February 2014
A Message From The Editor…
Greetings from the snowy tundra of Indianapolis! Is anyone out there suffering from cabin fever like I am? Has your league been extended to August because of missed weeks due to snow? Has the cold gotten so bad that curling might be a better alternative than bowling? Fear not my fellow bowlers; the Pocket Panorama is here to bring some warmth into your life!
Inside this issue, you’ll find plenty of sunshine, a warm breeze, birds, butterflies and bees and well, um, you get the point.
A lot has happened since the last issue…
Indy USBC City Mixed Tournament Team Event
FEATURING A coaching clinic Youth tournaments and high school Tournament Results competitions Bowling Buzz Indy USBC Women’s Championship Corky’s Corkboard Tournament Youth Bowling News But don’t stop with just the first page; Ballistics 101 be sure to read this issue from cover to Calendar of Events cover. You’ll find answers about honor score awards, tournament results and much, much more as you dig into the February 2014 edition of the Pocket Panorama!
Rich Sirola
Indy USBC Assoc
November 16-17, 2013 November 23-24, 2013
WOW! We had 112 teams compete in the CITY OPEN this year! That's 3 times as many as the previous year! Thanks to all who promoted, donated to, participated in and/or volunteered their time at this event to make it a huge success!
2014 Indiana Masters Tournament January 24-26, 2014
Ryan Pittman Trent Burns TJ Schmidt Jeff Clark John Verbich III Runner-Up Third Place Fourth Place Hi Qualifier Champion This year’s Indiana Masters tournament FINISH QUALIFY SCORE PRIZE $ NAME CITY drew 354 entries from all over the state of 1 18 1056 $ 2,000.00 Verbich, III, John Griffith Indiana. Even though the weather did not 2 17 1061 $ 1,300.00 Pittman, Ryan Indianapolis cooperate, they had a great weekend of 3 20 1025 $ 1,000.00 Burns, Trent Indianapolis bowling at Cooper’s Sport Bowl in 4 12 639 $ 800.00 Schmidt, TJ - 48 Mishawaka Anderson.
The Indy USBC Association can always use help at tournaments. Please come out and volunteer some time at our youth & adult tournaments. Help us keep the sport of bowling alive! All Star Bowl Hosts Coaching Clinic Presented By H2M Management & Score 60 Coaching Team
All Star Bowl was the site of a coaching clinic held on January 18th. Nick Hoagland, Dylan Murphy, and Steve Harman of H2M Management teamed up with proprietor, Dan Smith and his Score 60 coaching team to provide a unique perspective on how to break down a lane pattern and use it to the bowler’s advantage. The clinic was limited to 36 bowlers to provide each bowler with extensive one-on-one personal instruction. The path to the pocket The clinic started off with a half hour orientation on why there are many different patterns to challenge the bowler. The participants were brought out onto the lanes as Nick and Dan broke down the lanes, segment by segment, from the foul line, to the arrows, to the breakpoint, and through to the head pin. The bowlers were then let loose onto the lanes to experience the different oil patterns first hand. That’s where the Score 60 team came into play. They worked with each bowler to personalize what adjustments they Dan & Nick break down the lane into different segments should make based on their own personal bowling style to achieve their maximum scoring ability as patterns break down. The patterns included the 2013 Indy USBC City Team Event pattern, the 2013 Indiana High School Bowling Championship pattern, and the 2014 Indiana USBC Masters pattern.
