Abigania, Fleming to represent Junior Team USA at 2025 IBF Youth World Cup in Sweden
June 12, 2025
ARLINGTON, Texas – Katelyn Abigania and Connor Fleming will don the red, white and blue and represent Junior Team USA when action kicks off at the 2025 International Bowling Federation Youth World Cup, which will be held at Olympia Bowling in Helsingborg, Sweden, from June 15-22.
Abigania, an 18-year-old right-hander from San Diego, will be looking to add another international medal to the four golds (doubles, trios, team and all-events) she captured at the PANAM Bowling Youth Championship 2023 in Lima, Peru.
Fleming, on the other hand, will be looking to reach the podium for the first time on the world stage as the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup will provide the 21-year-old two-handed righty from Fort Worth, Texas, with his first opportunity to represent his country on the lanes.
Action kicks off on June 16. The day will begin with athletes from 40 federations attempting to familiarize themselves with the 43-foot oil pattern designed specifically for the event and will end with the tournament’s opening ceremony.
Then, competitors in both the boys’ and girls’ division will bowl one six-game block of singles qualifying each day from June 17-19.
Once those 18 games have been completed, each field will be cut to the top 16 players who will advance to round-robin match play, which will begin on June 20 and wrap up on the morning of June 21.
Only eight boys and eight girls will survive round-robin play and remain in medal contention when best-of-three-game matches are contested during the quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds on June 21, which will be the final day of competition at the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup.
Quarterfinal round matchups will see the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed battling the No. 7 seed and so on.
The four quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round while those that fall will be eliminated.
Once the semifinals are completed, the two winners in each division will advance to bowl for gold and silver. The bowlers who come up short during the semis will square off to decide who takes home the boys’ and girls’ bronze medals.
After all medals have been conferred, the day will end with athletes and coaches taking part in the Victory Banquet, which will officially bring the tournament to a close.
Although Abigania would certainly like to take home one of those medals, she is keeping her goals more process oriented.
“I want to create a solid game plan so that we can be correct more times than any other country when it comes to guessing what we do next during transition,” Abigania said. “In bowling, it isn’t about being right all the time; it’s about being wrong the least. My goals are to be patient, dig deep and execute each and every time.”
Nevertheless, Abigania expects to enjoy herself and make the most of the trip regardless of the outcome on the lanes.
“There is nothing I love more than going on these trips because it reiterates the absolute love and passion I have for the sport of bowling,” Abigania said. “Those who know me well know what my first trip with Team USA did to me. It showed me a different love for bowling that I had never seen before. Creating lifelong memories with people I get to grow up with, finding that will to keep being a better version of myself, it all changed me to be the athlete and person that I am today.”
And for that, Abigania is grateful.
“I just want to thank Coach Kelly – Junior Team USA Head Coach Kelly Kulick – and USBC for this amazing opportunity,” Abigania said. “It will never get old, and I will always feel the same amount of love and passion, if not more, bowling with Junior Team USA. To my teammate Connor, let’s go get that gold.”
Fleming would certainly be on board with that plan; however, like his teammate, his goals are more about the input than the outcome.
“I want to execute to the best of my abilities, and I want to leave nothing out there and feel accomplished when I get on the plane to come back home,” Fleming said.
But before he gets on that plane, Fleming hopes to experience all that Sweden has to offer and possibly forge some new relationships.
“I hope to be able to get to know more of the international players,” Fleming said. “The opportunity to be able to see the world because of this sport is surreal.”
Nevertheless, to Fleming, it’s not just an opportunity; it’s a responsibility as well.
“Being that this is going to be my first international competition, I feel honored to have been given this opportunity, and I’m going to represent our country to the best of my abilities on and off the lanes,” Fleming said.
To be eligible for the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup, athletes had to have been between the ages of 13 and 20 on Jan. 1, 2025.
For more information on Junior Team USA, CLICK HERE.
Abigania, an 18-year-old right-hander from San Diego, will be looking to add another international medal to the four golds (doubles, trios, team and all-events) she captured at the PANAM Bowling Youth Championship 2023 in Lima, Peru.
Fleming, on the other hand, will be looking to reach the podium for the first time on the world stage as the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup will provide the 21-year-old two-handed righty from Fort Worth, Texas, with his first opportunity to represent his country on the lanes.
Action kicks off on June 16. The day will begin with athletes from 40 federations attempting to familiarize themselves with the 43-foot oil pattern designed specifically for the event and will end with the tournament’s opening ceremony.
Then, competitors in both the boys’ and girls’ division will bowl one six-game block of singles qualifying each day from June 17-19.
Once those 18 games have been completed, each field will be cut to the top 16 players who will advance to round-robin match play, which will begin on June 20 and wrap up on the morning of June 21.
Only eight boys and eight girls will survive round-robin play and remain in medal contention when best-of-three-game matches are contested during the quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds on June 21, which will be the final day of competition at the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup.
Quarterfinal round matchups will see the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed battling the No. 7 seed and so on.
The four quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round while those that fall will be eliminated.
Once the semifinals are completed, the two winners in each division will advance to bowl for gold and silver. The bowlers who come up short during the semis will square off to decide who takes home the boys’ and girls’ bronze medals.
After all medals have been conferred, the day will end with athletes and coaches taking part in the Victory Banquet, which will officially bring the tournament to a close.
Although Abigania would certainly like to take home one of those medals, she is keeping her goals more process oriented.
“I want to create a solid game plan so that we can be correct more times than any other country when it comes to guessing what we do next during transition,” Abigania said. “In bowling, it isn’t about being right all the time; it’s about being wrong the least. My goals are to be patient, dig deep and execute each and every time.”
Nevertheless, Abigania expects to enjoy herself and make the most of the trip regardless of the outcome on the lanes.
“There is nothing I love more than going on these trips because it reiterates the absolute love and passion I have for the sport of bowling,” Abigania said. “Those who know me well know what my first trip with Team USA did to me. It showed me a different love for bowling that I had never seen before. Creating lifelong memories with people I get to grow up with, finding that will to keep being a better version of myself, it all changed me to be the athlete and person that I am today.”
And for that, Abigania is grateful.
“I just want to thank Coach Kelly – Junior Team USA Head Coach Kelly Kulick – and USBC for this amazing opportunity,” Abigania said. “It will never get old, and I will always feel the same amount of love and passion, if not more, bowling with Junior Team USA. To my teammate Connor, let’s go get that gold.”
Fleming would certainly be on board with that plan; however, like his teammate, his goals are more about the input than the outcome.
“I want to execute to the best of my abilities, and I want to leave nothing out there and feel accomplished when I get on the plane to come back home,” Fleming said.
But before he gets on that plane, Fleming hopes to experience all that Sweden has to offer and possibly forge some new relationships.
“I hope to be able to get to know more of the international players,” Fleming said. “The opportunity to be able to see the world because of this sport is surreal.”
Nevertheless, to Fleming, it’s not just an opportunity; it’s a responsibility as well.
“Being that this is going to be my first international competition, I feel honored to have been given this opportunity, and I’m going to represent our country to the best of my abilities on and off the lanes,” Fleming said.
To be eligible for the 2025 IBF Youth World Cup, athletes had to have been between the ages of 13 and 20 on Jan. 1, 2025.
For more information on Junior Team USA, CLICK HERE.