Thomas M. Allen was introduced to the game at a very young age by his parents, Eddie and Betty Allen, who were among the founders of the Vir-Mar District AJBC (American Junior Bowling Congress). It was their early influence, which resulted in Tom being an active youth bowler and later becoming one of the first youth certified coaches in the Washington area.
Tom was elected a director of the Nation’s Capital Area Bowling Association in 1993. In that position, he served as a member of the Tournament Site Selection, Ways and Means, Technology, and 50th Anniversary committees. He served as chairman of the Suspension and Lane Directors committees and as co-chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee. While serving as chairman of the Lane Directors Committee, Tom designed a survey that was distributed to all league secretaries and used to obtain an evaluation of the service provided by lane directors. The survey results were used to affect changes in the Lane Directors program to improve the delivery of service to the bowlers.
Tom also was active in helping the association use technology to provide better, more reliable, and timely service to the bowlers. He researched and helped direct the association’s purchase of a scaleable server to allow for growth without the need for server replacement. Tom also researched and implemented brackets at association-sponsored tournaments that not only proved instantly popular with the bowlers but also produced a new source of revenue for the association. He served as association president during the 2001-2002 season.
His personal bowling highlights include a high game of 290, a high series of 727, and a top average of 201. Tom and his partner won the doubles event in the 2006 NCABA Championship Tournament.
Tom works for Telos Corporation of Ashburn, Va., as installation services manager for Wireless Networking Solutions. He and his wife, Sue, live in Leesburg, Va.
Thomas M. Allen is a most worthy addition to the Nation’s Capital Area Bowling Association Hall of Fame based on his record of service to the bowlers of this association.