Story posted Friday, February 5, 2010
Add Bowling Regional To Post-Season Format?
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal Sports
While they coach their teams at this weekend girls bowling sectional, area coaches will also have an eye on the future of their sport.
For the past two years, the High School Bowling Coaches organization (HSBCI) has been working on a proposal for major changes in the post-season state tournament format.
A proposal to add a regional round to the post-season series, spread tournament locations out to a wider area, and change the way teams qualify for sectional and state competition is in the hands of all coaches throughout the state.
The IHSA Advisory Committee discussed the proposal a year ago, and asked the HSBCI to determine more accurately how coaches felt about it.
This weekend, at all sectional tournaments, the HSCBI is polling coaches to get feedback before going back to the IHSA.
According to documents on this issue sent to the Journal by Prospect coach Greg Troyer, there are unsolved problems with the HBSCI proposal, which could even end up looking nothing like the present one, if it is ever approved.
Currently, all of the approximately 200 girls and 176 boys teams are assigned to 12 sectionals at the end of the regular season. The top two teams at each sectional advance to state along with the top two individuals at a sectional not on a qualifying team. Six at-large individuals from among all sectionals advance.
The HSBCI suggests that a regional round be added. There would be three regionals in each of six sectionals statewide. There would be 12 teams at a regional. The top four teams would go to sectionals, plus the top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team. There would be no at-large individual qualifiers.
At a 12-team sectional, the top four teams would go to state, plus the top five individuals not on a qualifying team. Again, no at-large qualifiers.
The proposal would put the same number of teams and individuals (24 and 30 respectively) at state as there are now.
Troyer says the proposal would give more teams more opportunities for post-season success, but he also admits geographical and travel problems would remain. Also, how to add a regional round into the already tight post-season bowling schedule would be difficult.
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