1980 YBC Jr. Girls & 1984 YBC Sr. Girls Bowling – Team
Young women of Prince Albert were dominating the bowling lanes of Saskatchewan in the early 1980s and they threatened on the national stage too.
The Prince Albert Youth Bowling Council junior girls’ five-pin bowling team of 1979-80 won silver at the Canadian Championships May 9-11, 1980 in London, Ont. With their mothers cheering in the background, the Prince Albert Minto Bowl team came very close to claiming the national title. But, alas, they fell one game to the championship team from Grand Falls, Newfoundland. The Grand Falls team ended with a record of 14 wins and four loses. Prince Albert ended the national championship with a record of 13 wins and five losses.
En route to the national championships, the Prince Albert Minto Bowl team of Carmel Piche, Holly Klamot, Carolyn Krivak, Melanie Boyer, Denise Disiewich and coach Margo Opseth won the Prince Albert, zone and Saskatchewan championships to earn the right to represent the province at the Canadian finals.
Carmel Piche, Denise Disiewich and Carolyn Krivak were in the quest for a national youth bowling council championship again. This time Carmel, Denise and Carolyn along with two new teammates – Gloria Coupal and Loralee Labossiere – would be hunting for a senior girls’ championship.
After capturing the Prince Albert and zone titles, the team was bound for the provincial championship at Eastview Bowl in Saskatoon. There, coached by former Canadian men’s bowling champion Brian Falconer, the girls staged a comeback to earn the Saskatchewan championship. The Minto bowl team rebounded from a 79-point deficit after two games down to beat Saskatoon’s team by 76 pints.
The Minto Bowl team traveled to St. John’s, Newfoundland for the Canadian championships April 26 – 28, 1984. The Saskatchewan champions were in second place after two days of the four-day event, and eventually finished third behind Alberta and southern Ontario.
The Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame welcomes the 1980 & 1984 YBC Bowling Team into its team category.
Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
