With the closing of Kiamesha Lanes this was not just a blow to adult bowling but also to youth bowling, the true future of the sport.

Youth bowling in Sullivan County was once very popular both in Kiamesha Lanes and the former Liberty Lanes. The former Callicoon Lanes also made successful attempts to attract youth bowling.

So what is the future for youth bowling in Sullivan County?

We know that two adjacent bowling centers, the Fox Bowling Center in Hancock and the Port Jervis Bowl in Port Jervis have active youth bowling.

We must face the facts, youth bowling is the future of the sport.

Success with bowler development strategies by bowling center proprietors and management has been provided in a professional manner with success by Bill Gleim at the Fox Bowling Center. In addition to league development, Bill has had great success with development of a high school bowling team that competes as a sanctioned high school sport supported by the New York State high school athletic association.

Bill's efforts with the high school bowling teams has brought home sectional championships and is very important to the future growth of bowling.

Proprietors fully realize that youth bowling is the future of the game, and that they must work diligently to attract kids to join youth programs and brand them as adult leagues of the future.

There is a lot of adult volunteer work involved in this process because adults within the sport of bowling are important and need support working with youth to ensure more efforts to promote youth bowling.

Although it is largely volunteer work on the part of adults interested in seeing youth bowling emerge, proprietors have a huge responsibility themselves in building effective programs to entice youngsters to the sport.

Proprietors must rely more on their own efforts to promote youth bowling and not entirely on volunteers.

One idea is to ask proprietors to create incentives for volunteer workers to profit if a new youth bowler joins an in-house program.

Port Jervis Bowl owner and operator, Brigette Willis. has an active 11 team Saturday morning Youth Bowling league with around 50 bowlers, which supports the theory that youth bowling is the future of the game.

Ed's Outlook

The New York State Youth Committee hosts two State Championships and two Scholarship Tournaments throughout the year for the kids in NY State.

In the Youth Team Championships, bowlers must qualify in their respected Regional Championships to earn a trip to Syracuse for the state finals on April 30 at Strike & Spare Lanes.

The Pepsi Scholarship begins with in-league qualifying for all certified youth, and the state championship is April 23 at King Pins Lanes in Rome, NY.

The New York State Bowling Proprietors Association Scholarship tournament has bowlers qualifying in league competition with the state finals at King Pin's Alley Family Fun Center in South Glens Falls, NY.