Vol. 2, No.3
Spring 2007

California Dreamin'

Santa Clara teen is 2007 PBA Dream Team Champion

In recognition of her Dream Team Champion status, Sarah Okada was awarded an assortment of USBC merchandise.

Sarah Okada, a 15-year-old youth bowler from Santa Clara, Calif., has vision.

Sarah used that vision, and a little bit of luck, last fall. That's when she made her picks in USYouthBowler.com's Fantasy Bowling Game. Her selection of PBA stars Chris Barnes, Jeff Carter, Tony Reyes and Mike Edwards netted her a total of 2,035 points in the game to become USYouthBowler.com's 2007 PBA Dream Team Champion!

"I chose Tony since he is from the Bay area and I have met him a few times," Sarah explained. "I picked Chris because I watch him on TV a lot."

Sarah's bowling success isn't just of the fantasy variety. She competes in the TNBA Majors League Saturday mornings at Mission Lanes in Milpitas, Calif., where she rolled a 570 series with 191, 144 and 235 games earlier this year.

Although Sarah scored the highest of any youth bowler who registered a dream team to officially play the Fantasy Bowling Game, one other person did beat her. That other player, PBA star Sean Rash, wasn't eligible to compete for the dream team champion title since he is no longer a youth bowler, even if he is one of the youngest exempt players on the Denny's PBA Tour. He just wanted to play along for the fun of it.

Sean's picks included himself (hey, it does take confidence to make it as a pro), Chris Barnes, Mike Fagan and Mike Scroggins. Even with Sean's inside view on PBA players' abilities, his dream team scored just five points higher than Sarah's.

"Please pass on my congrats to Sarah," Sean said.

What would have been the ideal dream team for the 2006-07 season? The top performers in each of the game's four pro categories were Chris Barnes ("A Team"), Sean Rash ("All-Americans"), Jeff Carter ("Looking for No. 1") and Wes Malott ("Contenders"). Together they amassed 2,265 fantasy game points this season. In real life 2006-07 Denny's PBA Tour competition, the four category leaders earned combined totals of $433,984 in prize money and 4 PBA titles.

US Youth Bowler is published by USBC Communications, 5301 S. 76th St., Greendale, WI 53129, telephone (800) 514-BOWL, fax (414) 421-3013.

Although the US Youth Bowler will occasionally publish articles about USBC sponsorship by alcohol and tobacco companies, it does not encourage or condone the use or purchase of these items by USBC members who are underage.