| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1920 [1] Detroit, Michigan |
| Years active | 1950s |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | Ten-pin bowling |
Maurice Kilgore was an American bowler, notable for being the first African American bowler to compete in a nationally televised tournament. He was also a member of the first team of African American bowlers to play in an American Bowling Congress tournament, a milestone that has been credited with breaking the color barrier in bowling.
Kilgore was born around 1920 and grew up in Detroit. [1] In the early 1900s, Detroit was credited with having an unusually large and active African American bowling community. [2]
In 1950, Kilgore won a National Singles Championship in bowling. [3] Until that year (or the following one [4] ), the American Bowling Congress, which organized bowling tournaments and frequently broadcast the sport nationally on television, had a whites only clause which forbade nonwhite athletes from competing in its bowling tournaments. [2] A few years after that clause was repealed, [4] the first team of African American bowlers to compete in an American Bowling Congress tournament was the Allen Supermarket team composed of the bowlers Maurice Kilgore, Lafayette Allen Jr., Lavert Griffin, Bill Rhodman, and Clarence W. Williams Jr. [2] [5] They broke this record by competing in a tournament in Saint Paul, Minnesota. [6] Because of this milestone, the team has been credited with helping to break the color barrier in bowling. [7] Two of Kilgore's teammates became members of the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame. [2] [8]
In 1953, the Cleveland Courier named Kilgore part of its "all star team" of the nation's best African American bowlers. [6]
In 1958, Kilgore competed with the Chicago bowler Stan Gifford at the Faetz-Niesen Bowling Alley in a game broadcast nationally as part of an American Bowling Congress television program. [1] This made him the first African American bowler to compete in a nationwide television broadcast. [1]
As of 1958, Kilgore had long been active in the National Bowling Association, and he had a 209 average in Motor City's Michigan Chronicle League. [1] In 1959, he held the national all-time record for a 3-game cumulative score of 789, and by that time was averaging 202 points per game. [9]
By 1960, Kilgore had become a feature in the bowling scene of Chicago. [10] Kilgore's accomplishments were document by the historian Louis Moore in his 2017 book We Will Win the Day: the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Athlete, and the Quest for Equality. [11]
Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll of the ball, or failing that, on the second roll. While most people approach modern ten-pin bowling as a simple recreational pastime, those who bowl competitively, especially at the highest levels, consider it a demanding sport requiring precision and skill.
Richard Anthony Weber was an American professional ten-pin bowler and founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Along with Don Carter, Weber is widely regarded as professional bowling's first superstar. He is one of only eight players in history to accumulate at least 30 career PBA Tour titles, and was also the first player to reach that plateau.
Duckpin bowling is a variation of the sport of bowling.
A perfect game is the highest score possible in a game of bowling, achieved by scoring a strike with every throw. In bowling games that use 10 pins, such as ten-pin bowling, candlepin bowling, and duckpin bowling, the highest possible score is 300, achieved by bowling 12 strikes in a row in a traditional single game: one strike in each of the first nine frames, and three more in the tenth frame.
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress—the original codifier of all tenpin bowling standards, rules, and regulations from 1895 onwards; the Women's International Bowling Congress—founded in 1916, as the female bowlers' counterpart to the then all-male ABC; the Young American Bowling Alliance; and USA Bowling. The USBC's headquarters are located in Arlington, Texas, after having moved from the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, Wisconsin, in November 2008. The move enabled the USBC to combine its operations with the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA).
Diandra Hyman Asbaty is an American bowler who represented Team USA for fifteen years and was United States Amateur Champion in 1999 and 2006. She is also an official youth bowling spokesperson for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). She competed in the PBA Women's Series from 2007 to 2010, winning two titles in that span. She also won the 2012 USBC Queens major tournament and continues to compete in PWBA tournaments. Asbaty has been elected to the USBC Hall of Fame.
The Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) was an organization for women bowlers who played ten-pin bowling and was formed in 1916 as a counterpart to the American Bowling Congress (ABC). The WIBC was initially called the "Woman's National Bowling Association" (WNBA), before the Women's International Bowling Congress was formed.
The National Bowling League (NBL) is a defunct professional bowling league that existed from February 24, 1960 to July 9, 1962. The league was formed as an attempt to ride the popularity of bowling television shows, and also to challenge the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA).
Kelly Kulick is an American professional bowler, bowling coach and sportscaster. She has won ten professional women's bowling titles, one PBA Tour title and a professional mixed doubles title. Kulick is the first woman ever to win a regular Professional Bowlers Association tour title and the only woman to win a major PBA Tour tournament. She is a 16-time member of Team USA. Kulick is currently a pro staff member for Storm Bowling, Vise grips and High 5 gear. In 2019, Kulick was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame, Superior Performance category.
The Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) organizes and oversees a series of annual tournaments for the top competitive women ten-pin bowlers. The series is often referred to as the "women's tour" of bowling.
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and currently owned by Bowlero Corporation since 2019, the PBA's membership consists of over 3,000 members worldwide. Members include "pro shop" owners and workers, teaching professionals and bowlers who compete in the various events put on by the Association.
Donald James Carter was a right-handed American professional bowler. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he learned the game while working a childhood job as a pinsetter, and went on to become one of the legends of ten-pin bowling and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958.
Basil "Buzz" Fazio nicknamed the "Buzzer" was a pioneer and early American bowling star during the mid-20th century. Known equally for his fierce competitiveness and audience pleasing theatrics, Fazio's professional career spanned from the early 1940s to the late 1960s. The six-time ABC and two-time PBA champion began his career during bowling's golden era of "Team" play.
Andy Varipapa was a professional bowler. He was famous around the world for his trick bowling shots and was the first to ever win back-to-back BPAA All-Star tournaments.
Carmen Salvino is an active professional ten-pin bowler, inventor, author, ambassador, and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). Known as "PBA's Original Showman", Salvino won 17 PBA Tour titles –- among them the 1962 PBA National Championship where he defeated fellow bowling legend Don Carter in the finals. He also won two PBA Senior Tour titles, including the 1984 Senior National Championship. The right-handed bowler was among the eight original inductees to the PBA Hall of Fame in 1975, and is also a member of the USBC Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, the Illinois Sports Hall of Fame, and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.
Francis Hasbrouck Brill was an American professional baseball player and hall-of-fame bowler. He appeared in one season in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Wolverines during the 1884 season. He played 12 games as a pitcher and one game as an outfielder. He later played several seasons of minor league baseball. During the 1900s he became a prominent ten-pin bowler. At the first annual national championship held by the American Bowling Congress in 1901, Brill won both the singles and all-events championships. He was inducted into the American Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 1996.
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins or another target. The term bowling usually refers to pin bowling, though in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, bowling could also refer to target bowling, such as lawn bowls.
William V. Thompson was an American professional and champion tenpin bowler. He was the proprietor of Plaza Bowling Alley in the Chicago Plaza Hotel, the first official regulation ten-pin bowling alley. He formed a bowling club from champion bowlers and challenged other organizations across the nation. Thompson was influential in forming of the ultimate sanctioned regulations rules of the game and an advocate of the original American Bowling Congress. He was general manager of the department at Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company that made the bowling equipment for the alleys.
Thomas Peter "Tom" Clark is an American sports executive who has served as Commissioner of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2011. Clark took over as commissioner following the retirement of Fred Schreyer, who had filled the dual role of PBA Commissioner and CEO since 2005.
The National Bowling Association or TNBA is a prominent organization dedicated to promoting and supporting African American participation in the sport of bowling. Founded in 1939, TNBA aims to foster a competitive environment for bowlers of all skill levels and provide opportunities for personal and professional growth. The association organizes tournaments, events, and leagues, and works to ensure a diverse and inclusive bowling community. Its efforts have helped to advance the sport's visibility and accessibility among African American athletes.
