ALA creates lasting friendships and brings debut at Open Championships
July 12, 2023
RENO, Nev. – The bowling community has a way of bringing people together.
Steff DiMartine of New Castle, Delaware, and Dave Lloyd of Lafayette, Tennessee, came from different parts of the country when they made their way to the International Bowling Campus to participate in the Association Leadership Academy (ALA) in 2019, but they quickly forged a bond with one purpose in mind – helping grow the sport through their local associations.
What started as a couple days of workshops in Arlington, Texas, turned into countless phone calls and texts over the past several years to bounce ideas off each other and see what was working to make their associations thrive, and they recently met up again in an appearance at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships with DiMartine making her tournament debut as part of Lloyd’s 10-team group at the National Bowling Stadium.
The ALA is a two-day event offering a variety of seminars/workshops to assist associations in enhancing service to its members and to effectively represent the value of USBC membership. Many of the seminars/workshops mirror those presented at the USBC Convention and Annual Meeting.
DiMartine, who serves as president of the Northern Delaware USBC, knew she wanted to take part in the ALA when the opportunity came up, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to take away from the experience.
“I had no idea what to expect,” DiMartine said. “When it was offered to our association to come to Texas, I absolutely wanted to go. Three of us got on a plane with no idea what to expect. We ended up learning so much. I still talk about the things we learned in that training.”
The ability to network with others also is a big part of what the ALA brings to the table, and DiMartine and Lloyd, who was serving as the president of the Casa Grande Valley USBC at the time, started the conversation early when they met by chance at the hotel bar and found some common ground through their experiences.
They ended up working together through many of the seminars during their time at the IBC as well, which helped to build their friendship and opened a line of communication as they both looked to build on what they learned.
“It was just fun from the get go, and we ended having fun the entire time during the courses,” DiMartine said. “We became friends and stayed friends. He’s helped me through some of the association issues we’ve had and bounced ideas off each other.”
DiMartine has leaned on Lloyd for advice in helping build some of their youth programming and getting more involved with Junior Gold, and although Lloyd moved from Arizona to Tennessee about two years ago, he still offers help when he can back to the members of the Casa Grande Valley USBC.
Lloyd described his time at the ALA as an “eye-opening experience” which brought some changes to their local board.
“There were some things I had no clue about, and once I found out what everything was all about, I took it back to our board and we restructured everything,” Lloyd said. “We changed how our tournaments were run, our marketing, everything. We changed all that.
“We were a smaller association and only had like 600 members, but whenever we would run a tournament, it would conflict with Metro Mesa, Phoenix or even Tucson. We got with everybody and figured out the tournament dates to avoid conflicts, and our numbers grew for our local tournaments because we opened it up to those areas.”
DiMartine echoed the impact of the ALA in helping build their marketing and seeing their tournament numbers grow.
“What to do with our marketing was big for us,” DiMartine said. “Facebook was big. We received approval to purchase coasters with our logo and our website and phone number to drop off at all the bowling alleys. We got table tents, flags and banners for our tournaments, and we started to see some of our biggest turnouts because of the work we did.”
While they continued to work together and stay in touch, a new opportunity came up as Lloyd continued to build the size of his group at the Open Championships.
He asked if DiMartine would like to bring some bowlers to the tournament as part of his group, and she gladly obliged, bringing a team full of first-time participants to the event from Delaware, which also included her husband, Nick.
Much like at the ALA, DiMartine was quick to build new friendships.
“We had so much fun with the team that we got paired with,” DiMartine said. “We’re going to be friends for life, too.”
DiMartine and Lloyd capped the trip as doubles partners at the NBS, and Lloyd is looking to more than double his number of teams at the 2024 Open Championships in Las Vegas at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
“I had reached out to her and asked if she wanted to bowl,” said Lloyd, who made his fifth appearance at the Open Championships. “I think she was a little hesitant at first, and then I said I had a big group with 10 teams. And here we are.
“This was my first time bowling in Reno, and it’s a totally different atmosphere. Everybody I brought this year said it was awesome, too. I tell everybody to just bowl, relax and have fun. It’s all you have to do. Last year I had six teams, and this year I have 10. I have 24 reserved for next year, and I hope to keep this going and hope everyone has fun.”
With several sessions left to go in 2023, both DiMartine and Lloyd urge those with the opportunity to check out the ALA to help bolster their associations and create a stronger product for their members.
“You can learn more about how to take your state’s bowling to a higher level,” DiMartine said. “You’ll learn things that you never even thought about doing for your board, bowlers and association. I was invigorated afterward and wish I could have bottled my excitement when I came back to our board.”
“If you go, there will be things you’re going to learn,” Lloyd said. “When you leave, you’re going to come back with an open mind and a whole new vision.”
Three dates remain for the ALA in 2023 – Aug. 19-20 in St. Paul, Minnesota; Sept. 9-10 in Albany, New York; and Oct. 21-22 at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas.
To learn more about the Association Leadership Academy, click here.
