High School Hoosiers Take Bowling Into Prime Time - plans to televise high school bowling club finals for state of Indiana - Brief Article

Bowling Digest, Dec, 2000 by Bud Fisher

WHEN BILLY SEPRODI AND Jim O'Connor of Indianapolis were honored on September 15 at Hindel Bowl for winning the 2000 ABC tournament doubles tire with a record 1,534 total, a letter from Indiana governor Frank O'Bannon addressed to the champions was read. "Indiana may be known for its love of basketball," O'Bannon wrote, "but these two outstanding athletes are proof positive that bowling is alive and well in Indiana, too."

Six days later further proof that bowling is indeed alive and well in Indiana--and, if viewed as part of a larger movement, the country--was offered when the Indiana Bowling Centers Association board of directors voted 13-0 to accept a proposal by WTTV of Indianapolis to produce a two-hour live telecast of the second Indiana High School Bowling Club state finals on March 17, 2001, at Expo Bowl in Indianapolis.

Under a proposal WTTV general manager Phil Paligraf made to Jim Doty, president of the IBCA, which sponsors the high school bowling club program, an estimated 80 to 90 proprietors will pay the TV station to showcase the event. The proprietors will then own the rights to sell advertising and secure sponsors to meet the event's production costs.

"We have until January 15 to make a final commitment, so now we've got to go out and start selling," says Doty, who is also the general manager of Indianapolis' five Royal Pin Leisure Centers. "I'm optimistic it will happen. This will be the first time in the country that a state will have a live telecast of its high school finals."

Ninety-four schools participated in the first high school club season. That figure is expected to swell to around 140 for the second season, beginning November 13. Three of the new schools will compete at Mike Aulby's Arrowhead Bowl in Lafayette.

"We're happy to be involved this year," says Aulby, a 26-time PBA champion. "I was at the first state finals, and it was a great event. High school bowling opens up another opportunity for kids who might not be able to make a football or basketball team to play a sport for their school."