The American Bowling Congress votes are in, the ballots are sealed and all must wait for the Women's International Bowling Congress delegates to vote in May.
ABC delegates voted last week on a revised plan of merger to create the United States Bowling Congress, an amalgamation of the WIBC, ABC, Young American Bowling Alliance and USA Bowling.
ABC and WIBC delegates voted down the proposal at their annual conventions last year, sending the proposal back to a joint committee for further revisions. The revised version can be viewed at www.bowl.com)
To avoid undue influence on WIBC delegates, the ABC ballots are sealed until after the women's vote is certified at the conclusion of their May 5 convention in Wichita, Kan.
A two-thirds approval from each of the ABC and WIBC delegations is needed to form USBC. The remaining merging partners, YABA and USA Bowling, will announce their decisions May 5 if ABC and WIBC approve the plan.
The proposed merger of the four organizations would create one group with about 3.2-million members.
"Over the past year, we have listened intently and addressed the issues our delegates had with the original plan of merger legislation," said ABC executive director Roger Dalkin.
"Our dialogue with delegates and associations indicates that we have successfully addressed those issues," he said. "Based on today's meeting, I am cautiously optimistic about our chances for a positive vote."
Bill Zuben, executive director of the St.Petersburg Association and an ABC delegate, said: "From the talk around, it looks like it will pass. From what I heard from other delegates, about 80 percent of them approve the revisions."
Should USBC legislation not pass, ABC delegates approved a proposal to restructure the board of directors to meet the national governing body requirements of the United States Olympic Committee.
This action would result in a less expansive board and a more streamlined governance structure.
SCANLON SCORES: Palm Harbor's Teresa Scanlon, Florida State University, will be among 32 top players to compete May 20-22 in the Intercollegiate Bowling Singles Championship in Milwaukee.
The IBC team event is scheduled for April 14-18 in Tulsa, Okla. FSU missed the cut by 20 pins.
Scanlon finished third in the Lexington, Ky., IBC section qualifier with a 1,191 pinfall. Kelly Zapf from the University of Kansas won with 1,254.
Other sectionals were in Kansas City, Mo., Downingtown, Pa., and Tempe, Ariz. Only the top four men and top four women from each advanced to the Milwaukee finals.
Miami's Stephanie Nation, Central Florida, finished second to Jacqueline Robarge of St.Peter's College in the Downingtown competition. Central Florida's Billy Ragatz was the runnerup to Saginaw Valley State's Joseph Kolanowski. Ragatz' teammate, Shawn Ryan, placed eighth.
SPONGERS WIN: Tarpon Springs' No.3 team captured the scratch title as the Pinellas County High School Spring League wrapped up a 10-week season last week.
The Spongers are Ashly Galante, Jesse Francis and Andrew Owens, all averaging better than 200. They compiled a 163-16 points-won-lost record, beating Countryside No.1 by 14 points.
Tarpon Springs No.2 finished third, Palm Harbor No.1 was fourth, and Dunedin No.4 took fifth.
Galante fired a league-high 290-709, Owens nailed a 278-747, and Francis recorded a 290-718. The Spongers shot the high scratch game-series of 710-2,073. Seminole's James Croy rolled a 300 game.
Cassie Carpenter recorded 286-691 last week, helping to push Countryside to first in the handicap showdown. Her teammates were Alex Mueller, Timothy Reinoehl and Matthew Micenec. The Spongers finished second.
AROUND THE LANES: High scorers - Craig Gurney, 300-712, at Countryside; George VanSyckle, 298-758, Southland; and Corbie Wilson, 300-747, Larry Walters, 300-735, Dick Rohrs, 299-771, and John Haught, 299-708, Liberty. ... Walk-in entries will be accepted for the 67th annual St.Petersburg Association Championship, April 3-4 and 10-11 at Sunshine Bowl. ... Entries are out for the Florida Senior All-Star Match-Play Championships, scheduled for April 17-May 2 at Sunshine Bowl.
