Canada's Hazel McLeary elected President of Bowling Writers Association of America

Hazel McLeary, who has been filing bowling stories to the Canadian Press since 1975, was elected incoming president of the Bowling Writers Association of America during its convention June 26-29 at the Hilton Hotel.

McLeary, who lives in Victoria, will take over as president of the 500-plus member writers group January 1, 2007. She is the fourth woman writer to be named BWAA president since its inception in 1934 but the first foreigner. The others were Pearl Keller, Tina Gore and Fran Deken.

McLeary, a member of the Women's International Bowling Congress' Hall of Fame, has filed national and international bowling stories to the Canadian Press from tournament sites in Singapore, Helsinki, Kuala Lumpur, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Egypt, Honduras, Spain, Portugal, Santa Domingo, Slovenia, United States and Canada.