ECC Championship Weekend

Hey everyone!

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to be the scorekeeper and assistant official at the East Coast Conference Women's Bowling Championship. The event lasted three days, Friday to Sunday. As an official at the championship event we all have to be neutral which is why I (a student at FDU with our team in the NEC) was asked to scorekeep and assistant official. Multiple things go into being an official at an NCAA event including checking the oil pattern, knowing the rules, and checking equipment. Throughout the weekend we were faced with many unexpected questions regarding lane conditions and the rules.

The first day was qualifiers with 7 teams while the top 2 ranked teams, Bryant University and Kutztown University, had a bye as the already qualified. The format we used for day one was baker total pinfall. This means each team would play five games but only one bowler would be shown on the screen. Five players would be bowling and they would each get two frames, player one had frames 1 & 6 player two had frames 2 & 7 and so on. It was a double elimination bracket so each team had to lose twice to be eliminated. On the first day we eliminated 5 teams so we were left with 4 teams for the remainder of the weekend.

After the first day we were left with Bryant University, Kutztown University, Molloy University, and Adelphi University. On the second day we followed a megamatch format, there was a traditional five player game, baker total pinfall, and if it came to it a best of 7. It was a first to two point system. The best of seven is the same setup as baker but instead of total pinfall it was the winner of each team and first to 4. After day 2 we eliminated one team, Adelphi University. Bryant University won their first match of the day and have secured the bye for day three, they advanced right to the championship match.

On the final day we started with an elimination match between Molloy and Kutztown. The winner of this match would advance to the championship match against Bryant. Megamatches last an extremely long time and this match went into a best of 7. We stated at 8am and we didn't finish this megamatch till 11:30. Molloy ended up winning and advanced to the championship. The Bryant vs Molloy match ended with a Bryant sweep leading to them winning the championship. Overall this was a great experience and I only got the opportunity because I've made connections in the collegiate bowling world. I highly recommend everyone reaches out and interacts with as many people as possible.

Thank you all for reading!

Luci