Don Carter's Tamarac Lanes in Tamarac, Fla. (Aug. 12-19, 2006)
At 15 years old, Shannon O'Keefe of Rochester, N.Y., dreamed about becoming an Olympic athlete and getting the chance to take on the world as a member of the U.S. softball team. Softball is now a passion of the past. Her triumphs have come on the bowling lanes as a member of Team USA, and the 27-year-old right-hander picked up her first international gold medal at the 44th Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas in Tamarac, Fla., on Monday.
Don Carter University Lanes in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., (July 17-19, 2006)
After a three-year absence, Olivia Sandham (left) is back at the Tournament of the Americas too, and it didn't take long for the 22-year-old right-hander long to pick up where she left off. Sandham tossed the second perfect game by an adult woman in the 44-year history of the tournament. Mexico's Mario Quintero (right) shot the day's other perfect game.
By Hazel McLeary, CTF Public Relations Coordinator
Canada will be one of up to 24 countries in the Americas who will compete at the 44th annual Tournament of the Americas. The annual event was held at Cloverleaf Lanes in Miami, Florida until it closed in 2005. The 2005 event took place at Sawgrass Lanes in Broward County but Sawgrass was badly damaged by Hurricane Wilma last fall and the 2006 event will take place at Don Carter's Tamarac Lanes in the Ft. Lauderdale area.
Don Carter's Tamarac Lanes in Tamarac, Fla. (August 12-19, 2006)
Kayla Bandy of Danville, Va., has spent enough time in South Florida during the past year that she might want to consider a time share in the area. The 20-year-old member of the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Junior Team USA recently was in Florida to compete in the USBC Junior Gold Championships and this week she will be leading her peers into the 44th Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas in Tamarac, Fla.
Republished courtesy of Miami Herald (Posted on Sun, Aug. 06, 2006)
Not even hurricanes, political revolts, fire or earthquakes during the past 43 years have prevented amateur bowlers from making their pilgrimage to South Florida for the annual Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas -- one of the longest-running international sporting events in the world.
It took only 20 minutes to win the championship match of the Nationals event, the climatic event in the National Amateur Bowlers Inc. eight-day, 10-event tournament that drew 1,200 NABI Club members and paid out approximately $400,000. The lucky, or should we say talented, bowler who was presented the $40,000 winner's check by NABI founder John McCoy was Mamie Parker, a 62-year-old nurse from Durham, N.C.
Defeats Team USA member Shannon Pluhowsky for Phoenix title
Matt Reynolds of Huachuca City, AZ captured the inaugural Columbia 300 Traditions Bowling Classic held at AMF Christown Lanes in Phoenix, AZ, June 3-4, 2006. Reynolds (left) defeated 2-time World Cup champion Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix, 2002 ABC Masters Champion Brett Wolfe of Tempe, AZ, and Matt Jones of Phoenix in the tournament championship match to claim a $2,500 first prize.
Republished courtesy of the The News-Herald (June 11, 2006)
Once upon a time — a long time before he had a family, fought fires and saved lives — Bob Tompos lived to bowl. Born into a family of bowlers, Tompos learned the sport at age 2 in southwest Detroit, competed in youth leagues and practiced as often as he could. He usually had the high game or series in the league and bowled well in tournaments.
Revs Holdom Bowling Center and Xcalibur Bowling Center in Greater Vancouver Area, Vancouver, BC (May 19 -22, 2006)
Jason Kovack of Windsor, Ontario and Lynne Gauthier (pictured) of Winnipeg, Manitoba earned the gold medals at the 2006 Canadian National Championships held in the Vancouver, British Columbia area May 19-22, 2006. The top six men and top six women will represent Canada in 2007.
The Canadian Tenpin Federation's selection committee has announced the two additional men and women who were selected by the committee to join the top six scorers from the national championships for Team Canada 2007. They are: Isabelle Rioux, Three Rivers, Quebec and Jennifer Willis-Park, Nanaimo, BC, were named to the women's team. Jean Sebastian Lessard, Quebec City, Quebec and Joe Ciach, Mississauga, Ontario, were named to the men's team.
Republished courtesy of Miami Hearld (May. 14, 2006)
Joe Schumacker, who is scheduled to become president of the Bowling Proprietors Association of America on June 30, thinks bowling in South Florida is the victim of exploding land value and astronomical construction costs. "The way land values have exploded, it has become a big, big problem for owners of bowling centers to refuse lucrative offers," said Schumacker, who has run as many as eight bowling centers at a time in South Florida.
