17/04/2015
BTBA Press Release
Director of Sport Development announces new
‘Youth Team England’ Tour
YOUTH TEAM ENGLAND (YTE) DETAILS 2015
In what will be seen by many as a major shake up to youth bowling in England, a new and exciting Tour has been introduced to encourage wider participation on the Under 21 circuit.
Aimed at bowlers of all abilities, the 2015 YTE Tour will stage 8 events between June and December, and will include 2 ‘stand-alone’ youth events and entry into 6 events falling within the JTE/BTBA programme. This will culminate in an end of season Masters Tournament where the top 12 seeded Boys and top 12 seeded Girls who have competed in at least 6 of the qualifying rounds will do battle.
A ranking list will determine bowlers’ positions throughout the Tour and will be similar to the existing format used by the JTE and BTBA Tour (see http://ytetour.org.uk ).
The stakes will be high with the first placed bowlers of the YTE Tour and the winners of the Masters gaining automatic selection to the elite World Youth England squad of 6 boys and 6 girls. From this squad, the two teams of 4 men and women will be selected to represent their country in the World Youth Championships (WYC) in Nebraska, USA in July 2016.
In the event of the same person winning both categories, a fifth bowler will be selected to join the squad in accordance with existing criteria.
Terry Searle, who has been co-ordinating the new look Tour with Steve Allen and Neil Warland, was keen to point out that this is much more than elite bowling, “We are looking at exciting ways of making bowling in organised tournaments much more appealing to the Under 21s and Under 25’s. We recognise that later evening tournaments might be attractive to a certain age group with opportunities to enjoy the social aspects of the sport which sometimes get overlooked. For many their focus will not be on Nebraska next year, but rather more to enjoying the company of friends who share a love of bowling. I am also open to any ideas from bowlers who want us to try something different, so long as it is legal” he joked.
Looking ahead, the Tour will run from January in 2016 and in alternate years when the WYC does not take place, teams will be selected to compete in the German Youth Open.
Does your date of birth fall between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2002? If so register for the YTE Tour by visiting http://ytetour.org.uk/register . The good news is that it costs very little to join; just £10 for existing JTE members and £20 for all other bowlers and cards will be issued to all YTE members provided they are BTBA members.
Yours in sport
Terry Searle
Director of Sport Development. B.T.B.A.
