State to see world's best youngsters

Three important tournaments will attract young national and international players to Florida this week and next month.

The Tampa Bay area will be well represented.

The 37th annual Florida State Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA) Tournament goes on the boards Saturday and Sunday at two Ocala centers.

More than 1,000 teams from across the state are entered, including 81 individual Junior Olympic Gold players. The results will be posted on the YABA Web site, www.fsyaba.com.

Another 1,000 of the best young bowlers from America and Europe will compete in the fifth annual USA Junior Gold National Championships, scheduled for July 6-12 at three centers in Lakeland and Winter Haven.

Players will vie for more than $50,000 in college scholarship money, individual titles and positions on the 2003 Junior Team USA. The national YABA and USA Bowling conduct the event.

Right on the heels of the Junior Gold tourney is the annual Coca Cola Junior National Championships, July 13-17 in Winter Haven.

Players from the U.S., Canada and Europe make up the field for what many think is the world's toughest youth competition. Florida entries are Angela Norton, Michael Burgess, Jesse Allen Horsley, Chad Rose and Jonathan Wilson, a Countryside Lanes league member.

It is the first time the USA Junior Gold and Coca Cola tournaments have been in Florida.

Every participant in all three events advanced through local qualifying tourneys and leagues throughout America and Europe.

"This is the ultimate level of competition for Junior Gold members," YABA executive director Jim Zebehazy said. "The Junior Gold program is a way for YABA to offer a unique and special program to its members."

Players must have a minimum average of 165 for girls competition and 175 for boys events to join the Junior Gold program.

The USA Junior Gold National Championships consist of three qualifying blocks, two rounds of semifinals and head-to-head match play.

Eight boys and eight girls will become members of Junior Team USA, which will represent the United States in 2003 international competition. Tampa's Jeffrey Mersch, a Countryside Lanes bowler, is a Junior Team USA member.

Most Tampa Bay area centers will be sending competitors to all three events. The largest Junior Gold contingent is 23 from Bill and Cheryl Bedford's Countryside Lanes program.

TRIPLE 300: Tampa's Jason Mersch, Miami's Keith Nation and Lakeland's Josh Vogel each fired 300 games during the Florida Youth Scratch Bowlers Tour (FYSBT) event in Lakeland last weekend.

Nation won the upper division title and $250 in scholarship money, and Mersch finished fourth. Samantha Linder of Lakeland captured the lower division crown and $250.

Mersch is Jeffrey Mersch's younger brother.

Shannon Profit and Christi Glassen, Countryside Lanes league players, qualified for next year's Junior Olympic Gold National Finals.

The Lakeland event had 80-plus competitors. Seminole Lanes will play host to the FYSBT on July 27-28.

NABI: Oldsmar's Tom Varillas and New Port Richey's Fred Heiferman captured titles at AMF Clearwater and Liberty lanes.

Varillas beat St. Petersburg's Gabe Tosella 221-191 at AMF Clearwater for his first championship and $190. Dan Colleli and Clark Valette, St. Petersburg, finished third and fourth, respectively. Bill Smith of Brooksville earned $125 by winning the platinum crown.

Heiferman defeated St. Petersburg's Ronda Masanotti 189-149 at Liberty for $502. Carl Dean of Largo was third. Gabe Tosella and Valette were fourth and fifth, respectively. Clearwater's Steve Kenyon took the platinum title and $272.

Competition is at AMF Kenneth City Lanes on Sunday.

CLEAN SWEEP: It is rare to see a wholesale change in the top five of any category in the ABC or WIBC championship tournaments.

But it happened in a women's event last week in Milwaukee.

Karleen Reynolds of Dallas totaled 1,870 pins to lead a five-player shift in the WIBC Division 1 all-events competition. Becky Ashley, Farmington, N.M., was second at 1,859. They were followed by Valerie Marshall, Aberdeen, Md., 1,851; Nancy MaKay, Murrieta, Calif., 1,828; and Holly Stout, Vickery, Ohio, 1,815.

Not only did they replace the top five, but just 55 pins separate the leaders.

There were no other changes in the three divisions.

The same held true for the men's ABC Championship Tournament in Billings, Mont., where a record 57 perfect games have been rolled.

The WIBC event ended Monday, and the ABC tourney closes June 23.

AROUND THE LANES: Marty Murphy and Robert Sellner rolled 300 games at Liberty Lanes. ... Southland Lanes is having a fun tournament on Sundays at 1 p.m. The entry fee is $15, and the format changes every week.

-- Phil Gulick can be reached at xerxes8@msn.com.

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