Bowling Is Growing Internationally

Every new league season, a question invariably comes up - "What do we get for the USBC annual membership dues?" I used to make no comments because I understand that costs increase from year-to-year and that means membership fees must increase nominally as well. Besides, if memory serves me right, the first time I paid membership in the ABC (American Bowling Congress) in the late '60's, it cost me $6.50 or so. You know, an increase in dues of around $12.00 over the past 40 years doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Nowadays, I believe that all bowlers should look beyond their local areas to answer the question previously asked. As the internet advances our knowledge of the world in general, so can it increase our knowledge of our bowling world, in particular. We must look beyond only our local area and spread our vision so that it encompasses the "big blue marble." Did you know that membership in the USBC (United States Bowling Congress), makes you eligible for possible participation in bowling events that are occurring worldwide? Did you know that there are (at present) 112 bowling federations around the world?

According to the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA), there are now "over 100 million bowlers, of which 10 million are participating in tournaments, leagues, and championships." Starting out as the International Bowling Federation (IBF) somewhere in the 1930's, then became the FIQ (Federation International de Quillers) in the early 1950's, when the first attempts at uniting the entire world of bowling began in earnest. On the international stage, the WTBA has come a long way since the 1950's.

There are three "zones" - the American Zone or Pan-American Bowling Confederation (PABCON), the Asian Zone or Asian Bowling Federation (ABF), and the European Zone or European Tenpin Bowling Association (ETBF). Within each of the zones, there are separate organizations, usually by country, that total the 112 bowling federations. At any time of the year, there will be some sort of tournament competition being conducted in their countries as well as the tournaments being held by the WTBA.

Boy, I am anxious to search around to see if there's perhaps one or two that I could participate in by taking a team there. Big dreamer? Well, I've always believed in the saying, "Where there's a will, there's a way." It would be fun trying, anyway. It appears that the major events held by the WTBA are for elite players (much the same as the Olympics), however, some of the individual countries may have competitions that would allow "regular" bowlers to participate merely by providing proof of USBC membership. I just have to check them out to make sure.

I remember bowling in the Laos team championships in 1971, the Thailand team tournament in the same timeframe, and the Okinawa bowling championships in 1978. Those were under different circumstances at very different times so I don't know if they were officially sanctioned by any world body. I do remember that it was a thrilling experience for me to be bowling where I was the only one, that I know of, who spoke English as a native language. We traveled to Vientiane (Laos Bowl) crossing the Mekong River from the northern city of Nongkhai, Thailand; drove down to the big metropolis of Bangkok (Bangkok Bowl), and I was stationed in Okinawa but bowled in the city rather than on the Air Force base so became eligible (Naha Lanes).

Our team won the championship and I came in second in singles plus won the all-events in Laos; we didn't do very well in Bangkok, though there was great side-pot action and so I did make money; and we won the team event, I cashed in doubles and singles and won the all-events in Okinawa.
Back to the WTBA and other federations around the world. This is 2010 and it appears that bowling has really grown internationally. While the PBA Tour fights to get airtime in the United States, there are television broadcasts of bowling action in many overseas countries. I have found recorded videos of many tournaments from Asia, Australia, Europe (Finland, Sweden, and England) and have watched them with the zeal I used to as a kid. I takes me back to the days of "Championship Bowling."

One thing interesting to me is that outside of the U.S., there are many competitions where men bowl against women for the overall title. In the ETBF, women get 8 pins handicap and the tournament is held in an "open" field rather than being separated. While most of them are separated by gender, it is good to see the women given the opportunity to compete with the men. As with any form of competition, if you bowl at a higher level, you will eventually get better."

Hooray for the continued growth of the WTBA and all the federations around the world that are spreading the sport of bowling. With the influx of international stars coming to the US to compete in premier events, they are gaining respect for the sport. Instead of only the elite bowlers, wouldn’t it be great to see bowlers at all levels traveling to different countries to participate in tournaments?

While there is still talk of bowling becoming an Olympic sport, suppose the USBC National tournament had teams at the amateur level coming from all over the world to participate participating in it? What a great event that would be. Ordinary, everyday bowlers coming together to compete on a worldwide basis instead of only nationally. How exciting. I hope I live to see it in my lifetime.

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)