It seems like the bowling season just started, and it’s already ending. By now, most leagues are over, and hopefully your league payoffs went smoothly and all your secretaries have submitted your league’s final averages to the local associations.
I’m sure you had so much fun this year that you have joined a summer league. I had so much fun that I joined two summer leagues.
By the time you read this, your association will have appointed a Transition Team to lead it through the merger process. The team faces a huge challenge and will begin working almost as soon as it is selected. The Washington, D.C. Area Women’s Bowling Association has already named its Transition Team, and the Vir-Mar-District YABA will do so shortly.
NCABA continues to move towards merging as a United States Bowling Congress (USBC) association. As part of the realignments necessary for the merger, we recently released four centers (AMF Fredericksburg, Liberty Lanes, Liberty Lanes–Stafford, and the Naval Surface Weapons Center Bowling Lanes in Dahlgren, Va.) to a new association that will serve the Fredericksburg area. A canvas of the bowlers in the area indicated a desire to join the new association, so we agreed to their release.
I hope many of you bowled in our Guys and Dolls Tournament at Crofton; it is a great way to finish out a season.
Next year, we will offer you plenty of tournament opportunities. Many of us will be bowling in the Senior Tournament in October. Our annual NCABA Championship Tournament will run three weekends next spring, followed by the Virginia State Tournament. The Guys and Dolls Tournament will commence after the Virginia State Tournament concludes. We hope you all come on out and bowl in these tournaments.
It has been my great pleasure to serve as your president this year. I could not have succeeded without the help of many people. I wish to take a moment to thank our office staff for their great efforts this season, and for all the assistance they have provided me: Ray Brothers, Ray Webb, Jackie Dunn, and Ralph Hayward—thank you for all your support. I would also like to thank Bob Cosgrove for his help and go on record to acknowledge all the work Bob does for our association. I would like to thank all of the members of our board who spend so much of their time providing support to you, our bowlers. Finally, I would like to thank you for participating in our great sport and supporting your association.
It might be nearing the end of my term as your president, but it is the beginning of a new era for bowling. I wish our new president, Kirk Williams, the best of luck in his term of office. The challenges he faces are monumental, and he, along with the rest of the board, will need the support of all our bowlers to make our transition into the USBC a success.
Have a great summer. And, as they say in Baton Rouge, let the good times roll.