TOM HAWTHORN meets a striking woman who's a major world player in her sport
Republished courtesy of The Globe and Mail, British Columbia (May 12, 2006) VICTORIA -- The purple ball rolls along the right edge of the lane, just centimetres from the infamous gutter. It spins along the 38th of the 39 thin boards that make up a bowling lane, and hooks into the triangle of pins. Down goes pin No. 3, striking No. 5, which takes out No. 8, even as No. 6 knocks down No. 9. In the back row, No. 10 also falls in the percussive cacophony. Hazel McLeary purses her lips, but says nothing as she awaits the return of her ball.
USBC certified coaches to assist athletes, coaches in 2007 Pan Am Games host country
As part of a goodwill mission, four prominent United States Bowling Congress certified coaches, Fred Borden (left), Lynda Barnes (right), Bill Hoffman and Director of Team USA Kevin Dornberger, will visit Rio de Janeiro on May 16-20 for promotion of next year's Pan American Games in Brazil.
Eight (not seven as inadvertently reported) former national team members earned 10 titles at the Canadian Tenpin Federation National Mixed Championships at Pont Mercier Lanes in Lasalle, Quebec April 21-23. Lynne Gauthier of East St. Paul, Manitoba was the big winner. Gauthier earned both handicap and scratch women's singles titles as well as women's handicap all events. She was also a member of the team that earned the scratch team title.
The Venezuelan Bowling Federation finished the official Opening Tournament for the 2006 season last weekend. Karen Marcano and Hernán Ramírez won the most coveted titles, the women's and men's Open Masters. Marcano (right) also won the titles in Doubles and All Events and finished third in the four-player Team event.
Republished courtesy of Battle Creek Enquirer (April 2, 2006)
Around local and regional bowling circles, John Stout goes by the nickname "Machine." A nickname that was and continues to be associated with the late, great Earl Anthony. It's also a nickname that perfectly describes the kind of bowler Stout was on March 24 at Nottke's Bowl (Battle Creek, Mich). Thirty four of Stout's 36 first-ball shots that night went for strikes, enabling him to produce games of 290-300-290 for an 880 series.
2005 QubicaAMF World Cup champion Michael Schmidt from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Veronica Lalande-Lapointe, Ile-Perrot, successfully defended their titles as Canadian National Champions at Bowling center 'Salon de Quilles au 300' in Caraquet, N.B. last weekend. Both players will represent Canada in the 2006 QubicaAMF World Cup November 4-12 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Bowling Alley: American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas
In the 1980s Ted Skrzynecki Jr. of Ida, Mich., was toppling pins with world's best bowlers in the Professional Bowlers Association. In the time since, life's responsibilities and a series of health problems have forced his game to suffer. On Saturday, Skrzynecki proved he's one step closer to regaining his old form as he moved into a tie for the lead in Classified Singles at the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Bowling Alley: American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas
After a 224 and then three spares to start the second game of Singles, Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa, switched balls and rattled off 21 consecutive strikes to shoot 268 and 300 for 792, to take the lead in Regular Singles at the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Adrianne Bride of Winnipeg, Manitoba will be the 20th member of the Canadian Tenpin Federation's Hall of Fame when she is inducted at the Opening Ceremonies of the National Championships. The ceremony will be held at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown on May 18, 2006.
At 15 years old, Shannon O'Keefe of Rochester, N.Y., dreamed about becoming an Olympic athlete and getting the chance to take on the world as a member of the U.S. softball team. Softball is now a passion of the past. Her triumphs have come on the bowling lanes as a member of Team USA, and the 27-year-old right-hander picked up her first international gold medal at the 44th Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas in Tamarac, Fla., on Monday. 
After a three-year absence, Olivia Sandham (left) is back at the Tournament of the Americas too, and it didn't take long for the 22-year-old right-hander long to pick up where she left off. Sandham tossed the second perfect game by an adult woman in the 44-year history of the tournament. Mexico's Mario Quintero (right) shot the day's other perfect game.
Canada will be one of up to 24 countries in the Americas who will compete at the 44th annual Tournament of the Americas. The annual event was held at Cloverleaf Lanes in Miami, Florida until it closed in 2005. The 2005 event took place at Sawgrass Lanes in Broward County but Sawgrass was badly damaged by Hurricane Wilma last fall and the 2006 event will take place at Don Carter's Tamarac Lanes in the Ft. Lauderdale area. 
