SteveWebel [dot] Com

I didn’t even know there WAS a “U.S. Bowling Congress”, let alone that they were planning on moving to my new backyard!  One thing’s for sure, there will be far less snow and cold weather for the 2oo employees to contend with down here in Texas!

Milwaukee’s heritage is on the line as it tries to keep Bowling Congress from moving to Texas

Within the year, the U.S. Bowling Congress, the sport’s national governing body, plans to pull up its stakes and move from Greendale to Arlington, Texas. The organization’s board of directors voted last month to start negotiations to move. Business leaders in Milwaukee say they’ll work aggressively to keep the organization here.

Yet this may be the sporting world’s version of Milwaukee’s old industrial firms closing factories and shipping jobs south or overseas.  (’overseas’!?  really! - Texas isn’t THAT far away!)

And make no mistake: This is a big deal in the bowling world and a pretty big deal for Milwaukee. If the USBC leaves Wisconsin - where its links stretch more than a century to the old American Bowling Congress - the Milwaukee area would lose a $50 million-a-year nonprofit that employs around 200 people.

“Having the Bowling Congress here has always made Milwaukee a flagship that everyone recognizes. If it goes, it’s like losing another part of our identity,” says Doug Schmidt, a local historian and author of “They Came to Bowl: How Milwaukee Became America’s Tenpin Capital.”

Jack Mordini, a Milwaukee native and a chief officer of the USBC, says that if the Bowling Congress leaves the area, local bowlers may not see much of a difference.

“They’ll just receive their materials from Arlington,” he says. “And if they dial our 800 telephone number, instead of the call being answered in Wisconsin, it will be answered in Texas.”