Youth bowlers get a taste of the Pro Tour
08/07/06
For four United States Bowling Congress Youth members, the 2006 Teen Masters National Finals was an opportunity to live like professional bowlers for a day.
From the arena setup to the television cameras, bowlers in the boys' and girls' championship matches got to experience first-hand what professional bowlers deal with each week during the Denny's PBA Tour season.
In the end, Jake Peters, 17, of Decatur, Ill., and Brittni Hamilton, 16, of Webster, N.Y., emerged as the event's champions, each taking home a trophy and $7,500 scholarship. The event will be televised on ESPN2 on Oct. 16 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
"It's a lot more fun and a lot harder than I thought," said Peters, who defeated Jon Brady of Clearwater, Fla., 218-143 in the title match. "You always hear the pros say to take one shot at a time, one match at a time. You don't really realize how important that is until you are out here doing it."
With television cameras focusing on their every move during the title matches, the players found a way to block out the distractions and focus on the task at hand inside Sound Stage 33 at Universal Studios Orlando.
"I just tuned out the cameras, but in practice I was definitely nervous," said Hamilton, who defeated Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Fla., 227-179 to win the championship. "I got used to the cameras, and I was fine after that."
Both champions found a way to overcome some of the unique aspects of the event, including the lack of pin-setting machines and modern-day ball returns. They also encountered a cutting-edge way of conditioning the lane surface.
Starting with the third Round of qualifying and continuing until the end of the event, all players in the Teen Masters were challenged with two USBC Sport Bowling patterns on the same pair. The odd-numbered lanes were conditioned with a long-oil pattern, while the even-numbered lanes had a short-oil pattern.
"The lanes were more challenging than I expected but at times they were easier," Peters said. "You could get on a roll, but when you got lost you only had every other shot on that lane to help find it again. That makes it a lot more difficult."
In a special winner-take-all match to determine the overall champion, Peters defeated Hamilton, 223-179, and earned an additional $2,500 scholarship, bringing his total for the day to $10,000.
The Teen Masters National Finals featured more than 300 of the best high-school aged bowlers in the country. Players advanced through local qualifying events and competed for $50,000 in scholarships.
USBC News
By Lucas Wiseman
For four United States Bowling Congress Youth members, the 2006 Teen Masters National Finals was an opportunity to live like professional bowlers for a day. From the arena setup to the television cameras, bowlers in the boys' and girls' championship matches got to experience first-hand what professional bowlers deal with each week during the Denny's PBA Tour season.
In the end, Jake Peters, 17, of Decatur, Ill., and Brittni Hamilton, 16, of Webster, N.Y., emerged as the event's champions, each taking home a trophy and $7,500 scholarship. The event will be televised on ESPN2 on Oct. 16 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
"It's a lot more fun and a lot harder than I thought," said Peters, who defeated Jon Brady of Clearwater, Fla., 218-143 in the title match. "You always hear the pros say to take one shot at a time, one match at a time. You don't really realize how important that is until you are out here doing it."
With television cameras focusing on their every move during the title matches, the players found a way to block out the distractions and focus on the task at hand inside Sound Stage 33 at Universal Studios Orlando.
"I just tuned out the cameras, but in practice I was definitely nervous," said Hamilton, who defeated Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Fla., 227-179 to win the championship. "I got used to the cameras, and I was fine after that."
Both champions found a way to overcome some of the unique aspects of the event, including the lack of pin-setting machines and modern-day ball returns. They also encountered a cutting-edge way of conditioning the lane surface.
Starting with the third Round of qualifying and continuing until the end of the event, all players in the Teen Masters were challenged with two USBC Sport Bowling patterns on the same pair. The odd-numbered lanes were conditioned with a long-oil pattern, while the even-numbered lanes had a short-oil pattern.
"The lanes were more challenging than I expected but at times they were easier," Peters said. "You could get on a roll, but when you got lost you only had every other shot on that lane to help find it again. That makes it a lot more difficult."
In a special winner-take-all match to determine the overall champion, Peters defeated Hamilton, 223-179, and earned an additional $2,500 scholarship, bringing his total for the day to $10,000.
The Teen Masters National Finals featured more than 300 of the best high-school aged bowlers in the country. Players advanced through local qualifying events and competed for $50,000 in scholarships.