Score 60 team members: Steve Harman, Dylan Murphy, Theresa Smith-Dill, & John Bauerle, Jr. BVL ‐ Bowlers to Veterans Link The Bowlers to Veterans Link is a national nonprofit charity (501(c)3) which supports America’s veteran and active duty service men and women. Founded in 1942, the BVL is the sport of bowling’s oldest charity. This past year, the Indy USBC Association, local centers and bowlers came together to donate over $7,500 to the BVL. This amount topped prior donations from the past 5 Nick Hoagland teaches bowlers how to years. Congratulations to Pinheads Bowl whose donations were read a technical printout of an oil pattern up 5.7% from last year. On behalf of veterans everywhere, thank you for your continued support. At age 70, Larry Fehr is still quite a competitive bowler. Fehr averages 200 in the Senior Masters Championships and Senior League of Masters, both traveling leagues. However, Fehr sets a tough standard for himself. His late Father, Johnny Fehr, was one of the premier bowlers in Indianapolis from the 1930s to the early 1960s. “I think I missed a couple of his genes,” Fehr said, joking. Johnny Fehr, who died in 1984 at age 83, was a member of Indy United States Bowling Congress Association’s first Hall of Fame class in 1966. However, he wasn’t elected into the state Hall of Fame until last summer. The elder Fehr’s nomination process began after his son began looking though a box of photos and clippings a few years ago. Fehr decided to make a scrapbook. He was putting the finishing touches on his book when he called USBC state headquarters to verify his father’s state titles. When it was learned Johnny Fehr was not in the State Hall of Fame, the official suggested Larry make a nomination. Fehr was elected on the next ballot. Fehr had never seen his father bowl in his prime. “He was 43 when I was born,” Fehr said. “I saw him bowl well but not in his absolute prime.” Among his father’s accomplishments were five sanctioned perfect games and one 299, 86 documented series of 700 or more with a high of 795, 11 city tournament titles, six state tournament titles and 15 regional and national titles. Perfect games in that era were not as common as they are today. Fehr found an Indianapolis News story from 1946 noting 2,791 bowlers nationally had rolled a 300, but just 23 had four or more. His father had four at that time. Johnny Fehr had a high season average of 216. At age 61, he was on a team that placed seventh in the 1962 ABC (now USBC) national tournament. From his research, Fehr felt bowling at the top level was more team-oriented than it is today. “Today it seems more of an individualistic thing,” he said. “You might get five guys together on a team but they are not necessarily great friends off of the lanes.” His father’s teammates and their wives were all close. Johnny Fehr often teamed with the late Jess Pritchett, another charter member of the Indy Hall of Fame. “Jess was deemed the best bowler in Indianapolis in the 1930s and dad was second or third,” Fehr said. “I think Jess either mentored him or brought it out of him. All through the ’30s when he bowled with Jess, he was really bowling well.” Fehr learned a great deal about what bowling was like in those days while combing through the clippings. In most of the pictures Fehr found, his father and teammates bowled in white shirts and ties. Two-fingered balls for finger and a thumb were used until the late 1940s. “All the pins and lanes were wood which led to all kinds of inconsistencies,” Fehr said. “There were different weights of the pins. Today you walk in with five or six bowling balls and they walked in with one ball. They used pin boys.” Most of the materials in the box were from 1936 and afterward. It was in 1936 that his father and mother (Helen) got married. “So it looked like it was my mom that kept it for him,” Fehr said. Fehr went to the Indiana State Library to examine old newspapers to fill in information from 1931-36. It was more work than he ever expected and became a true labor of love. Fehr said he learned more about his father’s personality from the research. “I was close with dad and we had a good relationship but I didn’t know how he was perceived by his peers,” Fehr said. “Some of the newspaper articles talked about his congenial personality and how he was fun to be around. He was genuinely a good guy and a very modest guy.” Larry Fehr bowled competitively until the early 1970s and then was a league bowler until 1982. Busy with work and family, he stopped bowling until he retired in 2002. Submitted By: Mark Ambrogi, Indianapolis Star
The Right Coach Over the past year, I have been asked if I could offer tips to the bowlers for the pocket panorama. I was very interested in this endeavor for the simple fact that I believe the more information an athlete has access to, the better understanding they will have about today’s game. The better the understanding, the better the experience the athlete will have in trying to accomplish their goals as a bowler. This issue’s tip is finding the right coach. These are just a few things you should look for in a coach… Do they have structure in what they teach? Do they teach the sport in the proper order? B O Do they have your interest in mind or their own? W Will they help you reach your goals without concern of their own goals? L Will they spend the proper time with you or the time you feel you need? U Do they have access to the information you are looking for and can they verbalize this to you in a language you understand? These are just a few of the things you should ask yourself before trusting a coach with your game. There are so many different ways to teach the game and there are a lot of good coaches out there, but always remember, are they the right coach for you? Submitted By: BowlU Certified Coach and Score 60 Team Member Since Corky’s been a bit busy these past few month with high school bowling, I’ve asked 1st Vice President of the Indy USBC Association, CORKY’s Janice Wozniak, to step in and provide us with an update from the USBC...take it away Janice! O USBC CHANGES TO ADULT HIGH SCORE AWARDS FOR R 2014‐2015 ng Many of you have had questions about what will happen to honor olis hos K Indianap awards for the 2014‐2015 season. Here are the answers to 20 15 hopefully clear up the confusion. on Starting August 1, 2014, the high score awards given to C Conven B USB certified adult bowlers for a 300 game, 800 series, or 900 series & will become once in a lifetime awards. Any USBC member BA who received one of these awards as an adult prior to August 1, O te ISUSBC iana Sta 2014 WILL NOT RECEIVE AN AWARD FOR THAT Ind ent Tournam ACHIEVEMENT AGAIN. Any 300 games or 800 series bowled A at the USBC Open or Women’s Tournaments are not considered part of the once in a lifetime policy. R The 11 in a row award will also be eliminated as part of these changes, Jr. G starting August 1, 2014. Because there are over 50,000 certified perfect old 2015 games rolled in a typical season, USBC felt it was no longer necessary Chi 20 cago D 16 C to award “near ”perfection with the 11 in a row trophy. leve 2017 land Ind iana All associations will still be required to submit 300 games, 800 series, poli s or 900 series to USBC so the bowler’s records can be updated. These records are used by state and local associations when determining yearly honors or evaluating Hall of Fame nominees. Members who have already received any of these awards will have the ability to purchase additional ones for any future high score achievements.
