Category: Youth

Posts about honor scores thrown by youth bowlers, or about youth leagues and tournaments

2014-15 Westgate Lanes house shot

I’m amazed that, in my 7+ years of writing this blog, this post will be a first. I actually had a chance to do what I’m about to do last year, but didn’t want to impose on Ray for his copy, but he did allow me to take it home to scan this year (I did promise I’d bring it back tomorrow). I am about to reveal the Westgate Lanes house shot for the season (click on image to display full-size):

House shot at Westgate Lanes for 2014-15 season
House shot at Westgate Lanes for 2014-15 season

If you’ve never seen one of these before, the important thing to remember is that blue = oil, and the deeper the blue, the more oil there is. This is probably typical as house shots go, with a ratio of 8:1, though I’ve seen house shots in the 10:1 to 15:1 range. The ratio is just a measure of how much friction is available on the outside, and the smaller the ratio, the less of it there is. A “challenge” shot that the Coke league might be on is more on the order of 5:1, and any pattern 3:1 or less is considered USBC Sport Bowling-compliant.

Youth program dates of importance posted: When I picked up the pro shop’s copy of the house shot tonight, I also saw on the bulletin board that dates of importance for the youth program, such as Adult/Junior doubles tournaments, travel league dates at Westgate, etc., have been posted. I’ve jotted them down and added them to my calendar. Remember, the full calendar is linked in the “Local/New England” sidebar list, and events will eventually appear in the “Upcoming Events” list in the sidebar as they approach.

Sept. 17 tournament notes

Just a couple of items I picked up tonight:

  • Devon McGregor will run his next Eliminator on Oct. 19, with squad times at 10 AM and 12:30 PM.
  • The Junior Bowling Challenge, a youth tournament series that started at AMF Auburn Lanes, will be coming to Westgate Lanes, also on Oct. 19, at 2 PM. Kevin Thibeault has bowled this, and you can visit him in the pro shop for more details.

Both tournaments have been added to the blog’s calendar.

Rob Mautner links added to sidebar

A bowling forum buddy (who happens to be in New England) alerted me to Modern-Bowling.com, which is a site with tips from Rob Mautner, a Las Vegas-based USBC Silver coach who was listed among the Bowlers Journal Top 100 coaches last year. His tips are organized into three sections, physical game, adjustments, and bowling balls, and he also invites you to ask questions on his forum site, BowlingIntel.com. Both sites have been added to the “Coaching/Tips” sidebar list.

Junior league note: Marcia wanted me to let everyone know that, although the junior leagues have now started, they’ll still be accepting new bowlers, so registration is ongoing. You may ask for details at the desk.

Aug. 25 2014-15 youth league registration note

Marcia asked me to remind everyone that registration for the junior/youth leagues at Westgate Lanes is ongoing, and children can be signed up at the control desk anytime during business hours. Registration cost is $15 before the first day of bowling (Sept. 6) and $25 that day (registration includes the child’s USBC membership). League dues are $10/week. Also, there is a meeting for bowlers in the senior division (ages 15-19) on Wednesday (Aug. 27) at 6:00 PM.

For the adult leagues, Westgate Lanes is once again running their “refer a friend” program. If a league bowler refers a friend to a Westgate Lanes league who did not bowl in a league at Westgate Lanes in the 2013-14 season and both bowlers bowl at least ten weeks, both bowlers will be eligible for 10 free games; the form, available at the desk, must be completed within three weeks of joining.

Aug. 24 tournament notes

Some miscellaneous tournament notes that I needed to pass along:

  • There weren’t many entries in the eliminator tournament today because we had the misfortune of scheduling opposite the NAT in East Providence, but we will try again on Sept. 28, and there should be nothing scheduled anywhere on that day.
  • The Boston senate of the TNBA will run their annual handicap singles tournament on Nov. 1 & 2, with squads at 12:30, 3:00, and 5:30 PM both days. Contact information will be added to the event on the calendar when available.
  • Finally, the next Junior Professionals Tournament will be held on Nov. 2 at 10:00 AM. Entry flyers should be in the bowling centers in the near future.

All of these events, of course, are on the calendar.

EDIT: It was brought to my attention that the NEBA doubles tournament is on Sept. 27 & 28 at East Providence Lanes, but, if you don’t consider yourself a scratch bowler, we’d love to have you in the eliminator tournament on that Sunday.

