Team USA Trials to be based on points system

  ARLINGTON, Texas - When the United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials take place in January, members of Team USA will be determined based on a points system rather than total pinfall.

The unique way of determining automatic qualifiers for Team USA as well as the Team USA Trials champions will reward consistency and versatility over the course of the four-day event, which is contested on four lane conditions. The 2012 Team USA Trials is scheduled to take place Jan. 2-6 at Texas Station in Las Vegas.

In each of the four rounds, players will be given points based on their finishing position in that day's round. For example, if a bowler finishes first, they will receive one point. Second place receives two points, third place receives three points and so forth.

The top man and top woman with the fewest amount of total points after the four rounds will be declared the Team USA Trials champion. The top three men and top three women in the standings will earn automatic spots on Team USA for 2012.

"This is a system we have used for a number of years when analyzing bowlers for Team USA at-large selections," Team USA head coach Rod Ross said. "After studying the data for the past few years, this is best way to determine the automatic qualifiers for Team USA."

In addition to the automatic spots on Team USA, the National Selection Committee, which is led by Ross, will select two men and two women as at-large selections to Team USA.

A total of eight Junior Team USA spots - four boys and four girls - also will be available. The top two boys and top two girls in the final points standings will earn automatic spots, while two boys and two girls spots will be at-large selections taken from either the Team USA Trials field or the finals field from the USBC Junior Gold Championships held in July 2011. All bowlers 20 and under as of Jan. 1, 2012 are eligible for Junior Team USA.

All USBC members are eligible to compete in the Team USA Trials and entry information for the event can be found at BOWL.com/teamusatrials.