Visit;  www.CanadaCups.ca

Earlier this season, as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was sweeping the nation, Bowl Canada elected to take the safe route for all and cancel (once again) the National Championships of the Bowl Canada Cup and the Club 55 Cup (seniors division), which would have seen competitors from all across the country gather for a traditional face-to-face bowling tournament.  

To quell the urge for social interaction and friendly competition, which has only grown under the insular pandemic, the Canada Cups Online Shootout was born.   In its first year, 320 Teams entered and are currently involved in week 2 of the Qualifying Round (now in Brackets of 8).  After 4 weeks of match play (scores bowled in league and reported online) the winners of each bracket will compete together in a Championship Round, with the winners declared Champions in their respective events (Adult 5-Pin, Adult 10-Pin, 10-Pin Seniors, 5-Pin Seniors).

Year 1 of the online championship has seen 39 bowling centres from all over Canada enter teams, and all events are scored under a Handicap system (or POA – Pins Over Average), so teams are essentially competing against their own average…and that means ANYONE CAN WIN!

The pandemic has caused us all to look at new ways to deliver normalcy to Canadians, and Bowl Canada is happy to see this online Championship take off successfully…and with room to grow!   It may have come into being as pandemic measure…but the Canada Cups Online Shootout may just outlive Covid!

A SIMILAR EVENT IS BEING CONDUCTED FOR YOUTH…

This season Bowl Canada’s youth program (Youth Bowl Canada – YBC) also launched the first YBC SHOOTOUT (www.ybcShootout.ca), which has bowlers compete in 3 age divisions in SINGLES competition (teams for the adults).  Bowlers can compete in Handicap (pins over average) or Scratch (total pinfall) divisions, or both.  Over 2,700 entries were received for the inaugural edition of the YBC Shootout, and the event is expected to grow post-pandemic.