Sunset Station's Strike Zone in Henderson, Nevada is currently host to The World Tenpin Bowling Association World Championships, which run from August 16 until August 31.
438 players, consisting of 216 men and 212 women, from 44 countries will battle it out to see who will become champions in six divisions: singles, doubles, trios and team events.
Back in the day when I lived in South Africa, I was part of a similar event, called The Inter-Provincials.
From all over South Africa, six men and six women were hand-picked by local committees to represent their bowling alley. Personally I was chosen to join the Eastern Transvaal team.
Bowlers competed in the divisions: ladies doubles, men’s doubles, trios and team event.
It was a colorful gathering of hundreds of players and their coaches, each dressed in their particular team colors. For Eastern Transvaal this was white top and navy blue pants or skirt.
For five days consecutively, playtime started promptly at 10:00 a.m. and finished approximately around 6:00 p.m.
While tournaments are usually quiet events, so the players can concentrate, not so the Inter-Provincials. The crowd and team members who were not playing at the time, supported their team. They applauded, whistled, yelled and sang their hearts out to the point that many of them no longer had a voice after the first day.
The event was concluded with a gold, silver and bronze medal prize giving, followed by dinner and dancing.
As I look at the pictures of those days gone by, I wonder how many of these people are still active players?