Stephen Major posts top 100 finish in Junior Gold Survivor

There are plenty of side events at the Junior Gold national tournament, and one of those was a “Survivor” tournament for those who did not make the first cut. As evidenced here, Stephen Major placed 93rd out of 585 boys in the Survivor tournament, which, I’m told, is good enough for not only scholarship money, but also a paid entry into next year’s Junior Gold tournament, to be held in Chicago. WTG Stephen! 😀

Kevin Thibeault makes first cut at 2014 Junior Gold

According to the posted standings after qualifying on Bowl.com, Kevin Thibeault, as he did last year, has made the first cut (in 137th position) in the under-20 boys division at the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships this week in Buffalo, NY. I will list the other New England bowlers who made the cut in the tournament, by division, below:

U20 boys

Bryan Bourget (Woonsocket, RI)
Tyler Perry (New Bedford, MA)
Qwadaris Rembert (Providence, RI)

U20 girls

Jadee Scott-Jones (E. Providence, RI)

U15 boys

Nicholas Flake (Pomfret Ctr., CT)
Tom Hankey (Great Barrington, MA)

U15 girls

Jewel Dumond (Pawtucket, RI)

U12 girls

Madison Gentes (Manchester, NH)

Congrats to everyone, and good luck & good bowling the rest of the way! 😀

2014 Mass. state youth tournament results

The Mass. USBC Youth Association has posted the official results of the state youth tournament, completed last weekend at AMF Town & Country Lanes in Shrewsbury. Congratulations to the state champions from Westgate Lanes, as follows:

Teams, 561-640 scratch: Matt Doyle & Scott Damon (with Brandon Moore from North Bowl and Jessica Marcure from AMF Holiday Lanes)
Doubles, 361+ scratch: Kevin Thibeault (with Tyler Perry from Wonder Bowl)
Singles, 161-180 scratch: Matt Doyle
All-Events, 101-120 scratch: William Russell-Null III
All-Events, 161-180 handicap: Matt Doyle
All-Events, 181+ scratch: Kevin Thibeault

Apr. 26 notes

A couple of notes I’ve been meaning to pass along:

  • Westgate Lanes is once again participating in “Kids Bowl Free”, which allows children registered on the “Kids Bowl Free” website two free games a day throughout the summer, which can be a $500 value.
  • Something new this year…USA Pro Shop is offering a 25% discount on Brunswick bowling balls (which may also include DV8 and Radical) if you bowl in a summer league at Westgate Lanes this summer. See Ray in the shop for more details.

April 2014 Junior Professionals results

The results of today’s Junior Professionals Tournament (handicap added for Handicap Division):

Scratch Division

Match 1: Chris Silveri def. Scott Jaquith 236-224
Semifinal: Silveri def. Austin Connelly 202-190
Championship: Silveri def. Ethan Rosenberg 199-116

High qualifier: Chris Silveri 1,325

Handicap Division

Match 1: Michael Morrissey def. Shane Litchfield 251-204
Semifinal: Morrissey def. Cody Litchfield 255-240
Championship: Greg Zygadlo def. Morrissey 245-196

High qualfiier: Michael Morrissey 1,502

A photo of the two champions is below:

Champions of the April 2014 Junior Professionals Tournament: (L-R) Chris Silveri (Scratch Division), Greg Zygadlo (Handicap Division)
Champions of the April 2014 Junior Professionals Tournament: (L-R) Chris Silveri (Scratch Division), Greg Zygadlo (Handicap Division)

Thank you to all of the bowlers who came out today, and congrats to our winners. 😀

2014 Westgate Lanes scholarship tournament results

The winners of the scholarships in the annual Westgate Lanes scholarship tournament, held today (all scores are with handicap):

Boys

  1. William Russell-Null 829 ($500)
  2. Kevin Thibeault 757 ($250)

Girls

  1. Taylor Harris 714 ($250)

Aside from some of the People’s Tournaments, I don’t usually mention prizes won in tournaments, but I do so with the scholarship tournament to point out to the parents of prospective youth bowlers that their children can win scholarship money in bowling. 🙂

Kevin Thibeault wins 2014 Mass. Pepsi tournament

The Mass. USBC Youth Association reported that Kevin Thibeault was the winner of the under-20 boys division of this year’s Massachusetts Pepsi scholarship tournament, which was contested last weekend at AMF Holiday Lanes in Somerset. Stephen Major was also reported as the fourth place finisher in the division.

Congrats to both, who will be going to the Junior Gold tournament in Buffalo, NY this summer. Kevin earned his spot back in September, and Stephen qualified on Mar. 30 in a tournament at AMF Auburn Lanes.

