It was announced in the BTBA 2020 Annual Review that having the National Association of Youth Bowling Clubs (NAYBC) operating with a separate Chairman no longer fits with the direction the BTBA is progressing.
On 15th March 2020 Youth Bowling England (YBE) was established within The BTBA to develop youth and junior bowling at all levels in England, from the ‘grass roots’ using our network of Youth Bowling Clubs (YBCs) to ‘Elite Level’ with Youth Team England.
YBE will work with the YBCs, which are staffed by BTBA licenced and insured officials and provide professional coaching from BTBA licenced and insured ETBF (European Tenpin Bowling Federation) Qualified coaches, and will manage a series of events (The YBE Tour) which will be held at different bowling centres across England and include competitive formats in both Singles, Doubles and Teams disciplines.
The Youth Bowling England Tour (YBE Tour) will enable bowlers to earn Tour Ranking Points from the events which can ultimately qualify bowlers to compete in the end-of-season YBE Tour finals.
For athletes who are looking to progress both personally and onwards through County level and even to international (Team England) level, YBE will work closely with BTBA Coaching and Youth Team England to provide both bowling events, higher-level competition and training to provide a pathway to improve their technique, physical skills and mental game.
More recently, the lines which separated the youth bowling tour, Youth Team England and BTBA Coaching have become blurred, and YBE will work to make these clearer, and to help with this we have created three important regional roles (known as Youth Bowling Support North, Central and South) who will work with bowlers, coaches YBCs and parents to learn specific needs and requirements which YBE can support them with.
The Youth Bowling England Committee comprises:
Terry Searle
terryseale@btba.org.uk
BTBA Director of Sport Development
Member of the BTBA National Council
Stephen Toop
stephentoop@btba.org.uk
Head of Youth Bowling
YBE Tour Manager
Member of the BTBA National Council
Steve Allen
steveallen@btba.org.uk
Youth Team England Representative
Brian & Gill Parker
tournaments@btba.org.uk
YBE Tournament Management
Tracy Robertson
tracyrobertson@btba.org.uk
YBC Support Manager
Stuart Watson
stuartwatson@btba.org.uk
Digital Media & Public Relations
Member of the BTBA National Council
We have written a ‘mini-survey – a simple place for you as bowlers and parents to anonymously tell us what you felt worked well and, importantly, what you also felt worked less well over the last two season from the website, news, updates, coaching and the Tour itself.
Please complete our mini-survey to help us better understand what you want from youth bowling both as a parent and as a bowler:
