With regret, today Youth Bowl Canada announces that the decision has been made to cancel the 2020 YBC Nationals.

We know what this decision means to the athletes and fans, and we are truly sorry that our passionate and national community must suffer this loss.  Sadly, things today are what they are. And while our sport is not alone in losing a key event, it is little consolation to our dedicated and passionate community nation wide.

In the end the decision comes down to the logistics of planning an event of this nature under never-before-seen conditions. Youth Bowl Canada does not have the confidence that we can keep our athletes and families safe, have the facilities and other services we need in place, run the event in compliance with laws in place at the time, and run an event that is up to the standards we expect for our community.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, and provincial YBC Chairs from across Canada, I send our deepest regrets to the over 200 athletes who have worked so hard throughout the year to become Provincial Champions and qualify for the YBC Nationals. We hope they remain very proud of their accomplishments this season and we congratulate them on a very successful year. They are all Champions in our book.

As detailed in a previous update, the YBC Nationals have been cancelled in terms of the original May timeline. We are otherwise currently on hold as we see how this pandemic runs its course. We have worked on an alternate timeline, and we are left with one option in early/mid July. The Bowl Canada Board will once again review the situation at their May 5th meeting and decide at that time, based on the information at hand, whether or not it is realistic to proceed with plans or cancel outright. We will keep you updated as more is known.

Youth Bowl Canada was very excited to announce a beta-test launch of the YBC SHOOTOUT earlier this season. The new online event, aims to bring continued excitement to YBC leagues in the latter stretches of the season. And it would have done just that, had the latter stretches of the season been allowed to roll out as normal. Unfortunately, as with all things these days, the Shootout fell victim to the dreaded Coronavirus.

Due to bowling centre closures across Canada the YBC Shootout had to be cut short, but the timing was better than it could have been. Forced closures were being announced as of March 17 (Ontario), which is when results of the Brackets Round of 8 were due, leaving us that day with the final 4 bowlers in each of the Scratch and POA brackets.

With some finalists hailing from provinces where closures had just been announced (and others soon to join the closures list) it was decided that the only fair thing would be to consider the remaining bowlers as CO-CHAMPIONS and call the event for the year.

CONGRATULATIONS to all the 2020 YBC SHOOTOUT co-champions! CLICK HERE FOR A LIST!

With 1,021 entries this year in fivepin, and almost 100 entries in tenpin, the event shows promise and interest from the community. And considering only 50 bowling centres were invited to participate this year YBC expects that the full launch next year could see considerable growth in terms of entries, and in terms of prize money awarded.

There will be adjustments made as we hear suggestions from the community as to how to make the event even better for the years to come. Stay tuned! But for now, a big thanks to the bowlers and
leagues who participated this year and made the YBC SHOOTOUT possible.

For some time now Bowl Canada has been closely monitoring the Coronavirus pandemic with the aim of being able to confidently decide on an appropriate course of action with regards to the running of our scheduled events.   Our first event of the season is our primary concern at this time, namely the Youth Bowl Canada (YBC) National Championships scheduled for early May in Calgary, AB.

The province of Alberta (host of the YBC Nationals) posted a position last night stating that all events of 250 people or more are to be cancelled “indefinitely” (click here for info from the Calgary Herald).   The announcement does not stipulate a specific timeline, so it is unclear if this restriction will still be in force come May.  Presumably the vagueness of the statement is to allow the Government of Alberta to adjust its position as required and as details change moving forward.

The safety and welfare of the bowling community is always our top priority, and the best interests of the athletes, coaches and family members and friends who would be attending the Championship will be our driving concern as we continue to evaluate the prudence of conducting the YBC National Championships as scheduled and under the foreseeable circumstances.

We will provide another update next week and ask that everyone stay tuned for further word on the matter as we take the recommendations and guidelines of Health Canada and other levels of government into our decision making process.

For those who already have arrangements in place for their trip to Calgary, don’t panic just yet;

Rest assured that you can cancel any booked accommodation at our host hotels, without penalty, right up until a few days prior to our scheduled arrival on May 2^nd

If you’ve booked flights, both Air Canada and Westjet are already announcing waived rescheduling fees, though currently the conditions are somewhat restrictive (based on when the flight was scheduled for, and when the flight was booked).  We expect that the restrictions will loosen up as time, and conditions of the pandemic, move forward.

No doubt you’ve been wondering about the trip to Calgary and the YBC Nationals.  We thank you for your patience, and want you to know that while we are dedicated to conducting our cherished YBC Nationals, we will make decisions based on what is in the best interests of the bowling community and of society at large.  Stay tuned as we all continue to navigate the unknown.

Youth Bowl Canada’s (YBC’s) National Championships are underway in Calgary (May 7-9) and YBC proudly announced at the Opening Ceremonies that the bowling community is stepping up to support the relief efforts for the victims of the wildfires that have ravaged the communities in and around Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Bowling industry suppliers QUBICA AMF WORLDWIDE, BUFFA BOWLING DISTRIBUTION and ASSOCIATED BOWLING COMPANIES have pledged to contribute 25 cents for every strike thrown at the YBC Nationals, to a maximum of $1500.

Upon announcing the contribution, Youth Bowl Canada pledged to MATCH the contribution to further support the Red Cross and the northern Alberta communities in need.

Additionally, host bowling centres of the event (Chinook Bowladrome, Century Bowl, Bowling Depot and Paradise Lanes) are accepting contributions from the spectators on hand to take in the premiere youth championship in Calgary.

“Spare” change or big bucks… every little bit helps a Canadian community in need!

Was held in Oshawa and Toronto, May 2nd – 4th.

(more…)