May 6, 2022 Mike Sledz

 

PBA Jr. and Gazmine Mason Foundation Scholarship returns for second year

 

New York, NY – The PBA is excited to release dates for the 2022 Regional Qualifying tournaments for the PBA Jr. National Championship, allowing youth bowlers to compete and earn SMART scholarships. Additionally, the PBA Jr. and Gazmine Mason Foundation Scholarship will award 20 entries into the regional qualifiers.

The PBA Jr. National Championship will once again be a two-fold competition starting with direct entry into one of the five regional tournaments being held around the country on two weekends in August: August 12 – 14, 2022, and August 19 – 21, 2022. Junior bowlers who have not yet reached the age of 18 by August 1, 2022 are eligible to compete.

Each PBA Jr. Regional Qualifying tournament will guarantee a first place $2,000 SMART Scholarship. SMART scholarships will also be awarded to one out of every six (1:6) entries in each division.

Like last year, the PBA Jr. and Gazmine Mason Foundation Scholarship will award 20 BIPOC youth bowlers guaranteed entry into the PBA Jr. National Championship Regional Qualifier events. The scholarship’s mission is to create opportunities for youth bowlers of color & foster an inclusive community at bowling’s most elite level.

Gazmine “GG” Mason is a full-time competitor on the PWBA Tour and was the first African American to win a singles and all-American events gold medal for Team USA.

Applications for the 20 PBA Jr. and Gazmine Mason Foundation Scholarships are open through July 5 at this link: Apply here.

Regional Qualifying tournaments for the PBA Jr. National Championship will take place at the following locations:

South Region (August 12-14, 2022)
Bowlero Austell
2750 Austell Road SW, Marietta, GA 30008

Southwest Region (August 12-14, 2022)
Bowlero Euless
1901 W Airport Fwy, Euless, TX 76040

East Region (August 19-21,2022)
AMF Strathmore Lanes
1061-G NJ-34, Aberdeen Township, NJ 07747

Midwest Region (August 19-21,2022)
AMF West Lanes
7505 West Oklahoma Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53219

West Region (August 19-21,2022)
Forest Lanes
22771 Centre Drive, Lake Forest, CA 92630

There will also be a few format changes for the 2022 Regional Qualifying events. Junior bowlers will now bowl 10 games of qualifying in two five-game blocks on Saturday, with the top 16 bowlers in each division advancing to an Elimination Bracket on Sunday. During the elimination bracket, junior bowlers will compete in “race-to-two-wins” matches to advance to the top four bowlers for the stepladder round. A fifth Stepladder bowler will be determined by a wild card selection, which will be the highest-seeded bowler not advancing from the round of 8.

The top two girl and boy finishers in each regional will advance to the National Championship to compete for a $10,000 first place SMART Scholarship. The National Championship date will be held in conjunction with a 2023 Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour stop, to be named at a later date.

Another change will be the addition of a consolation round. Junior bowlers who do not make the top 16 cut for the elimination bracket will be invited back to bowl three games on Sunday morning with the top two bowlers in each division claiming SMART awards.

“We are really excited about our format changes for 2022,” said Mike Sledz, director of membership for the PBA & PBA Jr. “Part of the mission of PBA Jr. is to replicate PBA events for junior bowlers, and the addition of the elimination bracket round adds a new and different level of competition that many juniors do not get to experience. Plus with the addition of the consolation round, bowlers who do not make the cut still have an opportunity to take home a SMART award.”

Registration for the Regional Qualifying tournaments for the PBA Jr. National Championship is open now. The entry fee for PBA Jr. Club members is $119, while the non-member entry fee is $169.

PBA Jr. also offers several PBA Jr. Regional tournaments that will take place across the country with competition on the weekends to allow many youth bowlers to participate. Youth bowlers, girls and boys, ages 18 and under are eligible to compete, with PBA Jr. Club members receiving a discounted entry.

For additional information and to register for any PBA Jr. event, click here.

About the PBA

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.