The Youth Bowl Canada (YBC) Nationals Championship took place this past weekend in Gatineau, Quebec despite the community dealing with serious flooding issues.
The event was pushed into Monday and Tuesday due to the flooding situation in the region.
Five bowlers and one coach from Partners Bowling in North Bay were competing in the tournament which used to be known as the 4 Steps to Stardom. 232 bowlers plus many coaches from 10 provinces and 1 Territory were competing in the tournament being held at two bowling alleys in Gatineau and one in Ottawa.
In the Bantam Girls Singles Category, 10 year old Sadie Tremblay who is in her 7th year of bowling earned a trip to the Nationals after taking gold at the Provincials earlier this year in Timmins, Ontario. With a tournament ending 161 average after a total of 18 games in 3 days, Sadie finished in 5th place at the Canadian championships.
Also competing at the Nationals was her older brother Liam Smith who joined his teammates Dylan Grant, Cody Edmunds, Thomas Williams and Coach Phil ‘Flipper’ Smith in the Senior Boys Team category.
The Senior Boys who had 7 YBC National appearances among them bowled a 226 team average over 4 games at the Provincials to earn a spot at Nationals. This was the first time since 1991 that a Senior Boys team from North Bay was represented at the YBC Nationals.
Cody is in his final year of YBC bowling. The 2016 Youth Challenge Nationals Champion competed in his 2nd YBC Nationals. Thomas Williams in just his 2nd year at Partners after many years of bowling in Garson competed in his first Nationals. Dylan Grant competed in his 4th YBC Nationals. He was looking to best his silver medal at last year’s YBC National Championships. Liam Smith was also competing in his 4th YBC Nationals.
He recently finished in 7th place at the Youth Challenge Nationals in March 2017. Proud Grandpa Phil was coaching in his 2nd YBC Nationals. The team bowled an average of 224 over a total of 22 games in 3 days. One of those games, they bowled a team total of 1182 (295 average).
This was the highest total of the tournament for any team and it was just mere points off the record book total. Once the competition was over, the Senior Boys captured an 8th place finish.
Cody capped off his youth bowling career with a trip to the Nationals. He will most likely have another opportunity in the adult leagues. Sadie who will return one more year in the bantam category and Dylan, Thomas and Liam returning again in the senior category are already looking at the opportunity to once again compete at a Nationals tournament in future years.
Congratulations to all medallists across Canada in the 54th YBC Nationals Championship.
