Pictured Are Delegates At The 18th Annual USBC Convention In Las Vegas.
By Michael 'Chip' Begg
Managing Editor - thetenpinexpress. com
Director Mesa Metro Association
18th Convention news and notes.
USBC Certifies String Pinsetters:
Las Vegas, NV. - - - How many of us involved in the game of bowling today. Ever thought that there would be strings attached to our great sport.
Certainly, none of us did. But the future of the game of bowling and the landscape of the sport all changed. On Thursday April 27, 2023, at the 18th Annual Convention, at the Southpoint Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. At exactly 3 PM on this day, the USBC announced to the delegation, that it has certified String Pinsetters. For the use in tournament and league play. The certification begins on August 1, 2023.
What the USBC Equipment and Specifications committee based their certification on String Pinsetters. Here are the key findings from the 2023 report that led to the certification:
USBC's lab data indicates strike percentage on string pin bowling, will be 7.1% less than when using free-fall pinsetters.
This could result in average differences as large as 10 pins or more.
Unusual spare conversion rates have been nearly eliminated.
Additional testing is needed to determine if a conversation between string pinsetter competition and free-fall is reasonable.
Based on the results from the latest round of research, the USBC has outlined the following next steps regarding string pinsetters:
USBC will certify String Pinsetters and string pin bowling as an independent category of equipment and competition separate from free-fall machines effective August 1, 2023, for the 2023-2024 season.
USBC will conduct additional testing with an objective of determining whether string averages can be used the same as free-fall or whether a conversion can be created.
USBC will provide an update on the additional testing and potential for conversation in advance of the 2024-2025 season. Above information was provided to us from Bowl. Com. The full 2023 report can be found on Bowl.com/String pinsetters.
This is the second year in a row, that the USBC has made a major announcement at its annual convention. In 2022 at the 17th annual convention, ACE was introduced to the delegation. ACE is a lane inspection machine that inspects lanes automatically. During the State of the Association address, it was announced that ACE has already inspected 347 bowling centers under the new tiered certification program last year.
Central Arizona USBC, The first area in the state to get string pinsetters.
"CAUSBC was made aware of Starlite Lanes moving to string pinsetters in November 2022 The decision for Antelope Lanes to move to string pinsetters was made in early February 2023. Before the decision was made for Antelope, the owner and general manager met with the CAUSBC board to make them aware of hat was being considered, to take their feedback, and start to formulate a plan to both inform the bowlers and handle the leagues currently at Antelope," said CAUSBC Assn Manager Wendy Orth " As soon as the decision was finalized, the CAUSBC board was informed. We were very grateful to the owner of Antelope for meeting with the CAUSBC Board before making his decision. It allowed us to get in front of the situation which I believe resulted in a smoother transition with the leagues."
Town hall meeting held to help smooth the transition.
"Yes, the town hall was held March 11, 2023 at the Prescott Valley Library Auditorium. Approximately 75 CAUSBC members attended. Before the town hall there was a lot of misinformation being passed around. The purpose of the town hall was for the owner of Antelope and Director of Operations for Starlite to explain the reasoning behind the move to string pinsetters, correct the misinformation being spread and to answer questions from the members," she said, of the purpose of the town hall. "The members in attendance seemed to accept the reasoning as it was a business decision and not something directed at the bowlers. CAUSBC board members were in attendance and explained they had been in contact with USBC sending them questions so the board was prepared for the questions asked during the town hall. Overall it appeared that while not necessarily liking the change to string pinsetters the bowlers understood it from a business perspective and were satisfied with the answers to their questions about tournaments and how leagues would be adjusted to allow as many bowlers as possible to bowl in a USBC sanctioned league at Plaza Bowl."
Reaction to announcement is mixed.
"CAUSBC President Debbit Tuttle, Vice-President Jerry Roberts and I were very excited with USBC’s announcement at the National Convention in Las Vegas that string pinsetters would be sanctioned starting August 1, 2023. This excitement was tempered somewhat when we returned to Prescott Valley and learned that the string pinsetters being installed at both Antelope and Starlite do not meet the specifications released Thursday April 27, 2023. Both centers will need conversion kits to bring their string pinsetters up to specification," she said, of her initial reaction. "There is no timetable as to when that will happen as the manufacturers found out about the new specifications the same day we did. I believe this will allow smaller bowling centers to stay open by reducing overhead costs and not requiring specialized personnel. It will also allow those centers to keep their lineage prices down which is a good thing for leagues. As to the impact on the game itself that is much harder to say as I myself have only bowled on string pinsetters once and at the time my focus was on."
