The Bama Lanes Prattville Youth Program runs year long. We offer 3 different sessions for youth bowlers ages 3-20; Fall Season, Spring Season and Summer Season. The Fall and Summer Seasons kick off with free 2 hours of bowling during sign-ups.
During the sign-ups the youth bowlers join the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) and the Central Alabama Association, signing-up with team members as a team or signing-up to bowl and the coaching staff will assign them to a team.
League play begins the next Saturday. During the Fall Season, the league will bowl for approximately 13 weeks, taking off Labor Day and Thanksgiving weekends. The final week of the Fall Season, we will celebrate the completion the session with a No Tap Bowling Tournament, Party and Awards Ceremony.
After Christmas and New Year’s break, we return on the first Saturday of January and start the Spring Season. At this time will add new teams, new bowlers and resume league play. During the Spring Season, the league will bowl for approximately 17 weeks, taking off Easter weekend. On the final week of the Spring Season we will celebrate the completion the session with a No Tap Bowling Tournament, Party and Awards Ceremony.
Our Summer Season usually begins the Saturday after the Spring Season party. This is typically the third Saturday in May each year. The Summer Season is more relaxed and a different set of "rules" are given to each bowler. Teams vary in strength and usually consist of multiple levels of talent and age, giving the younger bowlers the opportunity to learn from the older, more experienced bowlers. The Summer Season lasts approximately 10 weeks, only taking off for Memorial Day and July 4th weekends. On the final week of the Summer Season, we will celebrate the completion of the session with Extreme No Tap Party and Awards Ceremony.
Because our youth bowlers are members of the USBC and the local bowling Association, they will receive awards from the National organization as well as the local Association during the year. Awards for youth are based on their average at time of bowling, beginning with the 13th game thrown in the league play. During the year most bowlers will receive several awards.
We also award a "Bowler of the Week" award each week. The boy and girl bowlers that bowl the highest game with handicap over a two week period will receive a "Bowler of the Week" award. This award is limited to one per year, the year starts in September and end to May of the following year. Bowlers can also receive a "Bowler of the Week" award during the Summer Season, under the same conditions.
We have a very active parent’s organization, Prattville Youth Bowling Booster Club, that actively supports the youth program at Bama Lanes in Prattville. We encourage all parents to join the organization - it's FREE! In the past, the PYBBC has paid for new bowling shirts for our youth bowlers, offered scholarship tournaments and even paid for the State tournament entry fees. These are just a few examples of what our Booster Club can do for our youth bowlers.
The "End of Session" No Tap Bowling Tournament generally consists of two to three divisions, based on the youth bowling averages. Depending on the number of bowlers and averages, the divisions will be broken as even as possible to insure that all bowlers bowl against bowler with similar skills. The competition will consist of three games with the bowler's handicap added to each game. When a bowler knocks down 9 pins on the first ball in a frame, the bowler will awarded a strike for that frame. Awards for the first three places in each division will be handed out during the Awards Ceremony.
The league has an excellentcoaching staff with many years of experience in both bowling and coaching. All of our coaches are at least Level I Certified by the USBC. Find out more about our coaching staff by using the drop down menu below.
We have four different leagues: Bumper League; Bantam Prep (BP) League; Junior Major Senior (JMS) League and Junior Major Senior Scratch (Scratch) League. New bowlers in the Bantam Prep, JMS, or Scratch leagues who complete an entire season will receive a FREE bowling ball. (Limit one per new bowler per lifetime)
Both Bumper and Bantam Prep leagues starts at 8:45 am with 15 minutes of practice, at 9:00 am the bowlers, parents, Youth Director, and Head Coach will meet for about 10 to 15 minutes, at which time the bowlers will receive the "Bowling Tip of the Week" followed by announcement and finally the weekly award will be presented. The league bowling usually begins around 9:15 am and is usually finished by 10:30 am.
The Bumper League consists of bowlers between the ages of 3 and 6. They bowl 2 games on a different pair of lanes. The league has one adult coach and several youth coaches.
The Bantam Prep League consists of 3-4 bowlers between the ages of 6 and 12 on a team. They bowl 3 games on a different pair of lanes against different opponents each week. The league has a minimum of three adult coaches each week.
Both the Junior Major Senior League and Scratch leagues start at 11:00 am with 15 minutes of practice. At 11:15 am the bowlers, parents, Youth Director and Head Coach will meet for about 10 to 15 minutes, at which time the bowlers will receive a "Bowling Tip of the Week" followed by announcement and finally the weekly award will be presented. The league bowling usually begin around 11:15 am and completes around 1:00 pm.
The Junior Major Senior League consists of 4 bowlers between the ages of 12 and 20 on a team. They bowl 3 games on a different pair of lanes against different opponents each week. This league has a minimum of two adult coaches each week.
The Junior Major Senior Scratch League consists of 2 bowlers on a team. To bowl Scratch, bowlers must have demonstrated the ability to adjust their shots based on various factors, as well as be consistent with their average bowling. The Head Coach and Youth Director have the final decision on whether a bowler is ready to bowl Scratch or not. Bowlers in this league will qualify for the end of year handicap awards given by the local Association as well as the opportunity to bowl handicap in any local or State tournament. The bowlers on this league bowl 3 games on a different pair of lanes against different opponents each week. This league uses the Peterson Point system. Bowlers will enter this league using their highest yearbook average from the previous year or Summer Season, whichever is higher. This league has a minimum of one adult coach specifically geared towards Scratch techniques each week. The oil patterns will vary on this league each month.
