ARLINGTON, Texas – Starting this fall, USA Bowling will hold 16 regional youth events to determine teams that will advance to the first USA Bowling national tournament in 2016.

International Bowling Campus Youth Development started USA Bowling as a team-based youth program to introduce youngsters to bowling. USA Bowling follows the same structure as other youth sports by placing children on a team, providing a coach for each team and having regular practices along with weekly competitions.

USA Bowling Regional events were introduced two years ago to provide additional opportunities for competition. The 16 USA Bowling Regional events that start this fall will determine teams that will compete in the first USA Bowling National event to be held in Indianapolis in the summer of 2016. Plans also include acquiring a TV partner for the new national event.

The sites for the 16 USA Bowling regional events with dates, regional, center and city:

• Oct. 3-4 – Mountain, Holiday Lanes, Lakewood, Colo.
• Oct. 10-11 – Lower Great Lakes, Mike Aulby’s Arrowhead Bowl, Lafayette, Ind.
• Oct. 17-18 – Upper Great Lakes, Mermaid Lanes, St. Paul, Minn.
• Oct. 17-18 – Southeast, Buffaloe Lanes North, Raleigh, N.C.
• Oct. 24-25 – New England, AMF Auburn Lanes, Auburn, Mass.
• Nov. 7-8 – Pacific Northwest, Husted’s Hazel Dell Lanes, Vancouver, Wash.
• Nov. 14-15 – Upper Midwest, Sun Valley Lanes, Lincoln, Neb.
• Nov. 14-15 – Northeast, Rab’s Country Lanes, Staten Island, N.Y.
• Nov. 21-22 – South, Vestavia Bowl, Birmingham, Ala.
• Dec. 5-6 – Heartland, St. Clair Bowl, Fairview Heights, Ill.
• Dec. 12-13 – Atlantic East, Collins Bowling Center – Eastland, Lexington, Ky.
• Dec. 19-20 – South Central, Plano Super Bowl, Plano, Texas
• Jan. 9-10 – Coastal South, Boardwalk Bowl, Orlando, Fla.
• Jan. 16-17 – Pacific Southwest, 4th Street Bowl, San Jose, Calif.
• Jan. 23-24 – Midwest, Northrock Lanes, Wichita, Kan.
• Jan. 30-31 – Southwest, AMF Christown Lanes, Phoenix, Ariz.

For USA Bowling regional events, rosters can have up to six bowlers, though only four will compete at a time, and teams do not have to be members of a USA Bowling league to participate. There will be two divisions at each USA Bowling Regional – Under 12 (born Aug. 1, 2003 or later) and Under 15 (born between Aug. 1, 2000 and July 31, 2003).

The two-day regionals will begin with eight round-robin Baker matches to determine seeding for tiered brackets. The second day of competition will consist of double-elimination match play, with each match a best-of-three games format. Competition will continue until each tiered bracket has a winner.

The cost to compete in a USA Bowling Regional event is $110 and all participants will receive an event gift; trophies will be awarded to the top teams.

USA Bowling is a product of the Youth Education Services (YES) Fund, a joint initiative of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America and United States Bowling Congress supported by top bowling brands including Bowling.com, Brunswick, Columbia 300, Ebonite, Hammer, QubicaAMF, Roto Grip, Storm and Track.

Go to BOWL.com/USABowling to learn more about the USA Bowling program and to register for the regional events.