Below are some questions/answers for bowlers: Question: Why are the high score awards changing to once in a lifetime? Answer: USBC does not feel it is appropriate for the national governing body to recognize bowlers for the same milestone over and over. USBC considers its mission to be the provider of resources and standards for bowling, not a supplier of awards. Question: Will the awards be upgraded since they are now once in a lifetime? Answer: No. Bowlers will still have the option to pay for any upgrades when they earn these awards. Question: What about Sport Bowling? Answer: Awards for Sport Bowling, because it is more challenging, will not change. Sport bowling members will continue to be eligible for high score awards once each season, although the 11 in a row award will no longer be recognized. Question: Why is the 11 in a row award being discontinued? Answer: USBC considers a 300 game to be the ultimate goal for any bowler. Eleven strikes in row is impressive, but USBC does not feel that falling one pin short of perfection should be recognized. Also, for bowlers with multiple 300 games, USBC feels this removes “any incentive for a bowlers to intentionally fall short by a single pin” so they can receive an award. Indy USBC Assoc Youth Masters & Queens Tournament December 7, 2013 @ Southern Bowl
Logan Sirola out of Brownsburg Bowl was crowned Masters Champion and received a $200 scholarship. Devin Elmlinger out of Western Bowl was crowned Queens Champion and received a $125 scholarship. Each bowler also earned an entry into the Indiana State USBC Youth Masters & Queens Tournament.
Dick Lyke Scholarship Tournament January 11, 2014 @ Woodland Bowl
The Indy USBC Association would like to congratulate Alexandra Ross from Greenwood Christian Academy for winning the 2014 Indiana High School Bowling state finals!!! We’d also like to congratulate other high school bowlers from the Indianapolis area on their honor scores bowled during the high school tournaments: Robert Rawley - 300 (Sectionals) - finished 13th Tanner Orebaugh - 300 (Semi-State) - finished 16th
The Indiana High School Bowling Program (IHSB) has named it’s 2013-2014 Academic All-State Teams for Boys and Girls. Criteria for nominees: Seniors that have competed in at least one varsity game, a minimum GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale or it’s equivalent and a minimum SAT score of 1500 or an ACT score of 22. Indiana High School Bowling selected 18 girls and 29 boys as Academic All-State recipients:
Girls School Boys School Megan Turner Avon Isaac Collis Alexandria Aliya Gapinski Brebeuf Nate Briggs Avon Ka e Allen Brownsburg Nick Corbin Avon Jodie Mescall Brownsburg Chris Claffey Brownsburg Janelle Garde o Clay Daniel Ferguson Brownsburg Ashley Higdon Clay Reid Collis Canterbury Amy Bockelman Forest Park Ma hew Petrovich Chesterton Megan Manes Hun ngton North Jared Lovins Columbus North Rachel Vogler Jay County Josh king Covenant Chris an Caroline Dienes Lake Central John Koening Covenant Chris an Jamie Zega Lake Central Nathan Zumbrun Covenant Chris an Alysia Circle Marion Trevor Hodgson Evansville Memorial Taylor Hagedorn New Prairie Aaron Lichlyter Evansville Memorial Bri any Baldwin Penn Dylan Brooks Evansville Reitz Amanda Sullivan Penn Logan Kelley Forst Park Jade Beddoe Seymour Adam Woodall Forst Park Mariah Donley St. Joseph Dalton Bush Frankfort Victoria Fulton Warsaw Zane Miller Greencastle
