JOESEPH E. ZOK

As a competitor in the late 1950's and through most of the 1960's Joseph E. Zok was consistently one of the higher averaging bowlers in the area, enabling him to be one of the first local bowlers accepted into the Professional Bowlers Association.

Far more significant than his accomplishments on the lanes, however, have been Joe's efforts to further the game of bowling as a teacher and Promoter. His first contributions in these areas were as manager of the Pentagon City establishment. During his tenure this center became the first 24-hour bowling operation in the area, and it conducted the first Vir-Mar District AJBC City Tournament and hosted a touring national team from Finland and several Professional bowlers in exhibition matches and clinics.

Mr. Zok was next appointed manager of the McLean Bowling Center; an establishment noted in its early years for its highly successful programs, including its Program for ladies, junior bowlers, and senior citizens. Remarkably, Joe established these successful programs while serving on active duty in the U. S. Marine Corps.

Shortly thereafter, coinciding with his retirement from the marines, Joe accepted a position at American University. There, he established a competitive intercollegiate bowling Program, assisted several other schools in establishing their programs and helped organize two collegiate bowling conferences. While organizing the conferences he introduced a match play system with Peterson point scoring bonuses which was widely used by both the East Coast Athletic Conference and the Southern Intercollegiate Bowling Conference.

His teaching was not confined to Students at American University; he also found the time to contribute heavily to programs for blind bowlers, spending a considerable amount of time helping the bowlers improve their games and conducting tournaments at both the local and national levels.

Joe has worked many years to promote the sport of bowling and has greatly influenced a broad spectrum of the local bowling scene, much of it without the recognition he deserves. His induction into the Nation's Capital Area Bowling Association Hall of Fame is a fitting testimonial to his many contributions.