The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
Steff DiMartine of New Castle, Delaware, and Dave Lloyd of Lafayette, Tennessee, came from different parts of the country when they made their way to the International Bowling Campus to participate in the Association Leadership Academy (ALA) in 2019, but they quickly forged a bond with one purpose in mind – helping grow the sport through their local associations.
What started as a couple days of workshops in Arlington, Texas, turned into countless phone calls and texts over the past several years to bounce ideas off each other and see what was working to make their associations thrive, and they recently met up again in an appearance at the 2023 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships with DiMartine making her tournament debut as part of Lloyd’s 10-team group at the National Bowling Stadium.
The ALA is a two-day event offering a variety of seminars/workshops to assist associations in enhancing service to its members and to effectively represent the value of USBC membership. Many of the seminars/workshops mirror those presented at the USBC Convention and Annual Meeting.
DiMartine, who serves as president of the Northern Delaware USBC, knew she wanted to take part in the ALA when the opportunity came up, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to take away from the experience.
“I had no idea what to expect,” DiMartine said. “When it was offered to our association to come to Texas, I absolutely wanted to go. Three of us got on a plane with no idea what to expect. We ended up learning so much. I still talk about the things we learned in that training.”
The ability to network with others also is a big part of what the ALA brings to the table, and DiMartine and Lloyd, who was serving as the president of the Casa Grande Valley USBC at the time, started the conversation early when they met by chance at the hotel bar and found some common ground through their experiences.
They ended up working together through many of the seminars during their time at the IBC as well, which helped to build their friendship and opened a line of communication as they both looked to build on what they learned.
“It was just fun from the get go, and we ended having fun the entire time during the courses,” DiMartine said. “We became friends and stayed friends. He’s helped me through some of the association issues we’ve had and bounced ideas off each other.”
DiMartine has leaned on Lloyd for advice in helping build some of their youth programming and getting more involved with Junior Gold, and although Lloyd moved from Arizona to Tennessee about two years ago, he still offers help when he can back to the members of the Casa Grande Valley USBC.
Lloyd described his time at the ALA as an “eye-opening experience” which brought some changes to their local board.
“There were some things I had no clue about, and once I found out what everything was all about, I took it back to our board and we restructured everything,” Lloyd said. “We changed how our tournaments were run, our marketing, everything. We changed all that.
“We were a smaller association and only had like 600 members, but whenever we would run a tournament, it would conflict with Metro Mesa, Phoenix or even Tucson. We got with everybody and figured out the tournament dates to avoid conflicts, and our numbers grew for our local tournaments because we opened it up to those areas.”
DiMartine echoed the impact of the ALA in helping build their marketing and seeing their tournament numbers grow.
“What to do with our marketing was big for us,” DiMartine said. “Facebook was big. We received approval to purchase coasters with our logo and our website and phone number to drop off at all the bowling alleys. We got table tents, flags and banners for our tournaments, and we started to see some of our biggest turnouts because of the work we did.”
While they continued to work together and stay in touch, a new opportunity came up as Lloyd continued to build the size of his group at the Open Championships.
He asked if DiMartine would like to bring some bowlers to the tournament as part of his group, and she gladly obliged, bringing a team full of first-time participants to the event from Delaware, which also included her husband, Nick.
Much like at the ALA, DiMartine was quick to build new friendships.
“We had so much fun with the team that we got paired with,” DiMartine said. “We’re going to be friends for life, too.”
DiMartine and Lloyd capped the trip as doubles partners at the NBS, and Lloyd is looking to more than double his number of teams at the 2024 Open Championships in Las Vegas at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
“I had reached out to her and asked if she wanted to bowl,” said Lloyd, who made his fifth appearance at the Open Championships. “I think she was a little hesitant at first, and then I said I had a big group with 10 teams. And here we are.
“This was my first time bowling in Reno, and it’s a totally different atmosphere. Everybody I brought this year said it was awesome, too. I tell everybody to just bowl, relax and have fun. It’s all you have to do. Last year I had six teams, and this year I have 10. I have 24 reserved for next year, and I hope to keep this going and hope everyone has fun.”
With several sessions left to go in 2023, both DiMartine and Lloyd urge those with the opportunity to check out the ALA to help bolster their associations and create a stronger product for their members.
“You can learn more about how to take your state’s bowling to a higher level,” DiMartine said. “You’ll learn things that you never even thought about doing for your board, bowlers and association. I was invigorated afterward and wish I could have bottled my excitement when I came back to our board.”
“If you go, there will be things you’re going to learn,” Lloyd said. “When you leave, you’re going to come back with an open mind and a whole new vision.”
Three dates remain for the ALA in 2023 – Aug. 19-20 in St. Paul, Minnesota; Sept. 9-10 in Albany, New York; and Oct. 21-22 at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas.
To learn more about the Association Leadership Academy, click here.
The 2023 Open Championships kicked off March 4 and will conclude July 24. The 143-day tournament will feature more than 9,700 five-player teams and nearly 50,000 bowlers making their way to compete in The Biggest Little City in the World.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.