Foundation Games VIII

November 2001 FIQ-WTBA American Zone Championships
( Buenos Aires, Argentina )

 

Men's Division
1.  Dino Castillo  (USA)
2.  Shannon Buchan  (USA)
3.  Alejandro Cruz  (USA)

 

 Women's Division
1.  Diandra Hyman  (USA)
2.  Lucy Sandelin   (USA)
3.  Alicia Marcano   (USA)

The Foundation are bowling people that are dedicated to the "Sport" of Bowling. This unique assemblage of enthusiasts was started in 1997 by John Davis when he called together a quorum of experienced lanemen to discuss the problems the world was facing with lane conditioning. The group has now grown to well over 1000, who are now helping us to solve the problems.

From that original meeting and subsequent research, tournaments called: The Foundation Games were born. These "special" tournaments are administered under the strictest of guidelines and also utilize sport-level , multiple lane conditions. This concept puts emphasis on a player's versatility and tends to produce results that are socially accepted to most all competing bowlers.

Foundation Games VIII was a very special event whereby the tournament was incorporated into the FIQ-WTBA American Zone Championships. A field of 217 men and women from 22-countries competed in this major, international event. Countries that participated were: Antilles Hollanders, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, USA, Guatemala, Isles Virgins, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Tournament Officials consisted of John Davis, Hazel McLeary, Kevin Dornberger, Reuben Ghiragossian, Nestor Ibañez and Roberto Diamante. Each of the officials "wore" many hats throughout the week-long competition and put-in countless hours processing entries, cleaning and conditioning lanes, roll calls and doing all of the things that need to be done for an event of this magnitude. The staff at Alto Bowling Avellaneda assisted wherever and whenever needed. The 24-lane facility was a beehive of activity, as you might imagine.

Each of the participants bowled several events, including; singles, doubles, trios, team and all-events before advancing to the all-important Masters competition. A cut to the top-4 was made in both the men's and women's divisions. Medals were awarded to both the men and women in every event, which shared equal importance to the competitors. The medals; Gold for first place, Silver for second place and Bronze for third place are treasured prizes for all of the competitors.

Foundation Games medals were also awarded to the Master's winners (all 3-places) in both the men's and women's divisions. This portion of the tournament was also televised, showing the importance of this event. A full house of enthusiastic bowling fans were on hand to witness the finals and they were not let down with the great performances of the athletes.

Listed below are the winners of each of the competitions. FIQ-WTBA medals (Gold, Silver & Bronze) were awarded to the top-3 in each of the following events.

Singles:
Men: Danyck Briere ( Canada )
Women: Robin Crawford ( Canada )

Doubles:
Men: Bill Hoffman & Tony Manna ( USA )
Women: Lisa Stack & Jeanette Manacho ( USA ) - Paola Gomez & Clara Guerrero ( Colombia )

Trios:
Men: Bill Hoffman, Dino Castillo & Tony Manna ( USA )
Women: Missy Bellinder, Jeanette Menacho & Jackie Edwards ( USA )

Team:
Men: T. Manna, B.Hoffman, D. Castillo, Shannon Buchan, Mike Mullin & Derwin Pitre ( USA )
Women: J.Menacho, M.Bellinder, L.Stack, Lucy Sandelin, J.Edwards & Diandra Hyman ( USA )

All-Events:
Men: Tony Manna ( USA )
Women: Diandra Hyman ( USA )

(NOTE: The Masters competition included The Foundation Games Awards)

Masters:
Men:
1st Place: Dino Castillo ( USA ) Foundation Games Gold Medal
2nd: Shannon Buchan ( USA ) Foundation Games Silver Medal
3rd: Alejandro Cruz ( Mexico ) Foundation Games Bronze Medal

Women:
1st Place: Diandra Hyman (USA) Foundation Games Gold Medal
2nd: Lucy Sandelin (USA) Foundation Games Silver Medal
3rd:  Alicia Marcano (Venez.) Foundation Games Bronze Medal

 

Bowling on 2-separate and distinctly different ( Sport Bowling)oil patterns presented a unique challenge to all of the competitors in this entire event. The scoring pace in each of the events was considered to be in the "moderate" range. However, there were two 300-games, with one being on the short pattern and the other being on the long pattern. The bowlers who rolled those "honor" scores were: Mario Quintero from Mexico, and Marco Odio from Costa Rica. They each received special awards for their excellent performances.

The tournament was a tremendous success and tournament officials are considering this format for future consideration. The "Foundation Games" concept (as expected) has now touched another part of the bowling world.