2014 Brockton USBCYA Honor Squad results

Below are the top scores (with handicap except for scratch division) in the 2014 Brockton USBC Youth Association Honor Squad, conducted this past Saturday at Westgate Lanes:

Bantam boys: Corey Major 713
Prep girls: Ashley Major 713
Prep boys: Ethan Reyes 735
Junior boys: William Russell-Null 787
Junior & Major/Senior girls: Taylor Harris 727
Major/Senior boys: Michael Morrissey 782
Scratch: Aaron Major 730

Congrats to everyone! 😀

Youth Leader Doubles note: The Mass. USBC Youth Association held their Youth Leader Doubles tournament at AMF Auburn Lanes Sunday, and bowlers from Westgate Lanes doing well in that were Cody Litchfield & Ethan Reyes (2nd, boys 11 & under handicap), William Russell-Null & Kyle Major (6th place, boys 12 & over handicap) and Aaron & Stephen Major (3rd place, 12 & over scratch). Congrats to them, as well. 😀

Mar. 2014 Adult/Junior doubles results (with note)

Here are the results of today’s Adult/Junior doubles tournament:

Senior Division (10 entries)

  1. Brandon Ward & Tom Hedding 1,499
  2. Kerrigan Mulvey & Jen Plausse 1,491

Junior Division (11 entries)

  1. Angelica Wilson & Charles Paige 1,428
  2. Joshua Wilson & Paris Cook 1,413

Bantam/Prep Division (5 entries)

  1. Corey & Christine Major 1,397

Westgate Lanes Scholarship Tournament set for Apr. 12: The annual Westgate Lanes scholarship tournament, open to bowlers in grades 6-12 and with boys and girls divisions, will be conducted on Apr. 12 starting at 12:30 PM. Parents wishing to enter their children may see Marcia, Rose, or a junior coach for more information. Scores with handicap will determine the prize winners.

Shane Litchfield throws first 700 series

I thought this worthy of an honor score mention because of his age: After turning 13 and graduating to the Junior division this season, Shane Litchfield today threw games of 211, 248, and 249 for a 708 series, his first 700 series. This has prompted me to wonder who the youngest bowler to throw a 700 series at Westgate Lanes was, and this point is currently under research.

Congrats Shane! 😀

2014 Mass. state tournament notes

With information on all three state tournaments for 2014 having been posted, I can now note the important dates:

  • The open tournament will be held weekends from Apr. 26 through May 18 at Brunswick Lowell Lanes, with an entry flyer available online from the Greater Lowell Bowling Association (link is to Word document). Mail-in entries will close Apr. 13.
  • The women’s tournament will be held weekends from May 3 through June 1 (with the exception of Memorial Day weekend) at Cove Lanes in Great Barrington, with an entry flyer available online from the state women’s association (link is to PDF). Entries close on Apr. 1.
  • The youth tournament will take place weekends from Apr. 26 through May 4 at AMF Town & Country Lanes in Shrewsbury. I’m sure Rose Hamilton will be on top of it, but entries for that tournament close Feb. 24.

Good luck & good bowling to everyone participating in the state tournaments.

Tyler Perry shoots state youth record 876 set

Normally, I only post about big scores thrown at Westgate Lanes, but, if a score bowled elsewhere, particularly in New England, is notable enough (like Mike Violette’s back-to-back 800 series last season at North Bowl), I will mention it here, and that is the case today.

I’ve seen Alex Aguiar post on Facebook that Tyler Perry, already the youngest NEBA champion ever at age 16, threw an 876 series today in his youth league at Wonder Bowl, which is believed to be a new state record for youth bowlers. Congrats Tyler! 😀

Brian Egan throws 290/805 in Adult/Junior doubles (with results)

The unofficial results of today’s Adult/Junior doubles tournament:

Bantam/Prep

  1. Jaden Rec & Henry Webber 1,477
  2. Ethan Reyes & Mike Fowler 1,404

Junior/Senior

  1. Kyle & Brian Egan 1,515
  2. Angelica Wilson & Charles Paige 1,424

Congratulations to Brian Egan, who threw his first 800 series in the tournament with games of 290, 257, and 258 for an 805. 😀

Congrats also to the other winners. 😀

2013 Junior Professionals results

Before I go into the results, I’d like to say as a member of the Junior Professionals Tournament committee that the tournament was a learning experience for all of us. We’d like to do this again, and will bear in mind what we’ve learned today to make the next tournament better.

