A PUBLICATION OF THE GREATER MIAMI BOWLING ASSOCIATIONS
Sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage - (305) 671-1155

www.miamibowling.org

January 2005

GREATER MIAMI WOMEN’S
BOWLING ASSOCIATION

City Tournament
Ladies, our city tournament is fast approaching and we don't want you to be left out. Please make sure that you look for entry forms in your bowling center or request additional copies from the association office. The tournament will take place at Homestead Bowling Center during two weekends in February and we want to see you there. The results of our survey concerning last year's tournament indicated that many of you didn't enter because you did not get the information about the tournament or thought that you were not good enough to enter. Well, here is your notification and please realize everyone has a great chance to cash regardless of your average. Try it, you may like it.

Women’s Senior Handicap Tournament
For those of you that are 50 or older, we are also planning to have our 2nd Annual Seniors Tournament later in the year. We had a great turnout for the first tournament and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. Look for more information in the next issue of the Sparetimes.

Annual Meeting
This is a very important year for all bowlers in Miami-Dade County because we will be voting on how we are going to handle the transition to the USBC. All GMWBA members are eligible to vote. The vote is going to take place during our annual meeting. Please plan to be there so we know what you want for your bowling association next year. Your league secretary will be given the details for this meeting at a later date.

Award Recognition
Congratulations to Janelle Woodburn for bowling a 299 game.

Ladies, make sure that your secretary sends in for any awards that are due to you.

Pin Points
As a reminder for those of you that asked for pin points in the past, this is the last year to cash them in. Don't get left holding the points too long or they will be too old to redeem.

GREATER MIAMI BOWLING
ASSOCIATION

City Tournament
The 63rd annual Greater Miami Bowling Association’s city tournament will be held at Homestead Bowling Center on June 4-5 and June 11-12, 2005. Entry forms will be in the bowling centers in March.

State Tournament
The 71st annual Florida State Bowling Association’s state tournament will be held in Clearwater from April 23 thru June 26, 2005. Entry forms are now in bowling centers. Hurry, because entries close on February 27. Contact the GMBA at (305) 665-2225 if you are not able to find one.

Special Handicap 180-Under Tournament
On Sunday, October 17, 2004, the Greater Miami Bowling Association conducted a special handicap tournament for 180-under averages. It offered a guaranteed first and second minimum prize of $500 and $250 respectively. It was held at Cloverleaf Lanes. Entrants bowled four qualifying games and the field was cut to the top 10. A random draw match game was bowled. The five winners of the matches then competed in a stepladder format finals. The champion was Cynthia Truncale, winning $500, and the runner-up was Bryan Wienczkowski, winning $250. Results can be reviewed on the GMBA web site at www.miamibowling.org under “Tournaments”.

Bowler of the Year Award
The GMBA Board of Directors decided that the recipient of the 2003-2004 Gene Chilson Bowler of the Year award is Harold Harper. Harold’s accomplishments this year included five 300 games, two 298 games, three 11-in-a-row games, and several first or second place finishes in the GMBA city tournament. Also, he bowled in four leagues in three different centers, having a 220 or higher average in each of them. He was presented with the award on October 16 at the Hall of Fame ceremonies.

ABC Awards of Merit
Each year, the American Bowling Congress provides a special award for the bowlers in each local association with the highest series and highest average. For the 2003-2004 season, these awards go to Kevin Morrissey for an 833 series, and Wayne Graham for a 231 average. Kevin did his accomplishment at Piper Lanes and Wayne did his accomplishment at Bird Bowl.

GREATER MIAMI JUNIOR BOWLING
ASSOCIATION

Awards
The GMJBA is happy to report that 451 awards have been given out since the beginning of the season. We have only had one 300 game and that was by Donald Everage in the Generation Gap league at Don Carter Kendall Lanes. Other high boy games are David Beck 280, Andrew Koff, Michael Sinclair, Gregory Smith and Matthew Watson 279, Tacoi Sumler and Colin Thrash 277. High sets are Andrew Koff 762, David Beck 752, Matthew Tuckfield 708, Chris Slater 706 and Chase Lausted 705. Girls high games are Caitlin Graham and Brooke Kern with 279, Mindy Coile with 266. Caitlin has also had a 278 and 277. High sets are Caitlin Graham with a 772 and 701 and Brooke Kern a 728. Brianna Pucko from Piper Lanes picked up the 7-10 split and Kevin Hulse, also from Piper, picked up the 4-7-6-10. Tyler Rose from Cloverleaf had an All Spare Game. Triplicate games were turned in for Jenna Sadler 162 at Bird Bowl, Raul Gonzalez 78 and Michelle Mazzacane 36 both from Kendall. Great Bowling!

