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PBA Tour star takes on coaching

By ERIK MUSKATEVC
Published September 29, 2006

It's a supreme understatement to say Ocala resident Walter Ray Williams Jr. has a long list of accomplishments on his illustrious bowling resume. For example, most fans know Williams has surpassed the late Earl Anthony to become the Professional Bowlers Association's all-time winningest player after capturing the Dydo Japan Cup last Sunday in Tokyo for his 42nd PBA Tour victory.

But there's another title Williams has added to his resume without even rolling a bowling ball - USBC-certified coach. Williams and fellow Tour exempt bowlers Chris Loschetter (Avon, Ohio), Eugene McCune (Munster, Ind.) and Jim Pratt (Glendale, Ariz.) successfully completed USBC Coaching Level I and Bronze certification recently at USBC Headquarters in Greendale, Wis. "I learned a lot more than I thought I would," Williams told bowl.com.

Through a progression of training courses, USBC Coaching certifies coaches. The Level I course introduces the fundamentals of coaching beginning bowlers, such as the responsibilities of a coach and the basic four-step approach. The Bronze course is an intermediate level covering such aspects as components of a bowling ball, lane conditions and adjustments, the mental game, videotaping and video analysis and giving a lesson. There also are Silver and Gold certification.

Williams, a PBA Hall of Famer, tied Anthony's all-time record in March with a win over Pete Weber in the title match of the Denny's World Championship. Weber again succumbed to his nemesis in Tokyo, as Williams moved to 5-0 in title matches against Weber in a rivalry that has spanned more than 20 years.

A win would have given Weber his 33rd career title and made him the second bowler in history to collect more than $3-million in career earnings. Instead, Williams pushed his earnings to $3,762,396 after receiving the $50,000 prize check for defeating Weber 289-236. The final round of the Japan Cup will air tape-delayed on ESPN Oct. 22 at 1 p.m.

PBA: In other pro-related news, Commissioner and CEO Fred Schreyer announced this week that Billy Oatman will replace injured Ritchie Allen as one of 58 exempt bowlers on the 2006-07 Tour. Oatman becomes the first-ever African-American to earn a full-season tour exemption. The 40-year-old Chicago native will look to become the Tour's second African-American title winner. George Branham III won five titles in his career, including the prestigious Firestone Tournament of Champions in 1993.

Several other African-Americans have competed on tour, including Willie Willis who won a National Resident Pro Championship, which did not count as a tour title. Earlier this summer, Kelly Kulick became the first woman to earn a full-season exemption when she finished sixth in the PBA Tour Trials. Oatman's first event will be the season-opening USBC Masters at AMF Bowlero Lanes in Wauwatosa, Wis. The live ESPN televised finals are Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.

NUMBERS: The USBC had an overall membership of 2,728,590 in the 2005-06 season, the organization's first complete season. That made it the third largest in membership of the 45 national governing bodies recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Only softball and soccer, with more than 4-million members each are higher.

USBC included 2,407,819 adult and 320,771 youth members. They bowled on 998,510 teams in 90,857 leagues. Overall totals include 5,647 bowling centers and 116,062 lanes. The season ran from Aug. 1, 2005, through July 31, 2006. Michigan featured the most members of any state association (222,895 adult, 22,315 youth) and metro Detroit (82,883 adult, 7,901 youth) the most in any local association. Florida has the eighth most adult members (95,490) and ninth most youth members (13,332) in the nation. There are 177 centers in the state, 11th most on the list, servicing 5,190 lanes, which is sixth most.

NABI: Club 577 will be at AMF Lakeland on Sunday with squad times of 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. for a jackpot of $170 and a strikepot of $56. For more information on the National Amateur Bowlers Inc., call (863) 667-4779.

UPCOMING: Bay Bowlers Challenge, a.k.a. the New Tournament in Town, is Saturday and Sunday at AMF Florida Lanes (10400 N. Florida Ave.) in Tampa. The handicap winner ($32 entry) is guaranteed $1,000 and $750 goes to the scratch winner ($45 entry). Average verification required. Call (813) 932-6161 for squad times and further details.

Liberty Lanes' next Callahan Bail Bonds Almost Midnight Tournament is Oct. 28. Entry fee is $30 with a guaranteed $1,000 first-place prize based on 20 teams. Bowling starts at 9 p.m. Call 397-3947.

CHATTER: A pair of 800s were put on the board last week. Vic Oliver featured a 280 game at Liberty and finished with the weekly high series score of 816, all houses. Also, at Seminole, Rick Langton pounded out a solid 278/809. And bowling well as always at Liberty, Marty Murphy had a 280/793 and 278/785 for consistency.

Sunrise Florida Senior star Stan Dzierba made his week with a 246/642 to lead the veteran scores. Lisa Bereczki lofted a 257 game while leading the women's scores with a 748 series at Liberty, followed by Dunedin's Kathy Weaver (742). Outside of high school bowling, the youth league bowler of the week was Jon Hunt, who scored a 710 at Liberty and a 688 at Seminole. Larry Walters (300/758) at Liberty, and Bob Riccio (300/664) and Nick Francis (300/1071 in four games) at Dunedin had perfect games.

[Last modified September 28, 2006, 23:02:33]