News : Jacob Gosse competes in Junior Gold Bowling Championships

Jacob Gosse competed in the 2015 Junior Gold Championships in Chicago this past week. Each bowler had to qualify for the Jr Gold tournament by having the highest pin total at a local junior gold qualifier.

3120 Youth bowlers competed in three age different age groups: U12, U15, and U20. This year the youth from all over the United States were competing for college scholarships and for . The competition consists of bowling on three different sport patterns. A sport pattern is much more difficult then a house shot as the oil is dispersed differently across the lane and on the length of the lane. This year the youth bowlers bowled on the Beijing (35 ft), Atlanta (38 ft), and the Toyko (43 ft) patterns. On Saturday, July 11th, the youth bowlers had opportunities to meet some of the professional bowlers from Storm, Motiv, Brunswick. Many of the bowlers were excited to get to meet these bowlers and to get their autographs.

Jacob competed in the U20 competition against 1403 other U20 bowlers. This was the largest group of youth bowlers which includes high school and college bowlers. Jacob finished 467th and was in the top third of the U20 Boys group. This was the first time Jacob has competed in the Jr Gold competition. In preparation for this he has been participating in a Jr Gold summer league at the May City bowling alley in Cedar Rapids. This provided he the opportunity to bowl on different sport shots and and to compete for scholarships and qualify for next year's Jr Gold tournament.

During the weekend before the actual Jr Gold competition starts each bowler is able to practice one hour on each sport shot. Each bowler is unaware of the which sport shots was being selected for this year's Jr Gold competition until they went to their scheduled practice time. Each day the bowlers bowled 4 or 5 games on either the long, medium or short sport patterns. At the end of three days the top bowlers advanced to the final competitions where the ultimate winner out bowls his fellow competitor. For the U20 group this year they advanced 200 bowlers to the final rounds of competition and this is determined by how many are registered in each age group. The final 16 bowlers will compete in a match play competition to determine the final winner. Individuals were also given the opportunity to sign up to qualify to become bowlers on Junior Team USA.

Over the week there were other bowling competitions for the youth bowlers can sign up for. The US Open tournament, Youth/adult baker tournament and the Survivor tournament provide for bowlers to compete for additional scholarship opportunities. Jacob and his Mom (Michele) finished 142 on the youth/adult baker tournament. This was and opportunity for the youths and patents to have some fun and to bowl together. Throughout the tournament Jacob and Michele met many bowlers from all over the United States and enjoyed the week long competition. Jacob bowled between over 27 games of bowling in 7 days. We learned about their high school teams and leagues and the opportunities other states offer their youth bowlers.