Association eNews: July 26, 2012

In this week's eNews

System maintenance
Increase Your Average DVD
Pre-printing membership applications
Welcome 2 Bowling webinars
Free coaches training
BJI High School Prospects

Year-end system maintenance
The IBM iSeries at USBC Headquarters will be unavailable due to system maintenance starting Tuesday, July 31 at noon Central until Wednesday, August 1 at noon. You should expect that the following USBC applications will be unavailable during this time:

Associate Membership (Join USBC)
USBC Search (Find-A-Member, Find-A-Center, etc.)
Coaches Association Registration
College Bowling
High School Bowling Team Registration
League Standing Sheets
Online Membership Processing (Youth)
Online Tournament Registration and Maintenance
Sport Bowling – League, Tournament/Center Registration, Search Pages
Supply Orders
WinLABs (including awards)

The SMART website will be unavailable starting at 5 p.m. Central on July 30, 2012 for year-end processing. Website and check processing will be available once the year-end process is complete. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Should you need immediate assistance, please contact us at 1-800-514-BOWL ext. 8292 or you may email us at smart@bowl.com.

Increase Your Average DVD mailing
Many USBC association leaders and members have received an offer to participate in the Increase Your Average – Secrets of the Pros DVD Collection featuring Chris Barnes and Team USA coaches.

The program involves a member receiving a free instructional DVD to preview. The member then has the option to purchase and receive the next DVD in the series, which also includes several coupons for free practice games. If the member does not want the series, they can return the DVD so another USBC member can receive the offer, or they can simply keep the DVD as a gift.

Association leaders should assure their members this is a valuable program designed to increase USBC member’s skill levels and there is no obligation to those that receive a DVD.

We hope you will encourage members to either purchase the DVD or send it back so another member can receive the offer. The offer currently is being sent to select multi-year members and national tournament participants. More information can be found at BOWL.com/coaching, or by clicking here.

Margins for pre-printing membership applications in WinLABs
For associations that wish to pre-print their membership applications, they will need to change their top margin in the “Output Options” tab. The default margin is set at 0.500; to print the cards consistently, the margin will need to be changed to 0.600.

Welcome 2 Bowling webinars
Hosted by USBC Regional Manager David Prange, the Association Development team will conduct a group of webinars to explain the Welcome 2 Bowling program as well as the upcoming Welcome 2 Bowling Coaching Clinics. The schedule and titles of the webinars (all times Eastern):

Monday, July 30 – 8 p.m.
Tuesday, July 31 – 3 p.m

To register for one of the Webinars, please send an email with your name, association name and number, email address, phone number and the webinar in which you would like to participate to David.Prange@bowl.com.

Registration ends 48 hours before the webinar is conducted. After registering, we will send you sign-on instructions.

Free training for volunteer coaches
USA Bowling Coaching seminars are being offered throughout the country and the seminars are a great way for volunteers to learn the basic skills necessary to teach the fundamentals of bowling to our youth.

Each seminar is approximately three hours in length and each attendee is provided free tools and curriculum to take home with them, so please encourage your coaches to take part in this great program.

Coaches can register right now at BOWL.com/usabowlingcoaching or by clicking here. For more information, contact the Youth Development team at (817) 385-8455 or usacoaching@ibcyouth.com.

BJI High School Prospects nominations
Do you believe you know someone who deserves to be listed among the top high school bowlers in the nation? Nominations are now open for Bowlers Journal International’s 2012 High School Top Prospects list. Being selected not only means recognition of the high school bowler’s accomplishments, but provides exposure to those who plan to compete in collegiate bowling.

Bowlers must be high school students for the 2012-13 school year, and nominations are due by August 20. Please click here for the nomination form.