28
- March 2017
New Jersey Volunteer Selected For A
National Award
By Terry Bigham
ARLINGTON, Texas –
Leslie Bohn of Jackson, New
Jersey, who has organ-
ized trips to give youth
bowlers the opportuni-
ties to compete in tour-
naments, has been se-
lected to receive the Vol-
unteer of the Year Award
by the International
Bowling Campus Youth
Committee.
The Volunteer of the
Year Award is presented
each year to an adult
volunteer who displays
outstanding efforts to
foster, organize and promote certified youth bowling at
the local, state and/or national level.
“This award means the world to me,” said Leslie Bohn,
the wife of United States Bowling Congress and Profes-
sional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III.
“I simply do this to help promote the sport that has given
so much to myself and our family. The memories that are
created amongst the bowlers and families will last a life-
time!”
She is involved at the local level, organizing fundraisers
for youth bowling and making sure the bowlers are
aware of scholarship opportunities and deadlines. She
organizes and runs the Parker Bohn III Youth Scholarship
tournament, which brings together many of the top
youth bowlers in the Northeast.
After taking a team to the Bowling.com Youth Open
Championships in 2013, she began to take more teams
each successive year. Last year, she took 18 teams to
participate in the Youth Open in Indianapolis, and, so far,
has 31 teams that will make the trip to bowl in Cleve-
land.
In his nomination of Bohn, John Voorhis wrote: Her
passion is apparent and contagious. She is always en-
couraging and open, frequently challenging the kids to
strive for more, and a cheerleader for the state and na-
tional programs. She is a true ambassador for youth
bowling and the future of the sport.
For being selected as the Youth Volunteer of the Year,
Bohn will receive an expenses-paid trip to the USBC Con-
vention, April 24-27 at The Orleans in Las Vegas, where
she will be presented with the award.
California Junior Tour Director To Receive
Kerm Helmer Horizon Award
By Terry Bigham
ARLINGTON, Texas –
David Yamauchi of La Palma, California, the
executive director of the Junior Amateur Tour in Southern California, has
been selected by the International Bowling Campus Youth committee to
receive the Kerm Helmer Horizon Award.
The award recognizes leaders in the sport of bowling who have displayed
courage, determination and the ability to develop far-reaching programs
that provide fun and exciting opportunities for collegiate and/or youth
bowlers. The award is named in honor of Kerm Helmer, the longtime bowl-
ing coach at Erie Community College who also served as a board member,
vice president, and president of the Young American Bowling Alliance.
“I’m honored to be recognized and flattered someone would even take
the time to notice what I do,” Yamauchi said. “Honestly, it’s a true labor of
love to be able to provide fun and competitive events for generations of
youth bowlers here in Southern California. I’m thankful to USBC for recog-
nizing myself, but more importantly for recognizing the Junior Amateur
Tour and what the organization means to the youth in my area.”
Yamauchi comes from a family of league and avid bowlers. He started
bowling at an early age and said having great youth directors helped him
hone his skills to the point he could take part in the Junior Amateur Tour
Farm Club.
He put together a summer youth
scratch league – “basically, so we all
could have another excuse to get to-
gether” – and after joining the adult
ranks, he continued to help at JAT
events, one of the first youth scratch
tours in the nation that provides pre-
mier events for youth bowlers in
Southern California.
He would become one of two assis-
tant directors for the JAT under the
guidance of Mary Smith, mother of
pro bowler Robert Smith. A few years
later, Mary Smith had to take a leave
and asked Yamauchi if he could “watch things for her” and that led to him
taking the role as executive director when she decided not to return.
He now has been involved with JAT for 31 years. “The reason I have such
a passion for the JAT is because of what JAT meant to myself and so many
of my friends,” Yamauchi said. “If you ask most JAT veterans, they will tell
you that it was the absolute best time of their bowling careers and drove
their love for the game of bowling. I want to make sure this generation of
kids is able to have the experiences, the memories and the stories of their
JAT days. My best friends to this day are bowlers from all over Southern
California that I may never have met if it wasn’t for being part of my
weekend family in JAT.”
As this year’s recipient of the Kerm Helmer Horizon Award, Yamauchi will
receive an expenses-paid trip to the USBC Convention, set for April 24-27
at The Orleans in Las Vegas, where he will receive his award.
