August 27, 2010

The 2010-2011 season is here and with it comes the 39th year of the Greater Iowa Bowling Association. We will offer a total of 12 tournaments this season. The schedule has a couple less events than the last few years, mainly due to the discontinuance of the Mid-Iowa Bowling Association this season. The 12 tournaments will offer a variety of formats with some being held on Saturday and others on Sunday. We will start the season off with a return to Pla Mor Lanes in Muscatine on Sept. 19th. The fourth annual Rick Eighme Memorial 10 game sweeper at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo will follow on Sunday, Oct. 3rd. Our season will end on February 27th with a Chuck Schuette’s annual Bob Neff Memorial Triple Elimination tournament. In between those we will feature the Big Gun 12 game sweeper, the Iowa Open, the annual 50/50 doubles tournament as well as the 50/50 4 person team tournament, the Frontier Ford/Calisesi Chiropractic tournament, our 3rd 5 man team tournament, and a doubles event the day prior to our final tournament. A complete schedule is included with this letter.

Members must bowl at least 4 of the first 10 tournaments and be a member of the GIBA in order to qualify for the final points event at the regular entry fee, members who bowl 3 tournaments will be allowed to enter the final points event by paying an additional $25.00 with their entry fee. Since we will have one tournament following the final points event this season, a bowler may prepay a non-refundable entry fee for the Triple Elimination tournament and have it count toward qualification for the final points event. A huge thanks to Brunswick for their continued support as a sponsor once again this season. Once again this season, we will feature various formats for our tournaments. It seems the special format tournaments have drawn the most entries over the past few seasons. We will keep our starting time of 10:00 for regular tournaments. The membership fee will remain $10.00.

Other sponsors have stepped up to help us out and we need to support them as a group. The Budweiser distributors in our area have been kind enough to make up schedule posters and distribute them to the bowling centers in their areas. In addition, Fahr Beverage here in Waterloo continues to donate added prize money for our tournaments in Waterloo. We also receive support from Zach Beschorner, realtor, Waterloo Implement, Inc., Bob’s Business & Bowling Supply, Fran’s Pro Shop, KR Manufacturing, and all the bowling centers who host our tournaments. Thanks to every one of them and any others I may have inadvertently missed.

*Here are some of the other changes we have decided on for this season:*

The point system will be the same as last season. Every tournament with the exception of the 5 man team event and the 50/50 4 person team event, will be a point event. The top point earner for the season will receive a paid entry to the 2009 USBC Masters or their choice of $400.00 cash. Points will be awarded as follows – 20 points for bowling a tournament, points for your place of finish in the tournament (ex. 50 entries, 1st place 50 points, 2nd 49, etc.), bonus points for top 5 finish (1st 50 – 2nd 40 – 3rd 30 – 4th 25 – 5th 20), 10 points for cashing in the major prize fund, and both the Iowa Open and final tournament will earn double points. Our intent is to award prizes to at least the top 8 on the points list this season. This is made possible through the generous support of Brunswick as our major sponsor!!

It becomes increasingly difficult to schedule tournaments. We moved the Iowa Open back to Maple Lanes in Waterloo this season due to a conflict with November dates at May City in Cedar Rapids. We had a great run at May City with participation in the Iowa Open growing significantly over the past three years. Hopefully, we will continue receiving the great support from our Cedar Rapids members in spite of having to move the tournament this year.

We have used a multi-tiered entry fee for some of our regular tournaments, and it has been well received. We will once again offer this option for some of our tournaments. This concept helped attract some players who want to test their ability without risking a great deal of money. If you have questions concerning how the multi-tier entry works, please ask and I will be happy to provide an explanation. I am hopeful it will continue attracting new members to the GIBA.

We will continue offering a ‘bet you win pot’ ($10.00) option for each tournament. We will pay out 100% of the amount in the pot to the winner provided he/she is entered in the pot. If the winner is not entered, 80% will carry over to the next tournament and 20% will go to the final tournament.

I want to thank the membership and our board of directors for all the input and suggestions. I am hopeful we have made some changes that will make our tournament series stand out in some way that will attract more entries. I believe these are all very positive changes.

The GIBA tournament series has survived during a time when many tournaments have been discontinued. This is due to the loyal support of our members. As administrator, I have been extremely fortunate to receive the support of my family in running the tournaments, and they will be working with me again this season to provide you with events that go as smoothly as possible.

It is up to our members to make the tournaments a success. We need your support and participation. We also ask for your continued input as we attempt to make the tournament better. We will do our best to provide an opportunity to compete with some of the best bowlers in the Midwest. Talk it up with your friends and let’s continue the growing trend in entries as we begin the new season.

Joe Engelkes
Tournament Administrator