Lanes.
Carol Gardner of Houston has been selected to receive the 2013 United States Bowling Congress Youth Volunteer of the Year Award by the USBC Youth Committee. The prestigious award recognizes an adult volunteer who has displayed outstanding efforts to foster, organize and promote youth bowling at the local, state and/or national levels. For being selected, Gardner will
receive an expenses-paid trip to the USBC Convention in Reno, Nev.,
where she will be presented with the award. 
Twelve United States Bowling Congress Youth members have been awarded $1,000 college scholarships through the USBC Gift For Life Scholarships program. Gift For Life Scholarships are given annually to USBC Youth members who need financial assistance to obtain a college education. High school students with a GPA of 2.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) who could show financial need were encouraged to apply.
The United States Bowling Congress and Bowling Proprietors' Association of America Boards of Directors have approved the creation of unified International Bowling Campus Youth Committee. The new IBC Youth Committee, which will merge the USBC and BPAA Youth Committees, will have 15 members comprised of six representatives appointed by the USBC Board, six by the BPAA Board, and three athlete representatives.
Frank Wilkinson of Staten Island, N.Y., and Kevin Russell Jr. of Orlando, Fla., have been selected by the United States Bowling Congress Board of Directors to serve on the USBC Youth Committee. Each was recommended by the USBC Nominating Committee and will begin their three-year committee terms starting with the 2013-14 season. Wilkinson currently chairs the USBC Youth Committee. 
The North Pointe Junior Gold Championships has experienced tremendous growth, especially with the addition of the U15 division, and the expected progression has resulted in several changes for the 2013 event in Detroit. More than 1,900 youth bowlers took part in the 2012 event, establishing a record for number of participants, and the 2013 tournament is expected to eclipse that mark. To handle the larger field, three additional centers in the Detroit area will be utilized.
Killer 'B' Promotions (KBP) and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) have announced the signing of an exclusive licensing agreement under which KBP will create and market a line of PBA-branded bowling balls for use in
the Teen Masters. The licensing agreement is part of a joint effort by the PBA and KBP
to spur the growth of competitive youth bowling.
Sixteen-year-old Greg Young (l.) of Viera, Fla., swept 15-year-old Ashley Dunn (r.) of Palmdale, Calif., 216-155 and 214-158, in the best-of-three-game title match of the Teen Masters Grand Championship Wednesday night to win a $64,000 scholarship package, the richest scholarship prize in youth bowling. The tournament finals were conducted on a special one-lane installation in Vanderbilt Hall, inside New York City's Grand Central Terminal.
Eight of the nation’s best high school bowlers - four boys and four girls - are headed to New York City’s Grand Central Terminal for a two-day battle Tuesday and Wednesday, competing for a $64,000 “full ride” scholarship prize which will be awarded to the winner of the 15th annual Teen Masters Grand Championship. Kamron Doyle (r.) of Brentwood, Tenn., at age 14, and last year’s 14-Under champion Ashley Dunn (l.) of Palmdale, Calif., 15, will lead their respective divisions into the finals. 
Four bowlers earned national youth titles Friday at the 2012 North Pointe Junior Gold Championships. AJ Johnson of Oswego, Ill., Robyn Renslow of Brentwood, Calif., Bradley Crouse, Nazareth, Pa., and Breanna Clemmer, Clover, S.C., all came away with championships in their respective divisions at Woodland Bowl. A record total of 1,929 athletes took part in the event competing for more than $250,000 in scholarships.
Four bowlers earned automatic spots on Junior Team USA as qualifying wrapped up Thursday at the 2012 North Pointe Junior Gold Championships presented by Brunswick. Michael Coffey of Melbourne, Fla., Matthew Farber of Plainview, N.Y., Natalie Goodman of O'Fallon, Ill., and Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., all earned automatic spots on Junior Team USA in 2013 by virtue of their 25-game totals in the 20-and-under division to end qualifying at Woodland Bowl.
After back-to-back years of strong performances at the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships presented by Brunswick, Thea Aspiras (pictured) of Chesapeake, Va., is once again lingering near the top of the leaderboard. The Norfolk State junior finished 37th last year in Las Vegas and sixth two years ago in Indianapolis. After 15 games of qualifying, she sits in 14th place in the 20-and-under division with 2,897 (193.13 average) and is again in position for a big finish. Live streaming of the event starts Thursday at 8 a.m. Eastern. 