Trio selected for USBC Recognition Awards
12/19/06
Dan Ottman, Sheri Cook and Danny Butcher have been selected as recipients of the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Recognition Awards.
Ottman will posthumously receive the Joyce Deitch Trailblazer Award while Cook will be presented the Helen Baker Outstanding Association Service Award and Butcher will receive the Proprietor of the Year Award. All will be presented during the USBC Convention, which will be held March 28-31 in Nashville, Tenn.
The Joyce Deitch Trailblazer Award, named for the Women's International Bowling Congress seventh president, honors organizations and individuals who have made important contributions to bowling by being motivators, visionaries, leaders and inventors. The Helen Baker Outstanding Association Volunteer Award is given in honor of WIBC's fifth president and recognizes an outstanding bowling leader who has made invaluable contributions to local and state associations as an innovator, creator and mentor. The Proprietor of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding bowling center proprietor for his or her enthusiastic support of local and state bowling associations and of national programs.
Ottman made his mark as a coach, administrator, historian and passion for the game. He specialized in helping the development of youth bowlers as the founder of the Michigan Junior Masters Association. He passed away in July 2004 at age 47 while preparing for a MJMA event in Belleville, Mich. Under his leadership, the MJMA provided a training ground for many of today's stars while providing more than $350,000 in scholarships for its members.
In the 1998-99 season, Ottman helped organize the Detroit Competitive Standard Invitational League, a local test league to the current USBC Sport Bowling program. He remained a champion for competitive bowling, organizing two Sport Bowling leagues during the summer of his death.
"I was surprised because I'm sure there were many worthy people," said Mark Hurttgam of the Metro Detroit USBC Association, who nominated Ottman. "More than anything, it was his dedication that made him special. He was so involved in so many different facets of bowling - youth, PBA, Sport Bowling - and he always came up with a lot of ideas."
A member of the Detroit and Michigan Majors Bowling Association halls of fame, Ottman also was a regional director on the Professional Bowlers Association. As a competitor, he captained the 1997 American Bowling Congress Championships team and 1999 team all-events champion, Dan Ottman Enterprises. He was captain of the 1977 Central Michigan University team before joining the PBA in 1983. He joined the PBA Headquarters Region staff to assist in the operations of events, was tournament director from 1993-97 and region director from 1998 until his death.
Cook currently is a director of the New Mexico USBC Association and president of the Northwest New Mexico USBC Association after more than a dozen years on the Farmington Women's Bowling Association board of directors. She was instrumental in helping merge her former women's bowling associations into the state and local USBC associations. Her ability to work with proprietors in her area and around the state has made her a valuable asset to the organizations, along with the time she has spent training new league officers and helping bowlers, especially the youth.
"I was so stunned I was speechless," Cook said about USBC President Michael Carroll telling her she won the award. "I did not know I was nominated. My association people who nominated me kept it a secret. It is an honor."
An avid bowler since 1969, Cook served on local and state boards of directors since 1992 including as secretary-treasurer of the Farmington WBA from 1999-2001. She was inducted into the Farmington WBA Hall of Fame in 2004. She has served as a delegate to the WIBC Annual Meeting for eight years and was a delegate to the 2006 USBC Annual Meeting.
"I've been able to do a lot; I've held a lot of positions," Cook said. "I get a lot of pleasure out of having things run smoothly so that it is seamless to the bowlers."
Butcher is the manager of Peterson Air Force Base Bowling Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and president of Colorado Bowling Proprietors Association. His center has hosted both Team USA and Junior Team USA training camps, including setting up different lane conditions and helping drill, shine or dull equipment for team members.
"If you take care of customers they will keep coming back," Butcher said. "That's what we try to do and I think we do a very good job of it."
Butcher, a USBC Silver level coach conducts monthly learn-to-bowl clinics. He participates in league meetings and explains league benefits to members and new bowlers. Entry forms for major USBC tournaments are always readily available at his center and he requires all of his leagues to be USBC-certified.
As an inaugural member of the Strike Ten Select group of centers, Butcher utilizes Strike Ten Entertainment provided promotional programs and leagues. He was instrumental in helping the Colorado Springs bowling associations merge to form the Pikes Peak USBC Association, including helping establish the new association's standards, policies and procedures.
