12th Annual Barnes Thanksgiving Youth Classic
12/3/2016The 12th Annual Barnes Thanksgiving Youth Classic Bowling Tournament was held November 25-27 at Plano Super Bowl. Two hundred fifty-two youth bowlers representing Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and Kansas competed for $15,750 in scholarships. The event was bowled on the “Montreal” sport pattern. There were 3 divisions: 185 & over Scratch and 184 & under handicap, and ages 13 and under handicap.
Besides getting to bowl in a competitive environment, the participants got the opportunity to ask Chris Barnes questions in a Q&A session Saturday afternoon.
Barnes got questions from every end of the spectrum, everything from what do you think about Anthony Simonsen, how to play the lanes, who’s the better bowler between him and Lynda, and much more. This year was the 12th year the Barnes family has hosted the Thanksgiving Classic and have awarded an estimated
$215,000 in scholarship money since its first year.
“It’s been kind of amazing actually. When we started, I had just won the U.S. Open and it seemed like the right time to get something like this going. Without Randy Little, Jim Welch, Chris Johnson and the gang at Plano Super Bowl, this never would have been possible. The metroplex is lucky that we have great people looking out for bowling,” said Barnes.
Barnes and other scholarship tournament directors are looking to build a “futures”
Grand Championship event based on performance in this event and the events ran by Wes Malott, Jeff Harsfield, and Dino Castillo. They are looking to grow this into a Texas “Futures” tour. The idea being to create a future where kids can get scholarship money, go to college and bowl.
Article was posted with permission from Stars & Strikes, America's Bowling Newsmagazine. www.starsandstrikesbowling.com