Association youth bowlers highlighted Christopher Hebb Michigan City Kendall Noel New Prairie Steve Kunkel
Commissioner Joshua Garfein Northridge PO Box 66 Dus n Zehner Penn Camby, IN 46113
(260) 403-0822 Nathan Mahan Plymouth [email protected] Mitchell Wagoner Rushville www.ihsb.org Tyler Nield South Putnam Charles Brooks Terre Haute North Devin Hostetler Wabash Charles "Aus n" White Wapahani Zach S chter Warsaw
In addition to being names to the Academic All-State Team, Nate Briggs was chosen as one of the five national recipients to receive the USBC Earl Anthony Memorial Scholarships! “I’m so honored to have been selected for this prestigious honor. As a senior, my high school bowling ‘career’ is coming to a close. I look forward to attending college, but I will miss bowling on my high school team.” Nate Briggs “Save" Bowling
10 WAYS LEAGUE BOWLERS CAN HELP SAVE THE SPORT OF BOWLING
Submitted by Rob McNaughton, President at GoBOWLNOW.com Smore.com
10. Don't get upset when you have to practice next to a birthday party. Instead offer them some advice and tell the parents about how great the youth program is at your center. 9. Eat at the bowling center. A traditional bowling center on average makes 35% of their revenue on food and beverage sales. Instead of eating fast food in the car before league, support your local bowling center. 8. Support the PBA and USBC's sponsors/partners. Major corporate sponsorship is what will get bowling back into the mainstream quickly. Easy ways to do this include posting on their social media accounts that you're a bowler and support their products. 7. Check-in on Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter every time you go bowling. People who see that you're out having fun bowling, will be more likely to go bowling themselves. 6. Support your local bowling center. Are they having a fundraiser? Attend. Is your company looking for somewhere to have a corporate event? Suggest your bowling center. Kid's birthday? Go bowling! 5. Subscribe to Xtra Frame. Stop sharing 1 account with your 50 closest friends. 4. Realize that the USBC is not out to get you. Your $19 sanction fee per year is only about .75 cents per week of league and $6 less than the cost of joining the American Pool Players Association who doesn't give out nearly as many rewards or benefits of being a USBC member. 3. Instead of buying a new $225 ball, take that money and invest it in yourself. That’s 100 games or practice @ $2.25 per game. You'll be able to practice 5 games per day, once a week for 5 months. (Doesn't bowling sound inexpensive now?) 2. Become a USBC registered volunteer and devote your Saturday mornings to helping the youth programs. Don't know how to coach? USBC offers classes. More coaches = more bowlers. 1. Summer is coming. Invite a non league bowler to join a fun mixed league with you. If they enjoy it, have them continue into a fall league. As bowlers, we need to be the sales force behind the sport. Lots of people want to join leagues but are intimidated because they think “bad bowlers can’t be in a league." Show them that anyone can be a league bowler whether you’re a competitive bowler or there to spend a night out with friends. BALLISTICS ‐ (buh‐lis‐ ks) ‐ is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projec les, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, bowling balls or the like; the science or art of designing and accelera ng projec les so as to achieve a desired performance.