Kayla Bandy of Danville, Va., has spent enough time in South Florida during the past year that she might want to consider a time share in the area. The 20-year-old member of the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Junior Team USA recently was in Florida to compete in the USBC Junior Gold Championships and this week she will be leading her peers into the 44th Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas in Tamarac, Fla. 
It took only 20 minutes to win the championship match of the Nationals event, the climatic event in the National Amateur Bowlers Inc. eight-day, 10-event tournament that drew 1,200 NABI Club members and paid out approximately $400,000. The lucky, or should we say talented, bowler who was presented the $40,000 winner's check by NABI founder John McCoy was Mamie Parker, a 62-year-old nurse from Durham, N.C. 
Matt Reynolds of Huachuca City, AZ captured the inaugural Columbia 300 Traditions Bowling Classic held at AMF Christown Lanes in Phoenix, AZ, June 3-4, 2006. Reynolds (left) defeated 2-time World Cup champion Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix, 2002 ABC Masters Champion Brett Wolfe of Tempe, AZ, and Matt Jones of Phoenix in the tournament championship match to claim a $2,500 first prize. 
Jason Kovack of Windsor, Ontario and Lynne Gauthier (pictured) of Winnipeg, Manitoba earned the gold medals at the 2006 Canadian National Championships held in the Vancouver, British Columbia area May 19-22, 2006. The top six men and top six women will represent Canada in 2007.
The Canadian Tenpin Federation's selection committee has announced the two additional men and women who were selected by the committee to join the top six scorers from the national championships for Team Canada 2007. They are: Isabelle Rioux, Three Rivers, Quebec and Jennifer Willis-Park, Nanaimo, BC, were named to the women's team. Jean Sebastian Lessard, Quebec City, Quebec and Joe Ciach, Mississauga, Ontario, were named to the men's team. 
Republished courtesy of The Globe and Mail, British Columbia (May 12, 2006) VICTORIA -- The purple ball rolls along the right edge of the lane, just centimetres from the infamous gutter. It spins along the 38th of the 39 thin boards that make up a bowling lane, and hooks into the triangle of pins. Down goes pin No. 3, striking No. 5, which takes out No. 8, even as No. 6 knocks down No. 9. In the back row, No. 10 also falls in the percussive cacophony. Hazel McLeary purses her lips, but says nothing as she awaits the return of her ball. 
As part of a goodwill mission, four prominent United States Bowling Congress certified coaches, Fred Borden (left), Lynda Barnes (right), Bill Hoffman and Director of Team USA Kevin Dornberger, will visit Rio de Janeiro on May 16-20 for promotion of next year's Pan American Games in Brazil. 
The Venezuelan Bowling Federation finished the official Opening Tournament for the 2006 season last weekend. Karen Marcano and Hernán Ramírez won the most coveted titles, the women's and men's Open Masters. Marcano (right) also won the titles in Doubles and All Events and finished third in the four-player Team event.
Around local and regional bowling circles, John Stout goes by the nickname "Machine." A nickname that was and continues to be associated with the late, great Earl Anthony. It's also a nickname that perfectly describes the kind of bowler Stout was on March 24 at Nottke's Bowl (Battle Creek, Mich). Thirty four of Stout's 36 first-ball shots that night went for strikes, enabling him to produce games of 290-300-290 for an 880 series. 
2005 QubicaAMF World Cup champion Michael Schmidt from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Veronica Lalande-Lapointe, Ile-Perrot, successfully defended their titles as Canadian National Champions at Bowling center 'Salon de Quilles au 300' in Caraquet, N.B. last weekend. Both players will represent Canada in the 2006 QubicaAMF World Cup November 4-12 in Caracas, Venezuela. 
In the 1980s Ted Skrzynecki Jr. of Ida, Mich., was toppling pins with world's best bowlers in the Professional Bowlers Association. In the time since, life's responsibilities and a series of health problems have forced his game to suffer. On Saturday, Skrzynecki proved he's one step closer to regaining his old form as he moved into a tie for the lead in Classified Singles at the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. 
After a 224 and then three spares to start the second game of Singles, Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa, switched balls and rattled off 21 consecutive strikes to shoot 268 and 300 for 792, to take the lead in Regular Singles at the 2006 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. 