Well Done!

Imagine being out on the lanes, seeing the final ball of your first 300 game hit the pocket and bring down the house. Everyone's cheering! Your teammates, fellow USBC Youth league bowlers, the coaches, your parents, and every other person in sight is smiling and clapping. They're cheering for you. What a great feeling!

Your terrific accomplishment earns you the admiration and respect of your family, friends, and the local bowling community. Even your middle school classmates are talking about your bowling skill with a touch of awe in their voices.

Maybe you start to plan how you'll go out for your high school bowling team in a few years, earn a letter and get in shape for intercollegiate bowling and the pro tour. Maybe you'll play other sports in high school, too. (A strong bowling arm swing could translate into some mean baseball pitching, you know!)

Imagine your dismay if you discovered that an award you earned for your past bowling success disqualified you from competing in bowling or any other sport at the high school or college level.

To prevent this from happening to you…

Starting August 1, 2006 the USBC Youth awards you can earn will all be items of symbolic recognition that would not endanger your current or future eligibility to play sports in high school or college.

Since state athletic associations differ on the allowable value limit of awards earned for performance in a sport, USBC Youth awards will no longer include items that could be considered to have an "intrinsic" value – something that the award recipient could sell for money.

As of Aug. 1, all the items given as USBC Youth awards from the United States Bowling Congress, the national governing body for the sport of bowling, will be symbolic emblems, pins, certificates and medals. After July 31, USBC will not give towels, rosin bags, rings, watches or plaques as earned awards for USBC Youth members.

However, rings, watches and plaques that commemorate USBC Youth high score accomplishments can be purchased by the bowler or the bowler's family through USBC's Membership/Awards department. Other USBC-identified items will be sold through the USBC Store, available for anyone to purchase, regardless of their bowling performance.

Every accomplishment level that was recognized in the 2005-06 USBC Youth awards program will continue to be recognized in 2006-07, including high score accomplishments. Instead of rings, watches or plaques for these great accomplishments, custom-designed medals will be awarded. Each medal will come in an impressive presentation box that includes a certificate identifying the bowler by name. (We'll show a photo of the new USBC Youth high score medals on this site as soon as they are received from our custom-design supplier.)

More changes coming

Other changes that will help kids avoid limiting their future opportunities also are slated to take effect Aug. 1. They involve the SMART scholarship usage policy and the wording of Rule 400, the USBC Youth eligibility rule.

Changes in the SMART scholarship usage policy will allow scholarship funds to be used only for post-secondary education, and funds will only be paid out directly to the college or university. The use of scholarships for bowling camps or the training portion of expenses for People to People Sports Ambassador participation will no longer be accepted after Aug.1, unless the scholarship recipient is already in college and signs a statement regarding their collegiate sports eligibility. If such a statement is on file with SMART, funds also may be paid to the student as reimbursement of college expenses, such as the purchase of a computer, textbooks that may have been purchased off-campus and tuition already paid by the student.

Rule 400 was re-written to clearly state what awards are acceptable to be given for bowling accomplishments in USBC Youth leagues or tournaments. Remember, these changes are only for awards given for specific bowling accomplishments. If you bowl in a competition where everyone gets something as part of the bowling package (such as in a league where everyone gets a bowling ball or T-shirt just for bowling in the league, not for winning the league or having the highest game, series or other accomplishment), there is no violation of Rule 400. 

Celebrate your success in 2006-07 and dream big – some day you may have a starring role on high school or collegiate bowling teams or on the PBA Tour.