Great Weekend of Bowling!!

Normally, you would think this article was about good scores on the lanes. Actually, it is all about the organizations that are involved in the sport of bowling (another topic answered quite well by Mike Pettinella in 2007). There are the proprietors, the governing body, trainers and coaches, professionals and the writers.

Bowling now resides deep in the heart of Texas (Arlington, to be exact). With the relocation of the International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum from St. Louis to Arlington, all the bowling organizations celebrated the grand opening on January 25, 2010. The event was combined with the Bowling Proprietors Bowling Summit, a semi-annual event to strategize developing trends in the sport.

The red carpet was rolled out to all the attendees (an estimated 1800-2000) who came from all over the United States to see the ribbon cutting, time capsule burying events. A Texan sportscaster emcee'd the festivities introducing Miss Arlington to sing the National anthem and the Rangers drum team to kick-off the celebration. There were speakers from USBC (the governing body), BPAA (proprietors), and the Bowling Hall of Fame.

Of special interest to me was the Hall of Fame because I am the daughter of Trudy Todd, Meritorious service inductee in 1993. This visit to the new International Bowling Campus was a must for me as my mom and dad had attended the event when the Hall was opened first in St. Louis. The campus is impressive with the two story high bowling pin marking the location for visitors.

Right across the street is Six Flags theme park and down the street is the Texas Rangers ball park and just a little further on is the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. Situating the campus here was strategic to drawing visitors to the Hall of Fame and the brand new Kegel Training Center.

The grand opening followed the spectacular Tournament of Champions win by Kelly Kulick. Imagine if you can, all the bowling leaders in the lobby of the Sheraton watching Kelly as she made sports history beating Chris Barnes 265-195. Yes, we were there watching, even delaying important meetings because Professional Bowling was on and history might be written in the sport of bowling.

Let's hope that as Kelly made her historical win that all the bowling leaders have made history by creating the new International Bowling Campus. Be sure to make a visit to Arlington, Texas....it is worth the price of admission!