NEW PHILADELPHIA — Interaction between bowling professionals and fans is nothing new. Most tournaments, be it on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour or regional level host pro-am events at the sites to give amateurs the opportunity to test their skills with the pros.
But Wabash Lanes owner Aaron Shanklin wanted to take the pro-am portion of last weekend’s PBA Wabash Lanes Member-Non-Member Doubles Central Open to another level.
And he got the idea from PBA50 Tour pro Dave Wodka, a Brunswick Northeast product specialist.
“He wanted us to come up with something like they have in Maine for the PBA League, to get the fans more involved,” said the 42-year-old Shanklin, who holds United States Bowling Congress bronze and silver coaching certification. “How do you get the locals in your doors to see what bowling really is? This is about getting kids, parents, sponsors … ones that don’t bowl here.
“It’s all about the sport. If we promote it, we all succeed.”
So Shanklin came up with an idea that would not only bring fans in, but also would help alleviate some of the financial hardships faced by high school bowling programs in the area.
“We heard there have been some problems with school districts who wanted to close programs that just got started, and it’s completely because of money,” said Shanklin, adding golf, swimming and bowling are three programs not contested on school property.
“We were hearing from the programs that athletic directors were telling them that if they couldn’t find additional funding, they might cancel programs.
“The greatest part of bowling is you don’t have to be athletic to do it. But we’re finding it difficult to find people willing to support a sport that isn’t a sport in a lot of people’s eyes.”
Shanklin’s plan was simple. He reached out to area high schools to do their own fund-raising as the means to an end.
Team members solicited businesses in their communities for $100 donations, with Wabash then having t-shirts made with the logos of these businesses on them for the teams. In addition, the teams would then be involved in a draft to select pros participating in the event.
The school bringing in the most funding selected first and down the line, with the order being reversed for each of five rounds.
Each school received $500 up front from the money accumulated. But the team selecting the winning pro received an additional $1,500, with $1,000 going to the second-place team and $500 for third. Shanklin’s real estate firm, Infinity Representatives, also donated an additional $500.
Five schools participated in the draft after soliciting enough funding: Claymont, Indian Valley, River View, Dover and Carrollton. Tuscarawas Central Catholic also participated in the pro-am, but didn’t have enough funds to be involved in the draft.
“Some of these teams brought in $1,800 to $2,100. The fronts of those shirts looked like the hood of a NASCAR car, and we put the names of their selected pros on the back. The parents were adamant if we were willing to do this, they were in,” Shanklin said. “As of the Sunday before the tournament, we had 25 pros signed up out of the 32 we ultimately had. So we brought all the schools in for the draft.”
But Shanklin did have one caveat for the team members prior to the draft.
They had to take part in a cleanup of Wabash Lanes, scrubbing down the gutters and bumpers in preparation for the event.
“It saved me a lot of wear and tear on my knees,” Shanklin said. “We had about 60 kids here so it took about 20 minutes to get all 20 lanes done. Then we ordered pizza for everyone and sat down and decided on the draft.”
They started by ranking pros according to national titles, then went to last year’s regional winners. Shanklin also asked regional pros to help with their own top-10 lists.
“The teams sat at separate tables and were actually Googling names to see who to take,” Shanklin said. “We had eight schools originally, but for multiple reasons, three backed out. Others just didn’t want to get involved.
“When the pros heard about it when they got here, they talked to high schools that they coach or host in their facilities to see if they want to get involved next year. If we’re not full, they want in. But I’d like to keep it local if possible.”
The $500 checks to each participating school could be used in any way the program wished.
“It’s however they want it … to the coach, the booster club … a couple wanted it to buy equipment for the program. But it went strictly to the bowling program.”
In all, six schools plus six adult teams took part in the pro-am Friday evening plus around 250 spectators.
The victory by Jean Perez and Jalen Mosely produced a $1,500 bonus for Claymont. Of course, two teams received no bonus money.
“Somebody is going to win, and somebody is going to lose. We don’t know how this is going to come out,” said Shanklin, who celebrated his 10th year owning the center in August.
“When we first bought this property, it was a 19,000 square-foot facility on 2 1/2 acres of land on the condemned list. We bought it for $150,000 and we were looking into making it a motorcycle dealership. But people were begging us to open a bowling alley. None of us had ever been in the bowling business before.”
Now, he is already looking into next year’s pro-am after the successful first running of the concept and the response it received from the pros, who had their own cheering sections during the event.
“Instead of the t-shirts, we’re going to put banners on the bleachers for student sections,” said Shanlin, who had bleachers in the center for the event. “And we’re going to hold the draft like 20 minutes before the pro-am so the pros can watch and sell themselves to the high school teams if they want to.
“We just want to have a big night of promoting the sport. It was just so much fun that people are already talking about next year.”
PARK CENTRE SETS PRO-AM
Park Centre Lanes in North Canton will be hold its pro-am for the PBA50-PBA60 Doubles Central Open at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23.
Entry fee is $25, with competition in five divisions, including youth, high school/college, adult, seniors and Special Olympians. Bowlers will roll three 9-pin, no-tap games with three different professionals.
For information, call (330) 499-0555.
The doubles tournament begins at 10 a.m. Sept. 24 with eight qualifying games. There are 26 teams entered for the event, with several PBA Hall of Famers in the field.