City Tournament
The 36th Annual Youth City Championships will be hosted by Piper Lanes on March 5-6 and March 12-13, 2005. Early entry deadline is February 21, 2005. Walk-in entries will also be allowed on the day of the tournament. All Junior Directors have entry blanks at their bowling centers.

State Tournament
The 40th Annual State Championship Tournament will be hosted by Brunswick Brevard Bowl and Brunswick Harbor Lanes in Melbourne. The dates are May 21 thru June 26. Entries close March 1, 2005. Entry blanks are at all bowling centers.

UNITED STATES BOWLING CONGRESS

The Sparetimes has previously reported information about the plan to convert all ABC, WIBC and YABA memberships under a unified membership plan. The plan essentially dissolves the ABC, WIBC and YABA in order to form the United States Bowling Congress. (USBC). As of January 1, 2005, the first part of the plan has been implemented with the launching of the USBC, and the ABC, WIBC and YABA no longer exist. All bowlers who have sanctioned as ABC, WIBC or YABA will see no difference during the remainder of the 2004-2005 season (which ends in August, 2005).

While business at our local level will continue the same for the time being, the locals will have to reach a decision in the near future. The issue is whether to remain as three independent associations (GMBA, GMWBA and GMJBA) or merge into one. Their decision will then be put before both the GMBA’s Council of Delegates and the GMWBA membership for a final decision. The expected timetable for the final decision is sometime within the next two or three years. Until any possible merge actually occurs, business with the local bowling associations will essentially remain status quo.

The person in charge of USBC at the national level is the person who has been in charge of ABC for a number of years. His name is Roger Dalkin. He is a home-town boy, raised in Miami and bowled high school competition in Miami. He then graduated from Georgia Tech engineering school. He won some medals in national collegiate and amateur tournaments. It is felt that Roger will be able to keep USBC going strong.

More information about this changeover into USBC will be presented in future issues of the Sparetimes.

AMERICAN BOWLING CONGRESS

As indicated in the previous article, the ABC no longer exists. The Sparetimes would like to have one last article about ABC in order to recognize a person in our area who served on the national ABC.

Paul D. Boller was one of Florida’s jurisdictional ABC Directors for twenty years. He retired from ABC as a Life Member last year. Paul reports his service for ABC was a wonderful experience for him, and will kind of miss it. He has been an ABC member for over 47 years. He has feelings of uncertainty about the future of bowling, but hopes that it will prosper and get stronger under the new USBC. Paul has also served on the Greater Miami Bowling Association board of directors for 25 years, holding positions of Director, Secretary/Treasurer, Vice President and Life Member.

GREATER MIAMI BOWLING COUNCIL

Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame inductions were held on October 16 at the Miami Elks Lodge,#948. Orlando DeArmas, Jr. and Sharon Colon were inducted to the Hall of Fame for outstanding ability. If you wish to nominate someone for the coming year, you must do so by January 15, 2005. Contact Paul D. Boller, at (305) 245-7394 or mail to 27210 SW 153 Avenue Homestead, Florida, 33032. There are three categories from which to choose: Ability, Service, or Honorary. The person must have been a member of the Greater Miami Bowling Associations for at least 10 years. Any achievements earned on the state or national levels must have been done while a member of either one or both local associations.

JUNIOR ORANGE BOWL TOURNAMENT

The 36th Annual Junior Orange Bowl Committee Bowling Event was held over the Thanksgiving weekend at Homestead Bowling Center. This year's event drew 148 Adult/Child entries and 121 singles event. The youth bowlers were competing for college scholarship money. The Greater Miami Junior Bowling Association with Tournament Co-Chairpersons Joan Dillon and Rick Mesa ran the event.

