By DAVE SCHROEDER
USBC Communications
LAKEVILLE, Minn. – More than 30 of the best youth teams from around the United States, featuring bowlers ages 12 and younger and 15 and younger, take to the lanes tomorrow as competition gets underway at the 2026 USA Bowling National Championships at Lucky Strike Lakeville.
Both the U12 and U15 divisions feature 16 teams representing regions from around the country competing for a national championship. BowlTV will provide live, start-to-finish coverage of the event while the finals also will be featured live on Bowling TV.
Qualifying for all teams in both divisions starts Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. local time). Each division will bowl 15 Baker-format matches. A team’s record after 15 games in the qualifying round will determine the No. 1 through No.16 seeds going into the double-elimination match-play competition.
Best-of-three Baker match play begins Thursday at 9 a.m. Eastern with all 16 teams in each division participating in the true double-elimination match-play competition within their assigned eight-team bracket. Bracket assignments will be determined by qualifying placement. Once a team in the Elimination Bracket incurs a second loss, that team is eliminated from the tournament.
Following match play, the field will be reduced to the final two teams in each age-based division for the finals. The format for the finals features a single-elimination match using a best-of-five Baker format between the two bracket champions in each division. The finals in the U12 division will take place on Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern with the U15 finals to follow at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
Bowling TV, the new 24-hour channel dedicated entirely to bowling, can be found on Prime Video, LG Channels, Xumo Play, DISH TV, Bonusview, Sling Freestream, Plex, Free Live Sports and Bowling TV’s Roku app.
Teams earned their place at the USA Bowling National Championships by winning a regional qualifier. The USA Bowling program once again features more than $120,000 in scholarships for youth bowlers (divided among regionals and nationals).
The qualifying teams in the U12 division are as follows:
- Upper Midwest Region – Minnesota Starfish
- Lower Great Lakes Region – Elite Youth Stars
- Northeast Region – DKJ Pro Shop
- Coastal South Region – Shore Lanes Bowler Rollers
- South Central Region – Lonestar Strikers
- Atlantic East Region – Orb Driller’s Pro Shop
- Heartland Region – ISST Future Stars
- Pacific Region – Next-Gen Strike Squad
- South Region – The Bowling Stones
- Mountain Region – Mountain Minions
- New England Region – Maple Minions
- Southeast Region – Beast 3.1
- Southwest Region – Brooklyn Bros
- Upper Great Lakes Region – Silver Bowl
- Midwest Region – The Avengers
- Mideast Region – Al Mar All Stars
The qualifying teams in the U15 division are as follows:
- Upper Midwest Region – Midwest Intimidators
- Lower Great Lakes Region – LeBron James Elite
- Northeast Region – Strikers 3.0
- Coastal South Region – Rage Bait
- South Central Region – Lone Star Triad Elite
- Atlantic East Region – 2 Up 2 Down
- Heartland Region – 3 Gs & a B
- Pacific Region – Made You Look
- South Region – Stars & Strikes
- Mountain Region – Rocky Mountain Fierce Five
- New England Region – DKJ Pro Shop
- Southeast Region – NC All Stars
- Southwest Region – Desert Strikers
- Mideast Region – Tenpin Titans
- Upper Great Lakes Region – Minnesota Otters Blue
- Midwest Region – Hromek’s Pro Shop