ARLINGTON, Texas – A record-shattering field of more than 3,100 bowlers will descend upon DuPage County, Illinois, next week as the Junior Gold Championships presented by Storm, Roto Grip and Master takes hold on the suburban Chicago area.
The top youth bowlers in the country will compete for national titles, spots on Junior Team USA and $275,000 in scholarship money. Junior Gold begins with the first round of qualifying Monday and concludes with the July 17 finals, which will be broadcast nationwide on CBS Sports Network in August.
The youth bowlers will compete at five bowling centers in the suburban Chicago area. The girls will compete at Stardust Bowl in Addison, Illinois, Hillside Bowl in Hillside, Illinois, and Classic Bowl in Morton Grove, Illinois. Competition in the boys division will take place at Stardust Bowl, Orland Bowl in Orland Park, Illinois, and Brunswick River Grove in River Grove, Illinois. Stardust Bowl will host the final rounds of competition for all bowlers.
Bowlers will compete in six divisions – 20-and-under boys and girls, 15-and-under boys and girls and 12-and-under boys and girls. The U20 and U15 divisions will bowl 15 games of qualifying over three days before the first cut is made. The U12 division will bowl 12 games of qualifying.
The fields will eventually narrow to the final 16 in the U20 and U15 divisions and the final eight in the U12 divisions for the double-elimination match-play bracket. Winners will be determined the afternoon of July 17.
The finals in each division will be taped for broadcast on CBS Sports Network in August. The U12 finals will air Aug. 4, the U15 finals will air Aug. 11 and the U20 finals will air Aug. 18. All shows begin at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Five defending champions return though four of them are in new divisions. Breanna Clemmer of Clover, South Carolina, will have a chance to defend her U20 girls title. U15 champions Ashley Channell of Morris Chapel, Tennessee, and Adam Zimmerman of Deer Park, New York, are now in the U20 division, while U12 winners Madison Bailey of Rocklin, California, and Anthony Neuer of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, will compete in the U15 division.
BOWL.com’s BowlTV will have live streaming of the event starting July 15 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern with the U15 advancers round and continuing until the final matches are set on July 17.
Junior Team USA spots will be awarded to the top four boys and top four girls in the U20 division after 25 games of qualifying. Additional spots will be given to the winner and runner-up after bracket play in the U20 division. If one or both of the finalists in the bracket already earned a spot through qualifying, the spot goes to the next age-eligible athlete based on the qualifying standings. Bowlers must be age 20 or younger as of Jan. 1, 2016, to be eligible.
Four spots on the U15 Developmental team also will be awarded with the top age-eligible boy and girl after qualifying earning spots and the boys and girls bracket champions also earning spots. Bowlers must be age 15 or younger as of Jan. 1, 2016 to be eligible.
The Junior Gold Championships has a history that dates to 1998, when the event was held at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev. That event drew 538 participants.
This year’s event is expected to draw more than 3,100 bowlers, shattering the previous record of 2,479 set last year in Buffalo.
For more information on the event, visit BOWL.com/JuniorGold.
USBC YOUTH OPEN BEGIN THURSDAY
The Bowling.com Youth Open Championships begin Thursday at Orland Bowl in Orland Park, Illinois. The event takes place Thursday through Saturday and then returns July 16-26.
The non-qualifying tournament is patterned after the USBC Open Championships and USBC Women’s Championships. Youth bowlers compete in team (four players), doubles, singles and all-events.
The tournament, which will award an estimated $90,000 in scholarships this year, has four age-based divisions – U8, U12, U15 and U20.
For more information on the USBC Youth Open Championships, visitBOWL.com/YouthOpen.
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