Things we learned last year at Jr Gold with my son.

1. Balls.  you can only take 5 to the lanes for the actual event, but you can bring as many as you like to the practice sessions.  You get a practice session on each pattern and you can bring as many as you like to the practice.

2. while were on practice.. KEEP DETAILED NOTES!!!!  what works and what doesnt. what surface.. etc

3. Take or go buy some abralon/Siaar/trucut pads.  you may need to adjust surfaces for each days patterns.. play with that during practice

4. While at the practice session try to throw balls over the entire house, not every lane but maybe segment it in 1/4s..  We did not do that and the notes we kept were medium off.  lane topography matters

5. practice practice practice before you go.  and not just striking.. play different lines, different angles force yourself to do things you normally wouldnt do, because at JR gold.. your gonna

6.. and most important.. HAVE FUN.  yes its going to be hard.. and you may not do well.. My boy stunk it up for 3 of the 4 days, very humbling experience for him, but in the end it helped him for HS Bowling knowing how much more he had to learn.