The Skills Center, a division of Strike Ten Entertainment (STE), will be establishing a new national recognition for bowling coaches and/or instructors through the presentation of a new award. The National Coaching/Instructors Award, which will honor an outstanding bowling coach/instructor. Instituting this new award may also lead to the creation of a hall of fame for bowling coaches and instructors. A task force has been formed to develop award criteria, annually review candidates as well as explore the creation of a bowling coaches/instructors hall of fame.
Throughout the years, the perception of bowling in the United States has been mixed - sport vs. recreation. However, in several foreign countries, there is no doubt bowling is treated and respected as a sport. This week, more than 20 international coaches have visited United States Bowling Congress Headquarters in suburban Milwaukee for an International Coach/Instructor Training seminar, which concludes on Saturday.
The 3-day classroom portion of the International Coach/Instructor Training seminar hosted by the United States Bowling Congress is over and the 21 coaches from 16 countries will be on the eight lanes in the USBC Specifications and Certification center on Friday getting hands on experience with exclusive new coaching technologies being developed by USBC. The training seminar concludes on Saturday with the coaches working with students on the lanes at a local bowling center. 
Australian two-handed bowler Jason Belmonte has teamed up with the United States Bowling Congress as an international spokesperson for youth and the burgeoning two-handed approach delivery. In that role, Belmonte will promote the sport of bowling in general and in particular the two-handed style approach delivery popular with youth bowlers and that he has used with great success to win many major tournaments worldwide. Belmonte, 24, also will be a resource for USBC, assisting the national governing body and its coaching certification program in developing curriculum for the two-handed style that will be added to USBC coach training manuals.
After spending two consecutive days in the classroom at the USBC Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., the 21 coaches from 16 countries attending the International Coach/Instructor Training seminar were delighted when USBC Chief Operating Officer Kevin Dornberger invited them to the Holler House, home of the oldest bowling alleys in the United States. Holler House opened the doors in September 1908 and will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Continuous Operation September this year. 
On the third day of the International Coach/Instructor Training seminar hosted by the United States Bowling Congress at the USBC Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., coaches will receive USBC Bronze Instructor training by USBC's Rich Williams, David Garber and Bill Monce (l-r). This certification will allow them to teach Bronze coaching conferences and certify new USBC coaches in their home countries and regions. 
On a bright and sunny Wednesday morning with mild temperatures of 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12o Celsius), the 21 participants of the International Coach/Instructor Training seminar hosted by the United States Bowling Congress returned to the USBC Headquarters (pictured) in Milwaukee, Wis. on for the second classroom portion of the USBC Silver coaching certification conference led by USBC Junior Team USA and USBC Gold coach Rod Ross. 
On Tuesday morning some of the world's best coaches and players met in the lobby of the Wyndham Milwaukee Airport hotel in Wisconsin to get ready for the first International Silver Certification Seminar at United States Bowling Congress Headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis. USBC COO Kevin Dornberger, who is also the president of the World Tenpin Bowling Association, welcomed the 21 notable names from 16 countries representing all the three FIQ/WTBA zone - Asia, America and Europe - in the seminar room in front of more than 100 USBC staff members. 
Star professional bowlers and former top amateurs Sean Rash and Robert Smith have been added to the roster of United States Bowling Congress Ambassadors. The USBC Ambassador program is a speakers' bureau that provides a star bowler as the headliner for hall of fame banquets, awards dinners, youth programs, bowling center grand openings or any other function where a guest speaker would enhance the event.
In response to The Skills Center, a division of Strike Ten Entertainment (STE), establishing a new national recognition for bowling coaches and/or instructors as well as the creation of a Hall of Fame for Bowling Coaches and Instructors, the Coaches Hall of Fame Task Force has developed and is releasing the inductee application for widespread distribution. Applications are now available on several websites including Bowlingdigital.com. 
Certified coaches from Ohio, California and Minnesota are the USBC nominees for the U.S. Olympic Committee's 2007 Coach of the Year awards. USBC coaches Jeri Edwards (left), John Fukasawa (right) and David Pearson have been nominated for USOC National Coach of the Year, Volunteer Coach of the Year and Developmental Coach of the Year, respectively. The awards are organized through the USOC Coaching Recognition Program, which seeks to elevate the status of coaching as a profession and recognize the best coaches in the United States.
In another step to bolster the number of quality coaches worldwide, the United States Bowling Congress will host nearly 20 notable names in bowling from around the world in a week-long International Coach/Instructor Training seminar at USBC Headquarters in suburban Milwaukee on Feb. 12-16. This seminar is a continuation of USBC's effort to assist in the creation of an international coach training program and enhance the strength of federations within bowling's world governing body, the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs. 
John Fukasawa, Michael Nyitray, Kayla Chick and Kyle Calcote have been selected as recipients of United States Bowling Congress Youth recognition awards. Fukasawa, right, was named USBC Youth Program Volunteer of the Year for his outstanding efforts in fostering, operating and promoting youth bowling programs. Nyitray, left, was selected as the David Dahms Coach of the Year for his outstanding commitment to coaching, sportsmanship, and knowledge of USBC Youth bowling rules.
It doesn't take a business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to determine why proprietors of bowling centers want bowlers to bowl better. The first is as old as sports: People who enjoy a certain sport want to see others excel at the same sport. But the other reason is that, generally, bowlers who bowl better become happy customers. And happy customers are repeat customers. And repeat customers means more money to those who run bowling centers. So it's not unusual to see bowling centers host seminars or classes to help bowlers improve their games. But few centers in the area will be able to boast a tutor or coach like Lane Glo Bowl.
In my opinion, the new attention being paid to bowling coaches is one of the most deserving endeavors for the game. After all, the development of coaches/instructors has become one of the most significant undertakings in the bowling industry for the past 10 years. How better can the industry display appreciation for individuals like veteran coaches Dick Ritger, Bill Bunetta, Tom Kouros, Fred Borden, Bill Taylor, Ron Hoppe, and others who have paved the way for spreading the bowling gospel all over the world?
Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno, a United States Bowling Congress coach, international ambassador and four-time World Cup champion, completed his eighth USBC Coaching conference by certifying more than 20 coaches in Singapore Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2007. Nepomuceno and a group of international coaches trained and certified 23 USBC Coaching Level I and Bronze coaches from Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia during the seminar at the Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild bowling center.
Sometimes the evolution of thought about a potential bowling story can lead me in a different direction several times during the formation of the story. For example, I did an interview with USBC President Jeff Bojé and he is so gung ho about bowling as a sport and the need for qualified coaches that I got to thinking about how do you determine the best coaches? And while pondering that question I came up with another question: Why is there no Bowling Coaches Hall of Fame?
Costas Mitsingas of Cyprus has become the first Gold coach from outside the United States to be certified by the USBC. Mitsingas, 36, of Nicosia, Cyprus, becomes the 30th Gold coach in the USBC Coaching program, which has more than 1,200 active certified coaches worldwide in its Coaches Association. o earn Gold certification, coaches must be certified through the USBC Coaching Silver level and have mastered coaching skills in the physical game, lane play, equipment, mental game, videotaping, video analysis and giving lessons. 