Friday’s Adult/Child Doubles was won by Carlos and Charlie Forero in the 11 and under division. In the 12-15 division, Rick & Rick Jimenez won first place. In the 16 and over division, Tyler Rose teamed with Stacey Harper and shot his first 600, a 634 with a beautiful 236 game, and with Stacey's 599 they took home first place.

Saturday's Singles event was very exciting. In the 11 and under division, Tori Burstein beat out her competition of 4 boys to earn first place and $500. In the 12-15 division, Andrew Todd bowling out of Bird Bowl earned $500 and first place. First place in the 16 and over was won by Steven Rochard who earned $500. In the scratch division, Daniel Ares beat Zachary Rogers 222 to 157, David Beck beat Daniel Ares 190 to 216. David then beat Colin Thrash 191 to 159 and in the final match David Beck beat Bryan Murphy 212 to 192 and earned a $500 scholarship. A check for $7,574 was sent to the SMART scholarship program.

A very special thank you goes to all our sponsors. Thank you to Rick Mesa of U.S. Contracting and Plumbing for his generous donation. To the Board of Directors of the GMJBA and parents, we want to thank you for all your help on making this a great event. And to the staff and employees at Homestead Bowling center, thank you for another successful Junior Orange Bowl Bowling Event.

Things are winding down for 2004 at Don Carter Kendall Lanes, but you can rest assured, 2005 is going to be a blast! See what's happening in 2005!

Survivor 10
Are you a survivor? The ever popular reality show, Survivor 10, will be hosting its Casting Call at Don Carter Kendall Lanes on January 11, 2005. Can you survive? For more information or details, contact our League Office at (305) 385-6160.

The Incredibles League
The Incredibles are coming to town. The Incredibles Bowling Program will begin at Don Carter Kendall Lanes in January 2005 (exact date to be determined). The league consists of 15 weeks of bowling, at which time you will receive a character ball and bag of your choice. This is a great way for new beginners to learn to bowl.

New Faces
We want to welcome our newest member, Richard Cheney, to our staff. Richard gives bowling lessons on Monday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and also is available for one-on-one coaching. For more information, or to schedule a lesson, please contact our League Office at (305) 385-6160.

Fifth Annual Holiday Jamboree Tournament
Congratulations to the winners of our Fifth Annual Holiday Jamboree which was held on Sunday, December 26, 2004. We had a great turnout and the Adult/Junior portion was a lot of laughs. Adult David Pavilak bowled a 300 game. The Scholarship winners were:

Singles:
Division A Handicap (average under 100)
1st - Tori Burnstein
2nd - Michele Harper.

Division B Handicap (average 100 to 140)
1st - Jeremy Burstein
2nd - Marianne Ward.

Division C Handicap (average 141 to 175)
1st - Andrew Meyers
2nd - Rodrigo Martinez.

Scratch Division
1st - Jonathan Rawcliffe
2nd - Zachary Rogers
3rd - Matthew Ezrol (from Broward)
4th - Chris Slater

Adult/Junior (handicap):
Division A (average under 140)
1st - P. J. Hall and Phillip Hall
2nd - Michele Harper and Stacey Harper

Division B (average 140 and up)
1st - Steven Malone and Steve Malone
2nd - Shaina Schwartz and Barry Schwartz (from Broward)
3rd - Alyssa Harper and Harold Harper.

Hope to see all of you again next year!

Congratulations
And last but not least, the staff at Don Carter Kendall Lanes wants to congratulate Janet Gonzalez (one of our top counter workers) for her recent marriage to Mike! Congratulations to both of you!

UNTIL OUR NEXT ISSUE

Thanks for reading our newsletter. The editors and staff of Sparetimes hope you have enjoyed reading about bowling news and information in the Greater Miami area. We hope you will continue to be interested in our publication. We do welcome your comments, suggestions, and newsworthy articles for publishing. Send us your feedback and news articles in the mail to the following address:

Sparetimes Newsletter
7165 SW 47 Street #316
Miami, Florida 33155

Or, you can email to the GMBA web site at www.miamibowling.org. We plan to have our next issue out in April/May.