U12 Division Added for 2014 North Pointe Junior Gold Championships

The North Pointe Junior Gold Championships will grow in 2014 when a new age division is added to the event, allowing younger bowlers to get involved in the sport's most prestigious youth event.

The new U12 division for boys and girls will feature bowlers 12 and under, joining their counterparts in the U15 and U20 divisions in competing for national titles. The 2014 North Pointe Junior Gold Championships, presented by Track, Columbia 300, Ebonite and Hammer, will take place in Buffalo, N.Y.

"We received tremendous positive feedback to the addition of the U15 division last year and this is another step in the direction of getting our younger bowlers involved in Junior Gold," International Bowling Campus Managing Director of Youth Development Chad Murphy said. "This is all about athlete development and getting younger bowlers into the pipeline to help them become successful as they get older."

?Bowlers in the U12 division will compete in qualifying blocks of four games and champions will be decided based on a bracket format. Automatic spots on Junior Team USA will continue to only be available to those in the U20 division, while automatic spots on the developmental Junior Team USA will only be available to those in the U15 division.

The new U12 division will operate like the other divisions with bowlers qualifying through the local level to advance to the championships, and the division will have a separate scholarship pool. The U12 winners (one boy and one girl) at the Pepsi Youth Championships from each state will automatically advance.

There are two significant changes to the cost structure of the U12 versus the existing divisions. The cost of a U12 qualifying spot has been reduced to $100 and the annual Junior Gold membership fees for U12 bowlers will be $10, while Junior Gold membership fees for the U20 and U15 divisions will remain $30.

"We realize the cost is a barrier to enter these types of events so, we are trying to keep it down for the younger kids and their families," Murphy said.

For more information on the North Pointe Junior Gold Championships, visit BOWL.com/JuniorGold.

About International Bowling Campus: The International Bowling Campus (IBC) is the headquarters for the bowling industry and directly serves the more than 71 million bowlers in the United States. The IBC houses the resources of the United States Bowling Congress, the governing body and membership organization for the sport; the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America, representing the business interests of bowling centers; Strike Ten Entertainment, the marketing arm for the industry; the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame; The Bowling Foundation; the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association; the International Bowling Media Association; the Bowling News Network; the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America; and the International Training and Research Center.