USBC to Hold Pan Am Games Qualifiers in Las Vegas

The United States Bowling Congress has announced that it will offer its qualifying process for bowlers interested in going to the Pan Am Games, from Jan. 2-7 in Las Vegas at the USBC Team USA Trial.

All United States Bowling Congress members will have a chance to represent the United States at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto in July based on the qualification process recently announced.

Two men and two women will represent Team USA at the Pan American Games, which is considered the most important event in the four-year cycle of the Team USA bowling program.

In order to represent the United States at the Pan American Games, athletes must be U.S. citizens and members of Team USA in 2015. The Pan American Games are an Americas version of the Olympic Games which includes the sports of the Olympic program plus additional sports that currently are not part of the Olympics

The qualifying event, open to any USBC member who is a U.S. citizen, will award spots on Team USA. Sixty percent of the qualifying points for the Pan American Games will be determined at the trials - 40 percent based on overall finish and 20 percent based on daily finish.

The final 40 percent of the points system will be based on performance at the USBC Masters (men) and USBC Queens (women) - 30 percent based on qualifying position and 10 percent based on final position in the bracket.

"United States Olympic Committee rules require participants for Team USA in the Pan American Games must earn spots based on performance and not on selection," USBC Managing Director of National Governing Body Neil Stremmel said. "The process decided upon for the 2015 Pan American Games opens the qualifying to anyone who has ever dreamed of competing in the event."

The qualifying process was determined by USBC staff in consultation with the Athlete Advisory Council, an independent committee of past Team USA members.

Registration for the 2015 Team USA Trials is open and available at BOWL.com/TeamUSATrials. The men's and women's fields are each capped at 175 entries and the men's division has sold out the past two years.

United States Bowling Congress: The United States Bowling Congress serves as the national governing body for the sport. USBC is a membership organization that provides standardized rules, regulations and benefits to make bowling fair and fun for everyone.

The interactive home of USBC is BOWL.com. Go to twitter.com/USBC for the fastest USBC headlines.