Illinois man named Kerm Helmer Horizon Award winner
January 06, 2011
Steve Lawson of Mahomet, Ill., who has been involved in collegiate and youth bowling for more than three decades, has been named the 2011 United States Bowling Congress Kerm Helmer Horizon Award recipient by the USBC Youth Committee.
The award is named for the longtime bowling coach at Erie Community College to recognize leaders in the youth bowling community who have displayed the courage, determination and ability to develop far-reaching programs of national scope that provide fun and exciting opportunities. Helmer was selected posthumously for the inaugural award in 2003.
Lawson, 58, worked at the University of Illinois until he retired in 2002. He has been involved in collegiate bowling as a coach at Illinois and continues to volunteer with the program. He also has been a sectional coordinator for USBC Collegiate.
He has been heavily involved with the Pepsi State Championships in Illinois and the USBC Junior Gold Championships. He currently serves as a director on the Illinois USBC Youth board.
"To say what this award means to me is very difficult," Lawson said. "I knew Kerm for nearly 30 years. He was a competitor (as collegiate coaches), a colleague and as a mentor as members of various committees; most of all, he was a friend. To have my name and his in the same sentence just is beyond words."
Lawson has been responsible for event statistics at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships and USBC Junior Gold Championships. He said he worked toward making bowling similar to other sports in the way that competitors keep track of scores. In the early days, that happened with paper standings sheets after every game "which ultimately drove me to develop some of the things we see today onsite that I am involved with."
In nominating Lawson for the award, National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association president Karl Nickolai lauded Lawson for learning the latest technology to make scoring at the ITC "efficient, up to date and professional in appearance."
"He is an integral part of the team that makes the ITC the first-rate experience the collegiate athletes have come to know and anticipate each year," Nickolai said.
Lawson was a longtime officer in the NCBCA. After he stopped coaching at Illinois because of schedule conflicts, he continued to volunteer as NCBCA Secretary-Treasurer and also took responsibility for maintaining the NCBCA All-America awards program.
He also became involved in the Bowling Writers Association of America, serving as chairperson for the BWAA Collegiate Team Poll.
Lawson will receive the Kerm Helmer Horizon Award at the 2011 USBC Convention, which will be held at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine, Texas, June 29 through July 1.
For more information about USBC awards and scholarships, visit BOWL.com/scholarships.
USBC Kerm Helmer Horizon Award winners
2004 Kerm Helmer, Cheektowaga, N.Y.
2005 John Sommer Jr., Rockford, Ill.
2006 Glenn Carlson, Fresno, Calif.
2007 Jeffrey Frye, Hackettstown, N.J.
2008 Jack Thomas, Sacramento, Calif.
2009 Michael Nyitray, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
2010 Jim Zebehazy, Leesburg, Fla.
2011 Steve Lawson, Mahomet, Ill.
The award is named for the longtime bowling coach at Erie Community College to recognize leaders in the youth bowling community who have displayed the courage, determination and ability to develop far-reaching programs of national scope that provide fun and exciting opportunities. Helmer was selected posthumously for the inaugural award in 2003.
Lawson, 58, worked at the University of Illinois until he retired in 2002. He has been involved in collegiate bowling as a coach at Illinois and continues to volunteer with the program. He also has been a sectional coordinator for USBC Collegiate.He has been heavily involved with the Pepsi State Championships in Illinois and the USBC Junior Gold Championships. He currently serves as a director on the Illinois USBC Youth board.
"To say what this award means to me is very difficult," Lawson said. "I knew Kerm for nearly 30 years. He was a competitor (as collegiate coaches), a colleague and as a mentor as members of various committees; most of all, he was a friend. To have my name and his in the same sentence just is beyond words."
Lawson has been responsible for event statistics at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships and USBC Junior Gold Championships. He said he worked toward making bowling similar to other sports in the way that competitors keep track of scores. In the early days, that happened with paper standings sheets after every game "which ultimately drove me to develop some of the things we see today onsite that I am involved with."
In nominating Lawson for the award, National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association president Karl Nickolai lauded Lawson for learning the latest technology to make scoring at the ITC "efficient, up to date and professional in appearance."
"He is an integral part of the team that makes the ITC the first-rate experience the collegiate athletes have come to know and anticipate each year," Nickolai said.
Lawson was a longtime officer in the NCBCA. After he stopped coaching at Illinois because of schedule conflicts, he continued to volunteer as NCBCA Secretary-Treasurer and also took responsibility for maintaining the NCBCA All-America awards program.
He also became involved in the Bowling Writers Association of America, serving as chairperson for the BWAA Collegiate Team Poll.
Lawson will receive the Kerm Helmer Horizon Award at the 2011 USBC Convention, which will be held at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine, Texas, June 29 through July 1.
For more information about USBC awards and scholarships, visit BOWL.com/scholarships.
USBC Kerm Helmer Horizon Award winners
2004 Kerm Helmer, Cheektowaga, N.Y.
2005 John Sommer Jr., Rockford, Ill.
2006 Glenn Carlson, Fresno, Calif.
2007 Jeffrey Frye, Hackettstown, N.J.
2008 Jack Thomas, Sacramento, Calif.
2009 Michael Nyitray, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
2010 Jim Zebehazy, Leesburg, Fla.
2011 Steve Lawson, Mahomet, Ill.