The United States Bowling Congress Coaching department recently elevated internationally-respected coach Frank Buffa to USBC Gold status, making him the 34th coach to earn the distinction. Buffa lives and works in Montreal, where he operates Buffa's Bowling Supply Inc. pro shops, the buffabowling.com online store and the Studio Buffa Training Center. Fluent in several languages and familiar with many cultures, Buffa has been a fixture on the international coaching scene for years. He is the current head coach of Qatar's national team, a position he has held since 2005. Previously, Gold status as being the highlight of his career
The U.S. Olympic Committee has given the United States Bowling Congress and the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America permission to display the Olympic rings on the outside of the International Training and Research Center, which is currently under construction at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas. Upon completion, which is forecast for fall 2009, the International
Training and Research Center will include 14 lanes for training and six
for research and testing of bowling equipment.
Gary Sparks, the longtime bowling coach and assistant professor of bowling industry management at Vincennes (Ind.) University, is joining the United States Bowling Congress staff. Sparks will be a program developer in the coaching and youth development areas beginning in mid-June. He will work jointly under USBC Team USA High Performance Director David Garber and Youth Development Director Brian Graham. The 53-year-old Sparks has been an assistant professor of bowling
industry management and director of bowling at Vincennes for 20 years.
He previously owned a custom trophy business and spent five years in
center management for Brunswick.
Internationally acclaimed author and world-class bowling instructor Tom Kouros has been selected as the 2009 inductee into the Bowling Coaches Hall of Fame, recognizing superior coaching contributions to the sport. The formal induction will take place Wednesday morning, June 22, 2009 during International Bowl Expo's General Session at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Kouros has reached more in print than anyone through his very successful Par Bowling books, but has also traveled worldwide teaching the sport.
As a part of its education and certification programs, the presidium of
the European Tenpin Bowling Federation has developed a program to give
accreditation to Bowling Training Centers who are helping to develop
the sport of Tenpin Bowling and provide high standards of bowling
education. Kuortane Bowling Training and Education Center in Finland became the
first "ETBF Approved Bowling Training Center" and the certificate was
presented during the European Youth Championships 2009 in Malmo to Piritta Kantola (right), who is the director of the Training Center. 
Over the last handful of years, players like Jason Belmonte, Osku Palermaa, and Cassidy Schaub have opened the eyes of many with the incredible combination of speed and revolutions they impart on a bowling ball. Their use of a two handed armswing allows for maximum power at release
and consequently has both children and adults alike experimenting with
the two handed game. All of this added attention has given both supporters and naysayers a
reason to voice their opinion on this unique style of bowling. However,
both sides would agree that with the increasing number of two handed
bowlers, coaches and ball drillers must be equipped with enough
knowledge to assist this type of player if their services are ever
called upon.
Debbie Haggerty, who has been involved in the sport of bowling as a coach for the last 18 years and as a youth director for the last 15 years, has been selected to receive the 2009 United States Bowling Congress David Dahms Coach of the Year Award by the USBC Youth Committee. This prestigious award recognizes a USBC Youth 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 for the last seven or more years.
Michael Nyitray of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a USBC Gold coach who has developed a program to provide long-term coaching to youth bowlers, has been selected by the USBC Youth Committee to receive the 2009 USBC Kerm Helmer Horizon Award. Named in honor of the team founder and longtime bowling coach at Erie Community College, the award 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 bowlers. Nyitray, 46, will be presented the award at the USBC Convention in Reno this spring. 
Brunswick staffers Rick Benoit, Sean Rash, Diandra Asbaty, Pat Mitchell and Rick Kruse will hold a series of seminars in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge 2009, the fourth stop of the 2009 European Bowling Tour and one of the Tour's majors. The 90.000 Euro tournament will run from March 6-15 at Plaza Bowling in Saint Maximin, France. 
The Kegel Training Center has announced the introduction of new products and services designed to support elite teams and the coaches of these teams. These products and services include targeted assistance to bowling federations around the world as well as college and high school teams in the United States. As part of this initiative, the world-class coaching staff of the Training Center, Del Warren, Randy Stoughton and Joe Slowinski, will be available to travel on-site, anywhere in the world, to train bowlers and coaches as well as develop customized programs. 
