The Greater Miami USBC Association president, Patty Nevers, along with the entire board, all wish you a wonderful year of bowling. Furthermore, we want you to be aware that we are here to serve you. If you have any questions or problems, call us at (305) 665-2225 and we will do what we can to remedy the situation.

There are only two changes to mention that the National USBC has implemented for this new year:

This tournament is dedicated in loving memory to all those that we have lost and have had the pleasure of knowing and bowling with. This tournament will be held at Bird Bowl on Saturday, September 20, 2008. Finals competition will be held on Sunday, September 21, 2008..

The tournament will feature three divisions: Lower Handicap, Upper Handicap and Scratch. Handicap will be 90% of 200. The Scratch Division offers four Junior Gold spots for the 2009 Junior Gold Tournament. The lane conditioning for the tournament will be a sport shot, and will be the pattern that was used at the National USBC Open Tournament that was held this past year in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bowlers will be competing for scholarship money. First place will be guaranteed $400 for the Handicap Divisions and $500 for the Scratch Division. The entry fee is $30 for the Handicap Divisions and $50 for the Scratch Division. Optional Junior Gold entry fee will be an additional $20. There will be two squads for the Handicap Division, and one squad for the Scratch Division. Check-in time for the first Handicap Division squad and for the Scratch squad will start on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Check-in time for the second Handicap Division squad will start on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

This year’s Junior Gold Tournament was held at bowling centers in Sterling Heights and Waterford, Michigan. The championships featured nearly 1,500 youth bowlers from the across the country who were competing for $100,000 in scholarships, individual titles and spots on the Junior Team USA.

Florida was well represented this year, and many local bowlers bowled great all week:

Boys:

Girls:

The top four finishers in each division earned automatic spots on the 2009 Junior Team USA. Congratulations to Andrew Koff for earning a spot on the team. Have a great year, Andrew!

Next year’s Junior Gold tournament is being held in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In order to bowl in the tournament, you must win a spot in a qualifying tournament. The Greater Miami Youth Leaders USBC Memorial Tournament will be a qualifying tournament for Junior Gold.

This year we will be inducting Julian Herradon, Jr. into the Greater Miami USBC Bowling Hall of Fame. He is being inducted into the Hall in the category of bowling ability. Julian started bowling at age 11 at Coliseum Lanes in Coral Gables. He has had twelve 300 games and four 800 series. He has bowled in International, National, State and City Tournaments. He has also bowled in PBA National and Regional events.

A dinner is planned for his induction on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at the Miami Elks Lodge 948 at 6:00pm. Tickets are available for $32.00. Please contact Danielle Graham at (786) 351-5624.

In addition to the dinner, you will be able to dance to the music provided by a DJ. You can also buy raffle tickets. All of the proceeds from this event go directly into the Junior Scholarship Fund. It is a fun night that you can’t miss. We look forward to seeing everyone at this great event.

Congratulations to the following local youth high school bowlers who received All-Dade honors from the Miami Herald:

Boys:
Colin Thrash (Ferguson) 212 average
6th at State; GMAC Champion

Andrew Koff (Gulliver) 248 average
State runner up; two 300 games

Patrick O’Donnell (Ferguson) 195 average
9th at State; GMAC runner up

Darren Dusenberry (Coral Reef) 196 average
13th at State; 4th at District

Reese Covert (Palmetto) 201 average
District Champion; 4th at GMAC

Girls:
Melissa Covert (Palmetto) 181 average
GMAC Champion

Katherine Jones (North Miami Beach)180 average
9th st State

Ana Koff (Gulliver) 200 average
13th at State

Betty Jo Martelli (Coral Reef) 178 average
3rd at District

Rebecca Noud (South Dade) 169 average
District runner up

Melissa Perez is an up and coming junior bowler. At the recent Top 8 Invitational Tournament she qualified 8th with a one league average of 164. At the end of the day she finished 2nd with an overall average of 177. Melissa has worked very hard on her game and it shows in her performance.

Melissa started bowling for fun with her dad, Luis, at age 5. She had told her mom, Laurie, that she was having dreams about bowling and so her dad signed her up for league bowling at Bird Bowl. The reality was she loved bowling. Melissa is currently bowling in two leagues. She will be attending Riviera Middle School this year and is hoping to join the bowling team for Middle School Tournaments. Her parents have encouraged her to bowl in tournaments and with her dad’s guidance they have traveled to Kegel, Keystone, Orlando and of course right here in Miami. She has bowled in about 12 tournaments in 2 years. Melissa has a great attitude, a natural ability and enthusiastic parents and could become a great junior bowler in Miami-Dade County.

This has been a very busy bowling year for youth bowlers Ana and Andrew Koff. They have both added to their bowling résumés. Their impressive accomplishments are as follows:

The Annual Greater Miami USBC Association City Tournament was held at Bird Bowl on February 9-10 and February 16-17, 2008. The overall results can be viewed on the association web site at www.miamibowling.org, under "Tournaments".

Due to some of these bowlers not being able to bowl in the Top 8 Tournament, alternate bowlers were used as replacements. The alternates were on the list of the top 12 composite averages. The following alternate bowlers competed in the tournament:

Men:
Chris Best 218.28 (9th)
Chad Brewer 217.78 (10th)
Tyger Folmar 216.72 (11th)

Women:
Penny Joslin 190.62 (9th)
Sharon Colon 190.08 (10th)
Danielle Hall 189.63 (11th)

Boys:
Danny Wernsing 161.24 (9th)
Alexander Rodriguez 161.11 (10th)

Girls:
Michele Arnold 162.23 (10th)
Shaniqua Brown 155.46 (11th)

The winners, runners-up and their tournament averages are as follows:

Women’s Division
Melissa Coile 220.50
Stacey Harper 215.88

Men’s Division
Keith Nation 251.63
Mike Greene 233.63

Girl’s Division
Alyssa Harper 187.50
Melissa Perez 177.38

Boy’s Division
Zachary Rogers 225.50
Daniel Gajus 202.00

High Score Awards:
Keith Nation 300 game, 823 series
James Johnson 299 game, 801

The management at Bird Bowl has been working hard to make your bowling experience a good one by installing new monitors, flat screen TV’s, new masking units and new paint on the side walls. Those bowling at Bird Bowl should invite a friend to join a league with you so that they know how much we appreciate what they have done.

The Bowlerettes is the oldest women’s traveling tournament in the South Florida area. They hold both scratch (5 Divisions) and handicap (including 4 mixed) tournaments on the first Sunday of each month (unless it occurs on a holiday weekend). Bowlerettes is open to any woman from any county with a current USBC membership card and a 21 game verifiable average. Any woman may bowl, no matter what her average may be. We bowl in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties, alternating as much as possible.