DENNIS FUJIMOTO - TGI Sports Editor
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LIHU‘E — Saturday morning unveiled a day totally different from Friday’s rain and wind, and about 50 youngsters took advantage of the break in the weather to turn out for their weekly session at the Lihu‘e Bowling Center.

Operating under the auspices of the Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA), the Kaua‘i Junior Olympic Bowling program meets each Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Lihu‘e bowling alley, and provides youth from age 7 through 21 a means of enjoying and learning new skills on the bowling alley.

“The numbers rise and fall according to what’s in season,” one of the parent-coaches noted. “But, the (Kaua‘i) Junior Bowlers meet year-round so the kids who finish one sport can always return.”

Prior to the start of Saturday’s hands-on bowling, the group gathered in the lounge of the bowling alley where recognition was awarded to those juniors who had beaten their coaches in a prior matchup.

Darrel Izumo of the Lihu‘e Bowling Center is a coach for the program as well, and on Saturday noted the leaving of one of Kaua‘i’s coaches, Daryl Teraoka who will be starting a new job in Kona.

Izumo noted that there is no program in Kona so Teraoka will attempt to get one started there.

YABA is the premier international youth membership organization in the sport of tenpin bowling, and provides youngsters a fun, exciting, environment while providing opportunities for the personal development of youth.

The Alliance encourages health, competition, physical fitness, sportsmanship, and good citizenship among its members while providing playing rules and supervision through an elaborate awards program.

The YABA program involves nearly 500,000 youngsters nationally in over 22,000 leagues. Youth bowl in over 7,500 bowling centers across the nation.

Under the YABA program, young bowlers are also taught to become student coaches and qualified scorekeepers.

One of those student coaches is Jolene Koerte, a student at Kaua‘i Community College, and still age-eligible to participate in the program.

YABA is expanding its services with an in-school bowling program, the objective is to acquaint school children with the sport of bowling at an early age so they can learn the benefits of lifetime participation.

Justin Duarte is only 6 years old, a year younger than the minimum age eligibility, but one of the coaches noted that exceptions like this can be made.

Duarte, who has been bowling for about a year in the program sports a 99 average.

The goal of the in-school program is to make bowling a true interscholastic sport at the high school level, a program which is currently in effect here as all three public high schools support teams that compete at the KIF level before moving on to the HHSAA level.

Mei Ling Keopuhiwa who was on the Kaua‘i High School bowling team, and was the only Kaua‘i bowler to medal for two consecutive years at the HHSAA state competition is a product of the KIF program combined with the Kaua‘i Junior Olympic Bowling program.

The Kaua‘i Junior Olympic Bowling Program is inviting visitors and residents of Kaua‘i to come and join the program each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Lihu‘e Bowling Center, a Smoke-Free center that is open daily.

For more information, please call 245-LANE (5263).