U.S. Amateur to make its return in January
June 04, 2015
ARLINGTON, Texas – After almost a decade-long absence, the United States National Amateur Bowling Championships returns in 2016 and will take place as part of the United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials, scheduled for the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from Jan. 2-7.
Both the men’s and women’s division winners at the 2016 U.S. Amateur will earn a spot on Team USA.
The U.S. Amateur was part of the process to select Team USA members until 2008, when the World Tenpin Bowling Association (now World Bowling) announced professionals would be allowed to compete in international competitions. To produce the strongest Team USA squads possible, USBC allowed pro bowlers to take part in the U.S. Amateur/Team USA Trials and also made professionals part of the selection pool for Team USA.
“The U.S. Amateur always was a coveted title for amateur bowlers,” said Neil Stremmel, USBC Managing Director National Governing Body. “We have seen many outstanding bowlers come through programs such as Junior Gold and collegiate, and we’re excited to bring back this outstanding event to provide an opportunity for amateurs to compete for a position on Team USA.”
The schedule for the USBC Team USA Trials/U.S. Amateur is for practice on Jan. 2 with competition starting Jan. 3. All competitors will bowl five blocks of qualifying with six games per block. Each block will be contested on a different World Bowling lane pattern.
Competitors will earn ranking points based on their finish position in each block – the top bowler of the block earns one ranking point, second place in the block earns two points, etc. – with total ranking points after the five blocks determining the top qualifiers.
The top three amateur men and top three amateur women after qualifying will advance to the stepladder finals to determine the U.S. Amateur champions and a spot on Team USA. If the champion already has earned a spot on Team USA, the spot will be awarded to the next highest qualifier based on ranking points.
The professional portion of the Team USA Trials/ U.S. Amateur will end after qualifying.
In addition, the top men’s qualifier and the top women’s qualifier based on ranking points will represent Team USA at the QubicaAMF World Cup in 2016.
USBC Team USA 2016 will have a minimum of 12 men and 12 women. The top four men and top four women finishers at the 2016 USBC Team USA Trials, based on ranking points, will earn automatic spots while two additional men and two additional women will be selected by the National Selection Committee from the pool of players that compete at the 2016 Team USA Trials.
The National Selection Committee also will select a maximum of five men and five women for the team based on submitted resumes from Team USA or Junior Team USA members within the last 10 years or the top 25 points list of the 2014-2015 Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the 2015 Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour. The USBC Summer Team USA Trials event has been eliminated.
To be eligible for the U.S. Amateur portion of the event, a bowler must not currently hold or have held a professional membership (PBA or PWBA) in the preceding year. Also, anyone who has ever won a professional title (regional, national or senior) as a professional is not eligible to compete as an amateur.
Go to BOWL.com/TeamUSATrials to learn more about the U.S. Amateur and Team USA Trials.
Both the men’s and women’s division winners at the 2016 U.S. Amateur will earn a spot on Team USA.
The U.S. Amateur was part of the process to select Team USA members until 2008, when the World Tenpin Bowling Association (now World Bowling) announced professionals would be allowed to compete in international competitions. To produce the strongest Team USA squads possible, USBC allowed pro bowlers to take part in the U.S. Amateur/Team USA Trials and also made professionals part of the selection pool for Team USA.
“The U.S. Amateur always was a coveted title for amateur bowlers,” said Neil Stremmel, USBC Managing Director National Governing Body. “We have seen many outstanding bowlers come through programs such as Junior Gold and collegiate, and we’re excited to bring back this outstanding event to provide an opportunity for amateurs to compete for a position on Team USA.”
The schedule for the USBC Team USA Trials/U.S. Amateur is for practice on Jan. 2 with competition starting Jan. 3. All competitors will bowl five blocks of qualifying with six games per block. Each block will be contested on a different World Bowling lane pattern.
Competitors will earn ranking points based on their finish position in each block – the top bowler of the block earns one ranking point, second place in the block earns two points, etc. – with total ranking points after the five blocks determining the top qualifiers.
The top three amateur men and top three amateur women after qualifying will advance to the stepladder finals to determine the U.S. Amateur champions and a spot on Team USA. If the champion already has earned a spot on Team USA, the spot will be awarded to the next highest qualifier based on ranking points.
The professional portion of the Team USA Trials/ U.S. Amateur will end after qualifying.
In addition, the top men’s qualifier and the top women’s qualifier based on ranking points will represent Team USA at the QubicaAMF World Cup in 2016.
USBC Team USA 2016 will have a minimum of 12 men and 12 women. The top four men and top four women finishers at the 2016 USBC Team USA Trials, based on ranking points, will earn automatic spots while two additional men and two additional women will be selected by the National Selection Committee from the pool of players that compete at the 2016 Team USA Trials.
The National Selection Committee also will select a maximum of five men and five women for the team based on submitted resumes from Team USA or Junior Team USA members within the last 10 years or the top 25 points list of the 2014-2015 Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour and the 2015 Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour. The USBC Summer Team USA Trials event has been eliminated.
To be eligible for the U.S. Amateur portion of the event, a bowler must not currently hold or have held a professional membership (PBA or PWBA) in the preceding year. Also, anyone who has ever won a professional title (regional, national or senior) as a professional is not eligible to compete as an amateur.
Go to BOWL.com/TeamUSATrials to learn more about the U.S. Amateur and Team USA Trials.