To all our junior bowlers and their families,
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is in the process of making changes in their rules that will affect all junior bowlers. The JBT thinks most of these rules are not in the best interest of junior bowling and we are fighting for what we think is right. If you visit http://www.bowl.com/ most of the changes are explained there.
Our biggest concerns/complaints involve:
1) Beginning next season, the USBC will REQUIRE all certified tournaments to use their banking system (it's called SMART) for scholarship money. The JBT has always handled it's own scholarship money since we began awarding scholarships in the late 1980's and has had no problems. If we use SMART, we will receive less or possibly NO interest on the money they hold. This interest is crucial in helping add to the prize list of many of our special events in which you compete. This is not fair to you!
2) Beginning next season, the USBC will ELIMINATE rings, watches, etc that are awarded for honor scores such as 300, 800 and 700 for girls. They believe these awards may endanger your eligibility in other sports. It sure hasn't stopped football, basketball and other high school sports teams from awarding rings to their champions. This has not been a problem in the past and we feel they are trying to fix something that isn't broken. This is one less set of awards available to you even though the sanction fee is set to INCREASE. These rings, etc. will be available for you to PURCHASE if you "earn" one.
3) If the JBT (and other organizations) refuse to allow USBC to earn interest on our money, our events will not be certified by the USBC. We are trying to find a way to work with the USBC to avoid this from happening, but it doesn't look promising. We are not willing to sacrifice prize money from YOUR special events by allowing USBC to keep the interest earned on JBT scholarship funds.
4) If we are not certified, we will not be permitted to run Junior Gold qualifying events next season during our regular events. We are also trying to find a solution to this problem, but the best we can hope for is a few events to be run, which will results in fewer of our bowlers qualifying for the Junior Gold tournament in Buffalo next July.
The Junior Bowlers Tour is not alone in their stance against these changes. Almost all similar organizations around the country are disappointed and outraged at what USBC is doing to the tournament groups, leagues, local associations, bowling centers and MOST OF ALL the junior bowlers.
Please make yourself aware of what is happening that threatens the quality of junior bowling everywhere. There is a message board which has started a thread about this subject. Please read it and feel free to comment. (don't be confused by the name of the link)
BallReviews.com - Bowling Balls, Bowling Ball, Bowling Ball Reviews, BowlingBalls, Bowling Ball Review
The two people we have been dealing with regarding these issues are the CEO of USBC, Mr. Roger Dalkin and Mr. Gary Brown, also of the USBC. If you feel the need to voice your concerns to them after understanding the situation, they can be reached at:
Roger.Dalkin@bowl.com
Gary.Brown@bowl.com
Although we expect you will be as outraged as we are once you are completely aware of the situation, we urge you to show these men the respect their position deserves should you decide to contact them.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We felt you should know what is happening behind the scenes that will affect all of us.
Chuck Pezzano Jr., Director
Junior Bowlers Tour
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