When USBC instituted its Team USA Experience league concept this year as a new opportunity for bowlers to test their skills on more challenging lane conditions, few bowling centers embraced the challenge more fervently than Mel’s Lone Star Lanes in Georgetown, Texas.

Mel’s hosts three Team USA Experience leagues that attract more than 60 bowlers each week, and if you think they are all scratch bowlers polishing their skills for the next PBA Regional or scratch sweeper, you’re in for a surprise.

The bowlers taking the Team USA Experience challenge at Mel’s are youth bowlers who drive from more than 30 miles away. They are 150-average bowlers just looking to take their games to the next level. And they are USBC Silver coaches looking to practice the skills they preach.

“Not all of these bowlers are your typical scratch bowlers,” says Doug Patton, general manager of Mel’s Lone Star Lanes. “They range in average from probably 150 or so up to a couple of regional pros. I believe that these leagues will grow because the bowlers who are stepping up to the challenge are enjoying the experience.”

Team USA Experience leagues offer 12 World Tenpin Bowling Association lane patterns, each one named after an Olympic city and ranging in length from 33 feet (Sydney) to 47 feet (Paris). They are the same lane patterns that stars such as reigning World Champions Bill O’Neill and Stefanie Nation face in international competitions such as the World Championships.

“Taking on these types of conditions can really help bowlers learn more about their games,” Team USA head coach Rod Ross said in July when the league concept was announced. “Our teams have put in a lot of work to learn the nuances of the patterns and that has helped us achieve the success we have had at the international level.”

If the bowlers at Mel’s are any indication, the itch Team USA members have to put their skills to the ultimate test is catching on.

“The youth bowlers in our area actually begged to have a Team USA Experience league for them,” says James Smalls, a USBC Silver coach who bowls one of the Team USA Experience leagues at Mel’s. “The improvement in the youth that bowl the Team USA league is quite evident. I dare say that most of these kids have improved their house shot averages by 10 pins.”

Of the three Team USA Experience leagues that Mel’s offers each week, two are adult leagues while the other is open to both youth and adult bowlers. Bowlers bowl four games instead of the traditional three and face a different pattern every week.

“We give the bowlers the schedule of patterns and information on each of them on the first night of league,” Patton explains. “That way they can get mentally prepared before starting practice each week. The response has been favorable because there are a lot of patterns to choose from.”

Smalls said the wide variety of patterns challenges bowlers to adopt an equally wide range of ways to play the lanes and is one of the most beneficial aspects of the Team USA Experience league concept.

“On a house shot you can get away with playing the same line for most of the series,” Smalls says. “But on a Team USA pattern you must be prepared to change lines or use different wrist positions.”

Stefanie Nation, who mastered the 34-foot Stockholm pattern at the 2009 Women’s World Championships in Las Vegas last year to win the singles gold medal, advises that bowlers keep it simple and be open-minded.

“It’s best to try and keep things simple and see what the condition is giving you instead of trying to make things happen,” she says. “The transition on these patterns is a little tricky since they are playable from different angles. Because the transition isn’t as clear, they tend to be more challenging.”

To learn more about Team USA Experience leagues, visit the USBC Sport Bowling page at http://bowl.com/sportbowling/.