Bowling: Coach lifts late bloomer to perfection
Last Saturday's listing in The Buffalo News of 300 games bowled that week in Western New York included two names — Jon Kroll and Jonathan Kroll. Yes, they are one and the same.
The perfectas were the first of his career for the 32-year-old right-hander from Hamburg and a classic demonstration of what a little professional coaching can do.
Kroll averaged 206 in the Hammond Pro Shop League at Abbott Lanes last season. His average is nearly 20 pins better, in the 223-225 range, this season.
"Since the summer, I've been working with a coach, Sue Jeziorski at Thruway Lanes, and I've definitely stepped it up," Kroll said.
The instruction has brought about some fundamental changes in Kroll's bowling technique.
"Totally different," Kroll said. "I'm staying behind the ball a lot more. I used to twirl it. I'm more accurate," he said.
Like a lot of others, including PBA pro Jack Jurek, Kroll got his start in the sport in youth leagues at Abbott Lanes. He bowled at St. Francis High in Athol Springs, then gave up the sport at age 17. He was out of bowling for 12 years but three years ago, a sub was needed in the Abbott Four-Man League and Kroll was enlisted. He averaged 214 over 84 games and was hooked.
"I got back into it and got serious about it," said Kroll, a laid-off American Axle employee who now works for himself as an auto mechanic.
Last season, he was a frequent sub in the Kerm Helmer Memorial League at Thruway, averaging 200. This season he's a sub in the Buffalo Firemen's League at Spare Time. That's where he bowled his first 300 game. He followed that up with No. 2, the next night in the Hammond Pro Shop League at Abbott.
After his first two 300s, Kroll can only wonder at the career totals of bowlers like Mike Zarcone, who has more than 60 to his credit or Ron Sutton, who notched No. 42 this past week at the Tonawanda Bowling Center.
Women's Open to Texas
The U.S. Women's Open will return in 2010. The USBC event will be hosted by Cityview Lanes, a 64-lanes center in Fort Worth, Texas, May 6-11. Cityview Lanes is the largest center in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The tournament will shift for the live televised finals (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m.) at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington on May 12.
It will be part of a series of major bowling events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is the new home of the USBC headquarters. The 2010 Hall of Fame dinner will take place May 11 at the City Club in downtown Fort Worth while the USBC Hall of Fame induction will take place May 12 at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington to be followed by the Open finals.
For the first time since returning in 2007, the Women's Open will feature round-robin match play. Players will compete in three eight-game blocks from May 7-9 with the top 24 players advancing to match play May 10-11. The four players with the best 48-game totals, including match-play bonus pins, will compete in the live stepladder finals.
"Match play is a traditional part of major bowling tournaments, and this format is more representative of a true U.S. Women's Open test," said Pete Tredwell, USBC vice president of media. The Veterans and Meritorious Service part of the class of 2010 will be announced in November with the Superior Performance inductees to follow in December or January.
USBC chief steps down
USBC Chief Operating Officer Kevin Dornberg plans to leave the organization next month. Under Dornberger's direction, the USBC shifted its headquarters from Wisconsin to Arlington, Texas, in a controversial move. Many bowling traditionalists resented the USBC move from the Great Lakes basin, where, historically, the sport has enjoyed its greatest popularity, to the Sun Belt.
"I am very proud of what we accomplished in moving the organization to Arlington," Dornberger said. "Now I feel like it is time for me to move on and pursue other career challenges."
Dornberger was named interim chief operating officer in July 2007 after the retirement of Roger Dalkin and had the "interim" tag removed in 2008.
Before joining the full-time USBC staff, Dornberger had been a member of the American Bowling Congress Board of Directors since 1985 and was elected a vice president in 1995.
Dornberger is an accomplished competitor as well. He was part of the 2001 ABC Tournament Team All-Events championship team. Along with numerous South Dakota state and local titles, he has 16 perfect games and four 800 series to his credit. He was inducted into the South Dakota Bowling Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Sioux Falls Hall of Fame in 2000.
Pin chasers
• A field of 90 bowlers is entered in the Greater Buffalo USBC Association's Senior Women's Championship Sunday at Wimbledon Lanes in West Seneca. There will be competition in four divisions ranging from 50-54 years to 70-and-over.
• Kevin Gray defeated Jerry Smith, 225-202, in the championship match and picked up the $600 top prize in last Sunday's Amateur Bowlers Tour stop at Manor Lanes II. Smith topped Ike Layton, 245-199, in the semifinal match. The ABT heads to Rapids Lanes on Sunday with squads at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m with competition in Classic and Masters divisions.
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