O'Grady focused heading into USBC Junior Gold Championships
06/30/07
Ever since Junior Team USA returned from a disappointing performance at the 2006 World Youth Championships, Matt O'Grady of South Amboy, N.J., has been focused on returning to the event and redeeming himself.
O'Grady, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, will take the first step in reaching that goal when he competes in the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., from July 9-13.
The event will determine the players eligible to represent Junior Team USA at the 2008 World Youth Championships, a biennial event scheduled to be held in Orlando, Fla.
"When we competed at the World Youth Championships in Berlin, our performance was sub-par, including my own," said O'Grady, a first-team All-American and Rookie of the Year at William Paterson University last season. "My one goal for the 2007-08 season is to regain my position on Junior Team USA so that I might have a chance to represent the United States on our own soil."
O'Grady will face stiff competition if he hopes to join Junior Team USA for a third consecutive year. More than 1,700 of the best youth bowlers in the country have qualified to compete in the Junior Gold Championships, all of them with their attention focused on becoming members of Junior Team USA and earning a share of $100,000 in scholarship money.
As the defending boys champion, O'Grady realizes that winning again will be no easy task. In the nine-year history of the event, no male has ever repeated as champion. The defending girls champion, Jennifer Wright, is no longer a USBC Youth member and is ineligible to compete.
"The level of competition at Junior Gold continues to grow tremendously every year," O'Grady said. "If I'm going to beat the largest and most talented field of junior bowlers in North America, I know I will have to execute every shot to the best of my ability."
The 10th annual Junior Gold Championships will take place at AMF Airport Lanes, AMF Thruway Lanes and Transit Lanes. The field is made up of players from all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. military zones in Europe and the Far East. Most participants qualified to enter by advancing through local Junior Gold qualifying leagues and tournaments.
The top five finishers who are U.S. citizens in the male and female divisions will earn automatic spots on Junior Team USA, serving as United States representatives in international competition in 2008. The National Selection Committee will choose six additional Junior Gold competitors, three males and three females, to round out the 2008 team.
Athletes in the Junior Gold Championships will have their skills put to the test on USBC Sport Bowling lane conditions. Sport Bowling is an optional program of leagues and tournaments in which lane conditions must meet precise and challenging requirements much less forgiving than a standard league condition.
Many premier bowling tournaments - including all Professional Bowlers Association events - are conducted on Sport Bowling lane patterns, which require bowlers to rely on accuracy, ability to read lanes and spare shooting skills.
Qualifying competition for the male and female divisions consists of three six-game blocks over four days from July 9-12. After 18 games, the top 96 males and 48 females (including all ties) will advance to the semifinals
The semifinalists bowl six additional games on July 13 to determine the top 32 males and top 32 females who compete in the finals. The remaining bowlers compete in six final games with the top male and top female declared U.S. Junior Amateur champions.
USBC Youth
AMF Thruway Lanes, Transit Lanes, AMF Airport Lanes in Buffalo N.Y., USA (July 7-13, 2007)
Ever since Junior Team USA returned from a disappointing performance at the 2006 World Youth Championships, Matt O'Grady of South Amboy, N.J., has been focused on returning to the event and redeeming himself.O'Grady, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, will take the first step in reaching that goal when he competes in the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Junior Gold Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., from July 9-13.
The event will determine the players eligible to represent Junior Team USA at the 2008 World Youth Championships, a biennial event scheduled to be held in Orlando, Fla.
"When we competed at the World Youth Championships in Berlin, our performance was sub-par, including my own," said O'Grady, a first-team All-American and Rookie of the Year at William Paterson University last season. "My one goal for the 2007-08 season is to regain my position on Junior Team USA so that I might have a chance to represent the United States on our own soil."
O'Grady will face stiff competition if he hopes to join Junior Team USA for a third consecutive year. More than 1,700 of the best youth bowlers in the country have qualified to compete in the Junior Gold Championships, all of them with their attention focused on becoming members of Junior Team USA and earning a share of $100,000 in scholarship money.
As the defending boys champion, O'Grady realizes that winning again will be no easy task. In the nine-year history of the event, no male has ever repeated as champion. The defending girls champion, Jennifer Wright, is no longer a USBC Youth member and is ineligible to compete.
"The level of competition at Junior Gold continues to grow tremendously every year," O'Grady said. "If I'm going to beat the largest and most talented field of junior bowlers in North America, I know I will have to execute every shot to the best of my ability."
The 10th annual Junior Gold Championships will take place at AMF Airport Lanes, AMF Thruway Lanes and Transit Lanes. The field is made up of players from all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. military zones in Europe and the Far East. Most participants qualified to enter by advancing through local Junior Gold qualifying leagues and tournaments.
The top five finishers who are U.S. citizens in the male and female divisions will earn automatic spots on Junior Team USA, serving as United States representatives in international competition in 2008. The National Selection Committee will choose six additional Junior Gold competitors, three males and three females, to round out the 2008 team.
Athletes in the Junior Gold Championships will have their skills put to the test on USBC Sport Bowling lane conditions. Sport Bowling is an optional program of leagues and tournaments in which lane conditions must meet precise and challenging requirements much less forgiving than a standard league condition.
Many premier bowling tournaments - including all Professional Bowlers Association events - are conducted on Sport Bowling lane patterns, which require bowlers to rely on accuracy, ability to read lanes and spare shooting skills.
Qualifying competition for the male and female divisions consists of three six-game blocks over four days from July 9-12. After 18 games, the top 96 males and 48 females (including all ties) will advance to the semifinals
The semifinalists bowl six additional games on July 13 to determine the top 32 males and top 32 females who compete in the finals. The remaining bowlers compete in six final games with the top male and top female declared U.S. Junior Amateur champions.