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Election of three new board members:
Three board members were elected to the USBC Board of Directors. Two were incumbents, and one was a newcomer.
Mike Cannington of Ft. Myers, Fl. (497 votes), and Glenda Beckett (417 votes), were re-elected to the board. Brandon Bowman (392 votes) joined the board for the first time.
A candidate had to receive a majority of the 689 votes to be elected to the board. They begin their three-year term on August 1, 2023.
"I am humbled and extremely honored to be elected to the national board of directors, for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) for a final three-year term," he said, in a social media post. "As the national governing board, for the sport of bowling. Thank You! to everyone who voted for me! Looking forward to contributing as I've done for the last six years."
There were 689 delegates who were eligible to cast a vote from 300 associations across the United States. The voting break down was: 689 delegates, 3 athletes, 29 Hall of Famers, and 18 board members.
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State of the Association:
On Wednesday April 26, USBC Executive Director Chad Murphy, gave his annual State Of the Association address to the delegation.
In his opening of the speech, he told the delegation:
"Directors hold the key to this community," he said. "The national governing body is here to serve the members. That is what we do."
It is no secret that Covid-19 was a rough period for all of us. Especially for the game of bowling. In 2023, there are 3,816 certified bowling centers in the United States. 100 centers closed three years ago.
"Covid-19 was rough. Bowling and bowlers are resilient," he said, of Covid-19. "Everybody go together to say, 'this is not the end of bowling'. National membership is back up to 4% this year."
Since 2020, the USBC now certifies 25,000 plus leagues. 2,000 rules cases were filed during the 2022-23 season.
"Certified bowling leagues are what drives us," he said. "Imagine what it would be like, if the sport of bowling would not have rules and a governing body."
At the Open Championships this year in Reno, NV. The Open Championship will run for 132 days. 50,000 bowlers are expected to participate this year at the Open Championship.
"Things are good," he said, of where bowling is at in 2023. "We are excited that folks want to get out and bowl. All bowling is good, and bowling is what it is all about."
Bowl TV has now reached 10,000 subscribers.
The 19th USBC convention will again be held at Southpoint from April 22-25 in 2024.
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There were new pieces of legislation that the delegation had to approve or reject this year.
Here they are as follows:
NB#1 Allows for offsite voting at the USBC Annual Meeting. Rejected. (283 approved, 402 rejected).
SB#1 Authorizes the board to utilize mail, email, or teleconference for voting (508 approve, 177 rejected).
LB#1 Allows the board to adopt a requirement for the submission of qualifications up to 48 hours prior to the start of the meeting where director elections will be held. (604 approved, 61 rejected). Proposal amended to be effective immediately (587 approve, 84 rejected).
LB#3 Authorizes the board to utilize mail, email, or teleconference for voting. (563 approve, 115 rejected).
LR#1 Allows the player to utilize deliveries with either hand. During the same game to establish average. (17 approve, 660 rejected).
LR#2 In all forfeture situations, the non-forfeting team will recieve all contested points. (47 approve, 626 rejected).
TR#1 Requires the use of composite averages for tournament entry unless the tournament rules state otherwise. (75 approve, 592 rejected).
TR#2 Allows the player to utilize deliveries executed with either hand during all tournament competition. (Rejected via voice vote).
From Bowl.com
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Micillenious:
Vera Jones was the key note motivational speaker to open the convention on Tuesday April 25. She was an accomplished basketball coach, who coached at: Dayton, Indiana, and Florida Atlantic University. She is now a color commentator for the Big10 Network. She worked along side Robin Roberts for 17 years, as a color commentator at ESPN as well.
"When the USBC reached out to me, to give this speech," she said. "They wanted someone who was animated, so here I am. Basketball took me to a lot of places and taught me a lot of things about life."
She draws her inspiration from her son Andrew, who had a lot of health issues to deal with when he was growing up.
A Penn State study revealed, that 91% of the things we worry about, never happen.
"80% of our thoughts are negative," she said, of the study. "If you change the things you look at, the things will change you."
The theme of the 18th convention was: 'Celebrate the past, and be mindful of the present". And 'Community Is Key'
North Texas was awarded the Association Excellence award for 2023.
The USBC instituted a new program this year - Why I certify. Bowlers can go to WhyICertify.com, to tell others why they certify as league bowlers.
Metro Phoenix was once again in the top ten of the large associations BVL fund raising effort with $20, 776.