First Bowling Combine is underway at ITRC

The first Bowling Combine for College Prospects kicked off at the International Training and Research Center on Wednesday and more than 70 youth bowlers are taking part in the two-day program.

"For our first combine, we have received a tremendous amount of interest from both the youth bowlers and college coaches," said Bryan O'Keefe, Team USA assistant coach and program director for the combine. "We are going to provide an objective evaluation to each bowler so they will know their strengths and weaknesses both on the lanes and off. It also will be a valuable tool for the college coaches in attendance."

The participants, from students who have collegiate eligibility remaining to those who have completed at least their sophomore year in high school, will go through a series of stations that will measure each bowler's sport-specific and athleticism skills.

Upon completion of the tests, each athlete will receive a ranking called the Performance Evaluation Test or P.E.T. score. This test score, an objective view of their overall abilities in key components necessary for success, can be compared against the bowlers at this and future combines.

Nearly 20 college coaches from throughout the country are at the combine. They not only will be able to analyze the potential of the student-athlete for their program, but will receive an evaluation of each participant and will have the opportunity for one-on-one contact with prospective student-athletes.

The staff for the combine includes O'Keefe, Team USA head coach Rod Ross, Team USA assistant head coach Kim Terrell-Kearney, and USBC Sports Performance Specialist Nick Bohanan.

Go to BOWL.com/combine to learn more about the Bowling Combine.

Following the combine, the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) will hold its convention starting Friday at the ITRC. The NTCA mainly consists of coaches from NCAA women's programs, and those coaches will have the chance to learn from the ITRC staff during the three-day convention.

The ITRC, located at the International Bowling Campus, has 14 lanes dedicated to training and state-of-the-art technology including biomechanical motion tracking, DigiTrax(tm) ball motion technology, video analysis and much more.