British Tenpin Bowling Association

Infobox Sport governing body
assocname= British Tenpin Bowling Association
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sport= Ten-pin bowling
abbrev = BTBA
founded = 1961
aff = FIQ
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president =
chairman = Mrs Pat White
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url = www.btba.org.uk
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The British Tenpin Bowling Association (BTBA) is the official governing body of ten-pin bowling in the United Kingdom. It is the official sanctioning body, recognised by FIQ, the sport's world governing body, for all competitions, leagues and tournaments held in the UK, and is the organisation responsible for the protection, integrity and development of the sport. It also oversees coaching for tenpin bowling at all levels, and is the official awarding body for formal coaching qualifications. The BTBA also publishes "Go Tenpin", a monthly magazine to keep members up to date with the latest news in the sport.

The current chairman of the BTBA is Mrs. Pat White.

History

The first British tenpin bowling centre opened at Stamford Hill. The two principal American manufacturers of tenpin machinery - AMF and Brunswick - had expanded their operations to the UK when it became apparent that they had virtually saturated their home market in the USA at the end of the 1950's. The American Bowling Congress (ABC) took a close interest in this expansion, and actively helped British bowlers to set up their own governing body.

The BTBA was formed on 26 May, 1961, set up under its first General Secretary, Maurice Glazer - then a professional photographer in Dalston, East London. His High Street shopfront became the first official residence of the British Tenpin Bowling Association. One of its original roles was to provide official recognition for newcomers to the fledgling sport of tenpin bowling as it grew in popularity across the UK.It standardised rules and playing regulations, laid down guidelines and provided an independent governing body to turn to for resolution of conflict in the event of disagreement.

The rule-book was copied almost verbatim from the ABC original, and the annual membership subscription was Five Shillings (now 25p), which at the prevailing exchange rate was the Sterling equivalent of the ABC's annual subscription of One Dollar. With about half-a-million members the ABC found this provided them with adequate funds, but it was insufficient to run the BTBA, given that only a few thousand British bowlers had so far joined.

Authority was delegated to each of the counties under the auspices of local area representatives. Some of the area representatives soon came into conflict with the bowling centre proprietors, for example insisting on costly (and unnecessary) re-surfacing of lanes. The proprietors rebelled and set up their own rival organisation, the Tenpin Bowling Proprietors Association (TBPA), in 1967. An acrimonious Annual General Meeting of the BTBA saw most of the governing council resign, leaving Maurice Glazer to regroup, and bring back all decisions to the BTBA head office, but it took several years to achieve a rapprochement with the proprietors.

Maurice continued to follow his instincts in the best interest of British bowlers, became President of FIQ and was awarded an MBE for his service to the sport.

Meanwhile, the BTBA has continued to have a considerable impact on the sport, not just in Britain but worldwide.

References

External links

* [http://www.btba.org.uk/ Official BTBA website]
* [http://www.btba.org.uk/front.htm What is the BTBA?]
* [http://www.btba.org.uk/forms/rules.pdf Official BTBA Rules]

Regional BTBA websites
* [http://www.ybtba.org.uk/main.php Official Yorkshire BTBA website]
* [http://www.lancsbtba.co.uk Official Lancashire BTBA website]
* [http://www.ctba.org.uk Official Cheshire BTBA website]
* [http://www.ktba.org.uk Official Kent BTBA website]
* [http://www.hampshirebtba.org Official Hampshire BTBA website]
* [http://www.TenpinLeicester.co.uk Official Leicestershire BTBA website]
* [http://www.berksbowlingnews.co.uk Official Berkshire BTBA website]

Other
* [http://www.naybc.org/ National Association of Youth Bowling Clubs(UK)]
* [http://www.btbca.co.uk British Tenpin Bowling Coaching Association]
* [http://www.gotenpin.co.uk/ Tenpin Bowling Proprietors Association]
* [http://www.scottishtenpinbowling.com/ Scottish Tenpin Bowling Association Popular]
* [http://www.busatenpin.org.uk/ BUSA Tenpin Bowling Sports Management Group] - University Bowling in England
* [http://www.bowlingforum.co.uk/ UK Tenpin Bowling Forum]