USBC News
Ottman, Cook, Butcher to be honored at USBC Convention in March
Dan Ottman, Sheri Cook and Danny Butcher have been selected as recipients of the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Recognition Awards.Ottman will posthumously receive the Joyce Deitch Trailblazer Award while Cook will be presented the Helen Baker Outstanding Association Service Award and Butcher will receive the Proprietor of the Year Award. All will be presented during the USBC Convention, which will be held March 28-31 in Nashville, Tenn.
The Joyce Deitch Trailblazer Award, named for the Women's International Bowling Congress seventh president, honors organizations and individuals who have made important contributions to bowling by being motivators, visionaries, leaders and inventors. The Helen Baker Outstanding Association Volunteer Award is given in honor of WIBC's fifth president and recognizes an outstanding bowling leader who has made invaluable contributions to local and state associations as an innovator, creator and mentor. The Proprietor of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding bowling center proprietor for his or her enthusiastic support of local and state bowling associations and of national programs.
Ottman made his mark as a coach, administrator, historian and passion for the game. He specialized in helping the development of youth bowlers as the founder of the Michigan Junior Masters Association. He passed away in July 2004 at age 47 while preparing for a MJMA event in Belleville, Mich. Under his leadership, the MJMA provided a training ground for many of today's stars while providing more than $350,000 in scholarships for its members.
In the 1998-99 season, Ottman helped organize the Detroit Competitive Standard Invitational League, a local test league to the current USBC Sport Bowling program. He remained a champion for competitive bowling, organizing two Sport Bowling leagues during the summer of his death.
"I was surprised because I'm sure there were many worthy people," said Mark Hurttgam of the Metro Detroit USBC Association, who nominated Ottman. "More than anything, it was his dedication that made him special. He was so involved in so many different facets of bowling - youth, PBA, Sport Bowling - and he always came up with a lot of ideas."
A member of the Detroit and Michigan Majors Bowling Association halls of fame, Ottman also was a regional director on the Professional Bowlers Association. As a competitor, he captained the 1997 American Bowling Congress Championships team and 1999 team all-events champion, Dan Ottman Enterprises. He was captain of the 1977 Central Michigan University team before joining the PBA in 1983. He joined the PBA Headquarters Region staff to assist in the operations of events, was tournament director from 1993-97 and region director from 1998 until his death.
Cook currently is a director of the New Mexico USBC Association and president of the Northwest New Mexico USBC Association after more than a dozen years on the Farmington Women's Bowling Association board of directors. She was instrumental in helping merge her former women's bowling associations into the state and local USBC associations. Her ability to work with proprietors in her area and around the state has made her a valuable asset to the organizations, along with the time she has spent training new league officers and helping bowlers, especially the youth.
"I was so stunned I was speechless," Cook said about USBC President Michael Carroll telling her she won the award. "I did not know I was nominated. My association people who nominated me kept it a secret. It is an honor."
An avid bowler since 1969, Cook served on local and state boards of directors since 1992 including as secretary-treasurer of the Farmington WBA from 1999-2001. She was inducted into the Farmington WBA Hall of Fame in 2004. She has served as a delegate to the WIBC Annual Meeting for eight years and was a delegate to the 2006 USBC Annual Meeting.
"I've been able to do a lot; I've held a lot of positions," Cook said. "I get a lot of pleasure out of having things run smoothly so that it is seamless to the bowlers."
Butcher is the manager of Peterson Air Force Base Bowling Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and president of Colorado Bowling Proprietors Association. His center has hosted both Team USA and Junior Team USA training camps, including setting up different lane conditions and helping drill, shine or dull equipment for team members.
"If you take care of customers they will keep coming back," Butcher said. "That's what we try to do and I think we do a very good job of it."
Butcher, a USBC Silver level coach conducts monthly learn-to-bowl clinics. He participates in league meetings and explains league benefits to members and new bowlers. Entry forms for major USBC tournaments are always readily available at his center and he requires all of his leagues to be USBC-certified.
As an inaugural member of the Strike Ten Select group of centers, Butcher utilizes Strike Ten Entertainment provided promotional programs and leagues. He was instrumental in helping the Colorado Springs bowling associations merge to form the Pikes Peak USBC Association, including helping establish the new association's standards, policies and procedures.