May 5, 2020 NCAUSBCA learned this afternoon that Youth Director Andre Andrews died today following a recent illness. He was 26.
Andrews was elected to the Board of Directors by attendees of the association's 2016 Youth Representative Meeting that preceded the Annual Meeting. A member of the Ways & Means Committee, he appeared at numerous association events, frequently assisting at youth and adult tournaments.
In 2018, he was a recipient of the prestigious NCAUSBCA Ted Gruszkowski Jr. Youth Star Award.
Additional information will be released as it is received.
April 28, 2020 NCAUSBCA Hall of Famer Steve Sipe died tonight after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 68.
Sipe thrilled area fans when he qualified third for the nationally televised finals of the PBA Fair Lanes Open in 1981 at Fair Lanes Woodlawn.
He placed in the association's "Top 10" rankings eight times, including the Number 1 position in the 1980-1981 season.
Sipe was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.
April 20, 2020 The remaining weekend of the NCAUSBCA 75th Annual Women's Championship Tournament has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A prize fund soon will be posted, and any refunds due are in the process of being mailed to the team captains for those who did not get a chance to compete.
Meanwhile, the NCAUSBCA 75th Annual Open Championship Tournament also has been cancelled. Said Open Tournament Manager Ronald McGregor: "We are in the process of refunding entry fees to team captains, and all refunds should be in the mail by May 1. I dont know when we have had to cancel before, but due to the extraordinary circumstance we all are working through, we had no recourse but to cancel."
March 31, 2020 Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the association office will be closed until further notice, NCAUSBCA Manager Ronald McGregor announced this morning.
Members still will be able to reach the office via:
Additional information will appear on this site and delivered via Facebook.
March 30, 2020 Fellow Virginia State USBC Bowlers:
With the latest developments and the governors new order, the Virginia State USBC Tournament as well as the Virginia State USBC Youth Tournament are now CANCELLED. We will try to reschedule at a later date. (The Women's Championship Tournament was cancelled earlier.)
I will reach out to the team captains already entered to arrange refund checks. Please show patience, as this will take awhile to process all the entries already submitted.
I thank you in advance. Please stay safe and well until we get all this behind us.
Johnny Harris, Virginia State USBC Association Manager
The following area bowling centers have announced they are closed or will close for a period due to the current coronavirus pandemic:
March 15, 2020 The 2020 Virginia State USBC Women's 63rd Championship Tournament has been officially cancelled. The decision was made today by the Virginia State Board of Directors. This tournament was scheduled to run from March 28 to April 26 at Bowl America Bull Run and Bowl America Chantilly. Anne Ray, Tournament Manager, will reach out to bowlers.
The state annual meeting scheduled for May 9 also is cancelled.
The 2020 Virginia State USBC 68th Annual Open Handicap Tournament (May 16 to June 14) is still scheduled (closing date April 20) at this time, pending any new developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 13, 2020 The NCAUSBCA 75th Annual Women's Championship Tournament, which was scheduled to conclude this weekend, and the NCAUSBCA 75th Annual Open Championship Tournament, a three-weekend event that was scheduled to begin March 21-22, have been postponed.
"Due to a growing concern regarding the coronavirus, and guidance from county, state, and national officials, we believe this is the appropriate decision," said Ronald McGregor, Open Tournament manager.
"Our foremost concern is the health and safety of our bowlers," said Michael Tinsley, association president. "We will work with Bowl America regarding the rescheduling of our Women's and Open tournaments and will inform our squad sponsors and team captains when new dates are determined."
The revised schedules are expected to be released after May 1.
ARLINGTON, Texas The United States Bowling Congress will lower the maximum age for USBC Youth membership to 18 starting with the 2020-2021 season.
The decision to lower to the maximum age from 20 to 18, with agreement from the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America and the International Bowling Campus Youth Committee, will align bowling with other youth sports.
"Over the last decade, we have made changes to USBC Youth programs and tournaments to provide a model comparable with other youth sports," IBC Youth Managing Director of Youth Development Gary Brown said. "We moved to age-based divisions, as opposed to average, for events, to provide peer-to-peer competition. Setting the maximum age for youth bowlers to 18 aligns us with the standard of other national youth sports organizations."
A U18 division will become the top division for the Pepsi Youth and Bowling.com Youth Open Championships for the 2020-2021 season. During the next season, USBC will address how the age change will impact the 2021 Junior Gold Championships, which will have a separate U20 division. Please visit Starting with the 2020-2021 season, USBC Youth membership policy will state youth membership is available to individuals who have not reached the age of 18 prior to Aug. 1 of the current bowling season. The decision to lower the maximum age will directly impact 3.3 percent of the total youth membership. The change also better aligns USBC Youth membership with new regulations from the U.S. Center for SafeSport requiring training for those over 18 who participate in a sport with minors.
Any USBC Youth member who reaches the age of 18 during the bowling season is required to complete the U.S. Center for SafeSport online education program, which is free, to continue to compete in leagues that have participants under age 18. This requirement was announced with the release of the revised The new age limit marks the second time the USBC Youth maximum age has been lowered. In 2009, USBC lowered the maximum age for youth bowlers from 22 to 20.