BOWLING’S TOP YOUTH EVENTS MERGE TO CREATE A QUARTER-MILLION-DOLLAR SCHOLARSHIP TOURNAMENT

New North Pointe Junior Gold Championships features age divisions and the elimination of average requirement

ARLINGTON, Texas, August 23, 2011 – The two largest youth scholarship tournaments in the nation have joined to develop an unprecedented opportunity for youth bowlers in the creation of the $250,000 North Pointe Junior Gold Championships presented by Brunswick.

The North Pointe Junior Gold Championships is made possible by the merger of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Junior Gold Championships and the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America’s (BPAA) North Pointe High School Singles Championships into one event.

The new North Pointe Junior Gold Championships will feature some significant changes for the tournament and USBC Junior Gold membership including:

• USBC Junior Gold membership no longer will have a minimum average requirement
• The North Pointe Junior Gold Championships will have two age divisions – 20 and under, 15 and under – for both boys and girls.

“The creation of the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships is a remarkable example of bowling’s membership organizations and leading sponsors coming together to make a change that benefits the kids,” International Bowling Campus (IBC) Director of Youth Development Chad Murphy said. “We now have a significant event for children 15 and under, which is a critical development age, preserved the opportunities for older teens and opened the benefits of Junior Gold membership to all youth bowlers.”

North Pointe Insurance is the nation's largest insurer of independent bowling centers. In addition to its sponsorship of the Junior Gold Championships, North Pointe has made a multi-year commitment to the Youth Education Services (YES) Fund and will be recognized as a YES Fund founding partner.

The North Pointe Junior Gold Championships will continue to be open to youth bowlers who qualify throughout the season at regional Junior Gold events around country and will feature automatic bids to Junior Team USA as part of the competition. The event will be held in Indianapolis in July 2012, in conjunction with the USBC Youth Open.

About International Bowling Campus
The International Bowling Campus (IBC) is the headquarters for the bowling industry and directly serves the more than 71 million bowlers in the United States. The IBC houses the resources of the United States Bowling Congress, the governing body and membership organization for the sport; the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America, representing the business interests of bowling centers; Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm for the industry; the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame; The Bowling Foundation; the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association; the Bowling Writers Association of America; the Bowling News Network; the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America; and the International Training and Research Center.