A loss for Storm but a gain for the sport of bowling.
USBC NAMES KLOEMPKEN TO TECHNICAL DIRECTOR POST GREENDALE, Wis.- The United States Bowling Congress has named versatile and highly respected bowling industry veteran Steve Kloempken to the position of Technical Director of the sport*s national governing body.
Recognized as having one of the industry*s most innovative minds in bowling ball design and construction, Kloempken will manage the USBC Specifications and Certifications team, which primarily performs advanced testing and research on bowling balls, lanes, pins and lane dressing to ensure that all equipment meets guidelines set by the organization before it is used in USBC competition.
Kloempken officially is slated to start Aug. 1 at the current USBC testing and research facility in Greendale, Wis. Eventually, Kloempken and his staff will operate from the research portion of the USBC International Training Center that will be constructed at the new USBC Headquarters facility in Arlington, Texas. Plans call for the training center, scheduled to open by June 2009, to have six lanes for testing and research and 14 lanes for training and coaching.
*I*m extremely excited about the opportunity to join the USBC,* said Kloempken, 38, who has served as the marketing director for Storm Products, Inc., in Brigham City, Utah, since 2006. He was the technical director at Storm from 2000-06. *This organization already has many talented people, and I*m honored to be a part of this great team.*
Kloempken has a varied and extensive bowling background. The two-time Team USA member (1991, 1994) shined on the international stage in 1991 as a two-time gold medalist in the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs World Championships and U.S. Olympic Festival. He won one gold medal in the Pan Am Games. Kloempken helped Wichita State University to three straight Intercollegiate Bowling Championship titles from 1993-95, earning IBC All-Tournament Team recognition in 1993 and 1994. He also was the 1995 National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Most Valuable Player, a first-team All-American and the Bowling Writers Association of America Collegiate Bowler of the Year. The right-hander has rolled several USBC-certified perfect games and a USBC-certified high series of 820.
In addition, Kloempken is a USBC Silver coach, an International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association Level II certified technician and a BWAA member. From 1998-2000, Kloempken served as the Pro Tour Consultant for Storm.
Kloempken has a considerable amount of technical expertise in bowling. His list of accomplishments in that area includes: developing and presenting more than 40 seminars on bowling ball design, reaction and drilling; generating 10 different types of technical ball drilling instructions; attaining certification on the StormPro Digital Coaching System; and authoring articles in more than 15 publications.
*Steve's background makes him a perfect fit for the USBC team,* said current USBC Vice President * National Governing Body and former USBC Technical Director Neil Stremmel. *He has a technical background and a business sense that USBC needs to move forward and continue recent success.*
With USBC, Kloempken takes the reins of a Specifications and Certifications staff that has recently made a significant impact on the sport. Under Stremmel's leadership, the USBC research team has secured patents for biomechanics systems for motion capture, foot pressure, grip pressure and a landmark, two-year bowling ball motion study conducted jointly with bowling ball manufacturers.
*As the USBC Technical Director, I*m looking forward to building upon the recent successes of the department, such as the bowling ball motion study,* Kloempken said. *Our team will continue to conduct technical research on the various products and equipment used in bowling. Our team will develop new and innovative tools and work with new coaching technologies to lead our sport into the future. I also look forward to communicating our findings to the industry.*
Kloempken has a B.A. degree in Business Administration from Wichita State and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.
