The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER a series of delays to adjust the lanes, the Bahamas Federation of Amateur Bowlers was unable to complete their second round of six games for the National team trials on Saturday because management needed the lanes for their other patrons.

After the first six games were rolled on Thursday, about 60 bowlers were using about 22 lanes for their second round on Saturday to determine the top 18 men and women who would have been bowled in a final round on Sunday to determine the top eight men and women to be selected to the training squad.

However, federation president Yule Hoyte said they were disappointed when they experienced a communication breakdown with management. He noted that they were scheduled to start bowling at 10:30 am, but they were about a half hour late getting started.

“After the first six game block, we had to stop and recondition the lanes according to the international rules when you are rolling off for a national team,” Hoyte said. “That took a while, much longer than we had anticipated. In addition to that, we had some mechanical conditions with the lanes.

“So all that alluded to us going over our scheduled time. I guess management at the Bowling Alley felt that we were going over the time allotted to us and we had to reschedule and so they shut the lanes down. To me, it was a poor decision because I felt we could have discussed it and come to some amicable agreement.”

At the time that the lanes were shut down for the federation, it was about 8 pm, which was around the peak time for the other patrons to utilize the lanes.

“We were heading into our final block, but they just didn’t have the patience to allow us to finish,” Hoyte said. “That’s the only thing I could say.”

However, speaking on behalf of management, Greg Wilkinson said some of the bowlers were “too unruly” towards the staff and as a result, they denied them the opportunity to continue. Wilkinson refused to go into any further details as he was preparing for the Super Bowl party.

A meeting between the federation and management is scheduled for Tuesday night. However they can come to some type of agreement to complete the roll-off.

Hoyte, who was also one of the competitors bowling in the roll-off, said it was quite disappointing for the federation and the bowlers because it “you are looking at the core group of bowlers in the country. I’m not saying all of the bowlers were there, but we were doing a national trial, so it was quite disappointing.

“If it was a regular league, we could live with that, but we were trying out for the national teams to represent the country. We have a number of tournaments that we will be sending teams off to compete. We were in the initial stages of trying to establish those teams.”

With bowling slowly getting back to its prominence since the closure of the Village Bowling Lanes, Hoyte said he’s confident that after a preliminary meeting they had with management on Saturday night, they will be able to reach an agreement to complete the trials.

“We just have to get the general group of bowlers back into that mood and grove because a lot of them were close to finishing their rounds,” Hoyte said. “I think it could have been handled differently. Had management came to me and discussed it, we could have suspended play and I would have been able to let the bowlers know that we would have had to resume at another time.

“We had people in the eighth frame and the ninth frame and some were bowling off the tenrth frame. At least we would have been able to finish that game and then complete it today. But they just shut down the lanes down on us. It was just a bit too abrupt.”

Leslia Miller, who manage the lanes, was not available for comments.

After the first six games on Thursday, Ritchie Pyfrom took the lead in the mwen’s division with a huge 210 average and a 1263 six game set. Mario Brown topped the pins for a 199 average & a 1199 set for second place. Leon Graham was third with 1153 pins; Ken Brathwaite Sr. was fourth with 1143 pins and Phillip Bethel rounded out the top five with 1132 pins.

On the ladies side, Driskell Rolle finished with 1097 pins and a 182.8 average. Marina McClain was second with 1093 pins for a 182.2 average. In third was Joy Lockhart with 1059 pins; Camille Burnside was fourth with 997 pins and Xynea Johnson completed the top five with 988 pins.

The roll-offs got started on Thursday with Ritchie Pyfrom turning in a huge 210 average and a 1263 six game set to lead the men. Mario Brown followed with a 199 average and a 1199 set. Third place Leon Graham with 1153 pins. The ladies led by Driskell Rolle’s 1097 pin count and a 182.8 average. Marina McClain with another respectable score of 1093 pins for a 182.2 average. Third was Joy Lockhart wth 1059 pins.

No date has been set for the completion of the roll-offs.