Now, the results (scores in the handicap division are with handicap unless noted as scratch):

Handicap Division

First stepladder match: Nick Damon def. Greg Zygaldo 247-200
Second stepladder match: Nick Damon def. Chris Zalewski 198-189
Championship match: William Grinvalski def. Nick Damon 256-187

High qualifier: Shane Litchfield 1428
High handicap game: Zachary Benevides 263
High scratch game: Shane Litchfield 243

Scratch Division

First stepladder match: Andrew Hall def. Isaac LaPlante 194-171
Second stepladder match: Andrew Hall def. Nick Sauve 201-173
Championship match: Andrew Hall def. Aaron Major 213-181

High qualifer: Aaron Major 1374
High game: Brandon Ward 267

Ball raffle winners: Cody Rebello (Pivot) & Robert Laboissiere (Disruption)

Special congratulations to Tiler Levesque, who threw his first 300 game in the first game of the match play portion of the tournament.

Congratulations to all who won prizes, and to Tiler again! Thanks again to Ebonite International for sponsoring the tournament. 😀

Westgate Lanes team earns national honor

File photo of Westgate Lanes youth team (L-R: Chris Silveri, Kevin Thibeault, Nick Sauve, Stephen Major, coach Steve Hamilton)
File photo of Westgate Lanes youth team (L-R: Chris Silveri, Kevin Thibeault, Nick Sauve, Stephen Major, coach Steve Hamilton)

I previously reported on Kevin Thibeault’s 300 game on March 16, but little did I know how big the day really was…Marcia first brought it to my attention, and I was sitting on it until I saw a news article about it on bowl.com, but with the bowlers involved having already been recognized for it at the center, I thought I’d go ahead with it now:

One of the leaderboards on bowl.com shows that the bowlers that form one of the travel league teams (file photo of the team above) rolled what turned out to be the high series of the 2012-13 season in the nation for a team of their age group and playing strength (four-man, ages 17-20, as determined by the age of the oldest bowler) on the day I mentioned in the youth league at Westgate Lanes, doing so with games of 1,037, 942, and 945 for a three-game total of 2,924. In the first game, Kevin Thibeault’s 300 game was joined by a 289 game by Nick Sauve, with Stephen Major also throwing a 235 and Chris Silveri a 213. Kevin had the high series on the team that day with a 760, followed by Stephen Major’s 743, Nick Sauve’s 732, and Chris Silveri’s 689.

It should also be noted that the 1,037 game was also the second highest in the nation, bettered only by Island Tree Varsity of Levittown, NY, who threw a 1,054 game on Jan. 21.

My formal congratulations to this team on this achievement. 😀

Note: This article was also filed in the “Honor Scores” category due to the nature of the post.

Kevin Thibeault throws perfecto in Gardner; Stephen Major makes “Big 4”

Congrats to Kevin Thibeault on a 300 game in the eight-game marathon Sunday at Gardner Ten Pin, a sanctioned adult tournament for which he signed a waiver to compete in. I was told they had Kegel’s “Route 66” pattern out for the tournament.

Also, Stephen Major told me last night that he converted the “Big Four” (4-6-7-10) while competing for Westgate Lanes in the youth travel league at Wonder Bowl. 😀

Sept. 21 tournament notes

A couple of notes about upcoming state association tournaments:

  • The 2013 Massachusetts state senior tournament, open to bowlers age 50 and over, will take place at Brunswick Lowell Lanes on Oct. 26 and 27, with mail-in entries closing Oct. 25. More information and an entry form is available on the Greater Lowell Bowling Association’s website.
  • The Mass. USBC Youth Association’s annual singles tournament, with handicap and scratch divisions for boys and girls, will take place on Nov. 10 at Wonder Bowl in New Bedford. Entries close on Oct. 14, with an entry form available here.

Westgate Lanes to host Junior Professionals Tournament Nov. 3

Westgate Lanes will be hosting the first Junior Professionals Tournament, conceptualized by Westgate Lanes youth bowler Stephen Major and for which yours truly helped refine the format, on November 3 at 10 AM. The tournament is for bowlers of USBC youth-eligible age at least 11, and the format is similar to a PBA tournament, with qualifying and match play rounds leading up a stepladder final round. There will be two divisions, handicap and scratch, handicapped at 80% of 200 with bowlers 200 average and over bowling in the scratch division. If you have a child who may be interested in participating, you may click here for the entry document with the particulars. Entries will close on Oct. 20.

I’ve been looking to become more involved with the youth bowlers, and this tournament provides a unique opportunity for me to do so, with me liking the format due to the natural tendency of youth to want to emulate their heroes. I will be providing scoring services as well as other computer-related support (I drew up the entry document above in Microsoft Word), and I hope to see everyone there. This is not a sanctioned tournament, so you’d think I wouldn’t get involved as a member of the Brockton Bowling Association board, but I’m throwing my support behind this in the hope that future tournaments of this type will be sanctioned.