Hi JohnW,

 The first item I would suggest looking at is the promotion of "In School Bowling."  This program essentially gets bowling into grade schools and middle schools as part of the curriculum for PE classes.  Many bowling centers also own multiple kits (sets of weighted or unweighted plastic pins and balls) that can be loaned to schools for use.  In addition, the teaching curriculum can be obtained for free by those implementing the program from BPAA - often this would be the PE teachers themselves, but there are some areas that local association leaders have been welcomed by the schools to do the instruction as well.

 If you are interested in this, please check out http://www.bowlersed.com/.  There is a an e-mail contact sheet as well where you can get in contact with the appropriate folks if you have questions.  You will also find a searchable listing by state of centers who participate in the program and/or have equipment to loan out. 

This program has been very successful in getting new kids to experience bowling for the first time and is definetly worth a try.  In addition, it is strongly supported by USBC, BPAA, and many of the state bowling center associations.

Hope this helps,

Kyle

John, how big is your association, how many centers? How many centers in nearby locals up to 30 miles from your association?  What do you have now for youth bowlers?

Don Gates