Illinois youth coach to receive Dahms award

ARLINGTON, Texas - John Dill of Wheaton, Ill., has been selected to receive the 2013 David Dahms Coach of the Year Award by the United States Bowling Congress Youth Committee.

Named in honor of the youth bowling leader instrumental in the creation of what now is known as the Junior Gold program, the David Dahms award recognizes a coach who has been actively involved in a USBC Youth program and has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to coaching, sportsmanship and knowledge of USBC Youth rules.

John DillDill has been the head coach of the youth program at Fox Bowl in Wheaton for the last 11 years. He said through attending International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association (IBPSIA) and USBC Coaching conferences, he has met many coaches who have received such honors and is grateful to be recognized alongside them.

"I have a great deal of respect for many of those coaches I met, and being categorized with them is an honor," Dill said. "Also, because of the great respect I have for so many of my teachers, I hope they feel I am deserving of this recognition."

Fox Bowl has three major youth programs - a Saturday program, a Sunday travel league and a Bowlopolis training clinic that Dill was asked to develop by co-proprietor Kimberly Stanek-Sims to help transition In-School bowlers to the lanes. The five-week clinic is run several times during the season by Dill, Jim Thatcher and Gregg Zicha, along with student instructors, and approximately 600 students have been through the clinics.

"As proprietors, we had a vision of a junior bowling program that could be instructional and social, yet have options for higher competition and bowler development," Stanek-Sims and her husband, Tom, wrote in their nomination letter. "John has made our dream come true."

When Dill started bowling as a youth, USBC Hall of Famer Cecelia Winandy was one of his first coaches. In his coaching career, Dill said his association with another Hall of Famer, Paul Krumske, made him become more involved in coaching.

"Without a doubt, Paul was the most influential person to get me interested in coaching," Dill said. "Paul was a wonderful personality whom I learned a great deal from."

Dill was named coach of the year by the Illinois USBC Youth Association in 2010 and also was selected to receive the President's Award by the Illinois State Bowling Proprietors Association that same year. He has been named to Bowlers Journal's 100 Top Coaches list.

For being selected the USBC David Dahms Coach of the Year recipient, Dill will receive an expenses-paid trip to the 2013 USBC Convention in Reno, Nev., to receive the award.

Go to BOWL.com/scholarships to learn more about youth scholarships and awards.