Finger Grips...you know, those comfy, rubber thingies your fingertips fit into? They come in different colors, shapes (like with a flat edge or oval shaped) and sizes, and while some have lips, others are textured for more grip. There are bowlers who religiously change them every 50 to 100 games while others just at the beginning of the season. And then there are some bowlers who just ignore them year after year like that piece of Fruit Cake tucked way back in the bottom corner of the fridge. Nevertheless, they serve the purpose of providing comfort and control as you release the ball. Now that you know what they are, do you have a back up plan if one splits apart or flies out of the ball? What if, during your Sunday night league, you’re in the third game and on a great pace to get your first 600 or 700 series and you lose a finger grip? Can you be so lucky enough that you’ll find it in the gutter some 20 feet up the lane? Perhaps, but how are you gonna fix it since it’s Sunday night and the pro‐shop is closed! Sometimes you get lucky enough to have a fellow league member come to your rescue with means to put the lift back in. But what if that’s not the case? What I’m getting at is that you, the bowler, needs to be prepared for situations like this. First of all, always, always, always, have a spare pair of finger grips in your bag. If you lose one, you have the luxury of replacing it quickly with exactly the right size. Then just be sure to pick up a replacement at your next visit to the pro‐shop to restock your stash. If you go through the season without losing any grips and you’re one of those bowlers who really don’t change them out but maybe once a year, this is you chance to pick up a new habit. At the beginning of the new season, change your grips out with a fresh pair. If the old ones are still in somewhat good condition, put them in your bag for emergency purposes. Hesitant to change grips out on your own? Changing them is a snap; all it takes is a small screw driver and two drops of fast drying adhesive like Crazy Glue. Once you positioned the grip where you want it, pry back the grip with the screw driver and squeeze in a drop of glue. Do this to the left and right sides of the grip and within 30 seconds, you’ll be back in action. Caution: don’t let the grip snap back by just pulling out the screw driver. Gently release the grip back into place so the glue doesn’t squirt out. Now let’s talk about how well your grips fit. Whether you like them snug or loose fitting, be sure the fit is comfortable. But do beware...a snug fit can make your fingers look like a couple of mushrooms and with too loose a fit, you could end up squeezing the ball. While there’s nothing you can do for too snug of a fit without changing out the grip to a larger size, if you have a grip that is on the loose side, here’s a little trick to snug it up. Get a small piece of thin cardboard, like from a match book cover. Cut a piece about ½” wide by ¼” in height. Get your screw driver back out. Remember, I told you to put a drop of glue on the left and right sides? That’s because now you can pry back the grip at the top and slide in that little piece of cardboard. Sliding it in that gap makes the grip just a tad smaller for a better fit. If your finger gets a little larger once you start bowling, just slide the cardboard back out! Calendar of Events
MARCH – 2014
01 IN State USBC YA Tournament Opens – Terre Haute 01-02 Indy USBC Open Tour Minor Events - Hindel 08 IN State USBC WBA Annual Mtg – Indpls 08-09 Indy USBC Open Tour Minor Events - Hindel 08-09 Indiana State Queens Tournament – Hi Way Lanes, Franklin, IN 16 INDY USBC Annual Membership Meeting - Our Deepest Sympathies American Legion – Holt Road 22 IN State WBA Tournament Opens-Andrson/Nblsville Our thoughts and prayers go out to all 22 IN State 500/600 Club Walk-in Tours-Andrson/Nblsvll our bowling families who have 26-30 INDY USBC Senior Tournament - Hindel experienced a recent loss.
APRIL – 2014 To the families of …
01 Deadline - Indy USBC Leag. Secy/Pres of Yr Resumes Harold Caldwell, Grover Puyear, Linda 01 Deadline - Nomination for INDY USBC Youth Awards Qualls, Henry Ramsey, Patty Setser, 01 Deadline - Nomination for INDY USBC Schlrshp Award 05-19 IN State Senior’s Tour – The Bowling Alley – Warsaw LaRita Smith and Mack Johnson, 11 USBC Women’s Champ Tournament Opens - Reno husband of Dee Johnson 12 22-25 USBC Annual Meeting - Reno, NV 27 IN State WBA Tour. Closes May God’s peace be with you and may He watch over those no longer with us. MAY – 2014
01 Deadline for Distinguished Scholarship Application for IN State USBC WBA 04 End of IS USBC BA Open Tournament - Lafayette 04 IN State USBC YA Tournament Ends - South Bend TBD INDY USBC Awards Dinner - Am. Legion - Holt Rd 24 Midwest Women’s Tournament Opens – Chippawa Bowl, South Bend The Pocket Panorama is published 4 times per year in the months of JUNE – 2014 February, May, August, and 08-13 USBC Senior Masters - Las Vegas, NV November. 21-22 IN/KY All Stars Tournament – Louisville, KY
22 IS USBC BA Annual Meeting - Marten House, Indpls 27 USBC Queens Tour – Reno, NV The next issue is May 2014 27 USBC Senior Queens Tour – Reno, NV Opens 29 US Women’s Open - Reno, NV Closes Submission deadline for news & articles is April 30, 2014
Mail news and articles to: To view the full 2013-2014 Calendar of Events, please visit the Indy USBC Association website at www.indyusbcassoc.org RICH SIROLA, EDITOR 10283 NOBLE COURT BROWNSBURG, IN 46234 OR Email to: [email protected]