The Wisconsin State Bowling Association Championships (State Tournament) will be coming to Madison in 2016!
WSBA Manager Don Hildebrand recently visited Madison for a couple days to visit prospective host centers. The Madison Bowling Association technically has seven member centers eligible (24 or more lanes) to apply for hosting the event. Of those, Schwoegler E.C., Badger Bowl, Dream Lanes, Bowl-A-Vard Lanes, and Prairie Lanes applied for the 2016 tournament.
After what WSBA Manager Hildebrand described as a pretty long conference call with the state tournament committee, Bowl-A-Vard Lanes was selected to host the Minor Events (Doubles and Singles), and Prairie Lanes the Team Event. The two centers are in close proximity, located near major highways, and have hundreds of restaurant, entertainment, and hotel options nearby.
It had to be a brutally difficult decision for the committee. Really, any pairing of the applying centers would have been top quality venues for the annual state tournament. Our association is fortunate to have an extensive selection of clean, modern, and well-managed bowling centers – large and small.
Madison was initially slated for 2017 after Green Bay, however the State Youth tournament was already signed on for Madison 2017, and Green Bay 2016. Madison and Green Bay simply swapped positions in the rotation of seven sites. The seven sites are: Racine/Kenosha, Wausau, Milwaukee, Fox Cities, Green Bay, Madison, and Oshkosh. There were recently nine sites, which included Fond du Lac and Waukesha. The closing of eligible centers in those associations, however, left them with not enough lane beds.
Interestingly, three of those seven sites only have two eligible centers (Wausau, Fox Cities, and Oshkosh). Racine / Kenosha has three, Green Bay four, Milwaukee six, and Madison seven. Were the “butter” spread a little more evenly, Milwaukee and Madison could enjoy a couple spots in the rotation – something I think tournament bowlers may even embrace.
The Madison Bowling Association is certain the state tournament competitors will enjoy their experience – not just in Madison, but in our top-flight centers. We hope to provide an uptick in entries to the tournament.
The state tournament was last in Madison in 2000, hosted then by Badger Bowl and Dream Lanes.
Also, please note that beginning in the 2015-16 season, the Madison Bowling Association Championship (City Tournament) will be moved to the fall of 2015 so as to not overlap the state tournament. The likely time frame will be late November and early December. Once moved, the MBA will probably leave the city tournament in the fall so we can visit centers who currently cannot accommodate our event over their normally busy January weekends.