By BILL SNIER
CANTON — It was not a position that Jeffrey Mowls sought. But it also wasn’t one he was going to run away from.
Mowls was recently voted in as interim president of the Stark County United States Bowling Association (USBC) by the group’s board.
The 58-year-old Plain Township resident has served on the board, either the Greater Canton Bowling Association or Stark County USBC, for the past 15 years. He also has served as an assistant high school bowling coach at GlenOak, Perry and Lake before assuming head coaching duties during the 2024-25 season for the Blue Streaks.
Mowls will serve on an interim basis following the resignation of Kevin Johnson, who has held the position since the merger of the USBC and the former Women’s International Bowling Congress (WIBC) in August 2017.
“My obligations to my employer were far outweighing my ability to perform the obligations of the office of president along with some other things I’m involved with,” Johnson said in his resignation letter to the board.
Sue Vukmanovich, association manager since the merger, credited Johnson with assisting during the merger period, bringing both the Alliance and Massillon USBC into the Stark organization and assisting in getting the youth and scholarship committees up and running during the early period.
The Stark County USBC also played host to the Ohio State USBC Women’s Tournament this season for the first time since the early 1990s at Eastbury Bowling Center and AMF Hall of Fame Lanes.
Mowls, who is the shipping manager at Paarlo Plastics, also is an accomplished left-handed player with over 20 800 series and over 40 300 games in his career.
We sat down with Mowls recently to discuss his new position and his hopes for the future. Here is an edited transcript of that discussion.
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SOB: Why did you want this position?
MOWLS: Our ex-president decided to resign. So I was voted on by the board to take over as president. Someone had to do it, and they asked me. So I said sure. It’s not like it’s a big deal type of thing.
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SOB: There’s been lot of social media chatter about problems inside the Stark County USBC over the past couple of months …
M: And that had nothing to do with the board … let me clear that up right now. It was between whoever it was between, but had nothing to do with our board. We didn’t control anything that happened. I just want to leave it at that … it happened and that’s all I want to say. But the board did nothing wrong in this matter.
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SOB: With you moving up as president, do you have to find a replacement for your position?
M: We appointed Michael Emerick Sr. as sergeant-at-arms to replace my position. We also had to find three more directors to the board, which I was able to secure and the board approved. They are Don Sprout, Zach McCutchan and Roger Webb. We have all 12 director positions filled as of now.
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SOB: What do your duties entail in your new position?
M: I’m still learning. First thing I did was get the directors all in place, and I believe they were all complete choices. They have already been board approved and they all know about it. They just have to go through the normal background and state certifications. We will probably add all three to the Stark County USBC’s youth committee.
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SOB: In your new position, what do you want to accomplish?
M: I want to build the youth bowling program in Stark County … that’s my main goal. Get kids bowling in tournaments, understanding that there is scholarship money out there available to them.
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SOB: Where has that been lacking the past few years?
M: We just started running youth tournaments again the last two or three years. We were behind in that area. Now we are trying to make up for the lost time to get as many kids in here as we can.
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SOB: Will you be running any younger kids events while the high school kids aren’t eligible due to OHSAA rules?
M: We run the younger kids with the other age groups. It’s unfair to the high schoolers that they can’t compete in two or three events, so we’re going to keep it the way it is. We have four on the books each year, but I would like to see more added if we could.
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SOB: What about the Stark County USBC Women’s and Open tournaments?
M: We plan on again running those simultaneously again. I don’t see it changing. (Note: The Stark County USBC Open and Women’s events are set for April 26 through May 1 for team and May 3 through 8 for singles and doubles, both at AMF Hall of Fame Lanes).
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SOB: Anything else you are looking to do besides the youth situation?
M: Just try to grow the sport every way we can. I feel we have to start with the youth. We don’t see many high school kids bowling after they leave the high school programs and that’s the part that bothers me the most. You can see it.
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SOB: Is part of it relocation or they just don’t want to bowl anymore?
M: A lot of them go to college. I had two girls who bowled for Lake and they want to bowl, but they just don’t have the time due to school commitments. Time for everything is a problem.
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SOB: What do you say to the people who say the USBC does nothing for me? What do I get out of sanctioning?
M: It gives you the rules of the sport that leagues abide by. Leagues are bonded so if money comes up missing, they are protected. We know that has happened in this association before. But the USBC protects that money if that happens. When they say it does nothing for you, they don’t know what they are talking about or just don’t understand.
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SOB: What have you learned from your experience as a high school coach that will help you here?
M: Dealing with boys and the girls. Boys are easy, but girls you have to … their emotions are all over the place so you have to be careful with what you say. But the girls listen; the boys do not. So its a tradeoff.
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SOB: How long is your president’s term?
M: My term will end with the election of officers at the general meeting in the summer. So this is interim at this point.
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SOB: There also is the hall of fame situation, with the Greater Canton Amateur Hall of Fame setting up a committee to restart it after it had laid dormant for several years. Are you OK with that situation?
M: I was not happy that nothing was done for a period of time with the hall situation … letting it go and letting it go and no one doing anything about it. I’m happy that we still have a Stark County USBC Hall of Fame, but I think we should have a little more say in the selection of the candidates and who we are choosing them from. I haven’t talked to (GCAHOF president) Jose (Rante) about it yet, but I would like to see if we can get more input. Sue (Vukmanovich) I know is on the committee, but I would like to see at least one more added from the board. I wouldn’t mind doing it myself (Mowls was a 2024 Stark County USBC Hall of Fame inductee).
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SOB: Any other changes you would like to see made in the coming months?
M: I think it’s steady as it goes … I don’t want to make any waves or re-invent the wheel. We have to grow the sport with the youth … we can’t do it with the old guys. We’re done. Getting new people involved is the key. I brought in two pretty good guys who know the youth program (Webb, Sprout) and I brought in a young guy (McCutchan), who is one of the premier young bowlers in the area, to get his ideas on things to get more kids involved. Just talking things over and through, we may be able to come up with something. It has to be a good thing. It’s certainly not going to hurt.
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SOB: Is the problem a lack of discussion on the board?
M: As of recently no, but as of a few years ago yes. We had problems getting everyone there for meetings. It was one of those things where you have to dedicate some time to do this.
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SOB: How about for you with your commitments?
M: I’m just glad Sue (Vukmanovich) is there. Without her, I wouldn’t be doing this and that’s the truth. Her along with (board member) Jean (Tondola Smith), who has been involved with everything from local, state to national. I’m going to be leaning heavily on both of them during this time.
TOURNAMENTS AND EQUIPMENT GIVEAWAY
The Stark County USBC will be holding a Halloween Youth Doubles at noon, Nov. 2 at Strike Zone Lanes in Canton.
Entry fee is $60 per team, with competition in four age divisions — 18U, 16U, 14U and 12U. Teams will bowl two individual games and four Baker System games in the handicapped event with total pinfall determining placement.
See the entry form below. In addition, the Stark County USBC will be holding a youth equipment giveaway from 9 to 10:30 a.m. that day also at Strike Zone Lanes (1222 Whiple Ave. NW, Canton). Balls, bags and shoes will be among items available via donations from area bowlers.