Staff members at the new International Bowling Campus were on hand Thursday for the groundbreaking of the International Training and Research Center. United States Bowling Congress Chief Executive Officer Kevin Dornberger (r.), USBC Vice President-National Governing Body Neil Stremmel (l.) and Bowling Proprietors' Association of America Executive Director John Berglund briefly addressed the group before various people donned hard hats and used shovels to ceremoniously move dirt in the complex's south parking lot. Full-time construction on the 20-lane facility will begin next week with a goal to be finished by Sept. 1.
Three month ago, 21 of the world's best coaches and players went through an extensive coaching program in the first International Coach/Instructor Training seminar at the USBC Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis. After five days of instruction they received their USBC Silver Coaching Certification which allows them to teach Bronze coaching conferences and certify new USBC coaches in their home countries and regions. Thanks to BowlTV we can offer you five videos featuring some of the coaches as well as USBC's Neil Stremmel discussing technology and the exciting possibilities for the future of our sport. 
Randy Stoughton, one of the most experienced coaches in the world, has earned Gold Level certification from the United States Bowling Congress. "USBC Coaching is proud to welcome Randy as our newest Gold Level Certified Coach. Randy has a great history of skills as a past PBA player, tour rep, ball driller, and elite coach. All of these items make him a very unique coach that will help bring more credibility to the USBC Coaching Program," stated David Garber, High Performance Director of USBC Team USA, Coaching & International Training Center.
The Kegel Training Center has been named the Official Training Facility of the Professional Bowlers Association. As part of this relationship, the Kegel Training Center will provide the Computer Aided Tracking System (C.A.T.S.) and support technician for all three remaining PBA major championships including this week's H&R Block Tournament of Champions, the United States Bowling Congress Masters and the 66th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open plus the upcoming GEICO Plastic Ball Championship and the Go RVing Match Play Championship.
Current Shocker Head Coach Gordon Vadakin is stepping aside as assistant coach on Team USA; a position he held for 11 years. Vadakin announced his decision January 7 and will not be part of the team in 2009. "The program is incredibly successful and it makes sense to bring new coaches into the program now so that they can continue to learn and move the program forward under Head Coach Jeri Edwards leadership", said Vadakin. Vadakin was an assistant coach on Team USA from 1990-1993 and from 2000-2008. As a member of Team USA in 1983 and 1989, Vadakin became close with then - Team USA head coach Fred Borden.
Considered a legend in bowling around the world, PBA Hall of Fame coach John Jowdy has been coaching since 1950 and has coached and mentored more than 100 professional bowlers, including Parker Bohn III, a 30-time Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) champion and Mike Aulby, a two-time PBA Player of the Year. Highly regarded for teaching the execution and skill of the game, Jowdy has been called the master of teaching the free armswing. In Bowling Execution, Second Edition (Human Kinetics 2009), John Jowdy shares his expertise on every aspect of the sport, from developing skills to refining techniques for improved consistency.
Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno of the Philippines is the recipient of the 2009 World Bowling Writers Mort Luby Jr. Distinguished Service Award. Although Paeng's bowling career isn't over yet and he is still a force to be reckoned with in international tournaments worldwide, the USBC silver level coach is now dedicating most of his time to returning great services to the sport, including coaching conferences, exhibitions and as an ambassador for the United States Bowling Congress. Paeng is a 3-time WBW World Bowler of the Year (1998, '85 and '92) and was the first player elected to the WBW Hall of Fame in 1993. 
Sporternet Ltd., a Finnish company producing sport software and devices for coaches and athletes, has launched a commercial website, where bowling technique is taught via videos. At "Bowling ABC" people will find three coaches helping to improve your game.Juha Maja, CEO of Sporternet Ltd., (pictured with coaches Jarkko Sipilä, right, and Piritta Kantola, left) had the idea for "coaching through the web" several years ago, when he was coaching the Finnish Youth National Teams. 