I attended one year of junior gold to experience what it would be like. However I realized that the same amount of scholarship money can be won by doing local tournaments. The travel and hotel expenses are usually extremely high, so after deducting that from your potential earnings, I figured out I'd be better off staying at home
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LULZ

When I first bowled Junior Gold, I hadn't bowled competitively for much more than a few months.  The whole tournament was kind of a huge spectacle for me, signing in equipment, choosing squads, etc., things that just made the tournament seem special.  Then when I got there, I saw that the best youth bowlers were in it, and usually made it to the top.  Obviously that made me want to go back to it, and eventually make first cut or better.

Besides the fact that it is the largest youth tournament I know of, it's also essentially a week-long vacation.
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The Right Approach Pro Shop, Charlotte, NC

Deano...First off congrats for being selected to bowl in Orlando...

I'm one of the ones that shows up at Gold for the sole purpose of making Jr. Team.   The scholarship money is ok, but thats kind of insignificant in comparison to the real reason for the whole tournament (you can't put a pricetag on the experience of making team).  While it may be a bit of a "luckfest" (lets be honest, how equal can you make a tournament with 9 squads bowling at different times of day in different centers with all the variables out there), it is still the means in which you can qualify for Jr. Team, which is one of the reasons why people come out year after year.

I'm confident the program is going to head in the right direction with Brian Graham now in charge of all of the youth programs for USBC.

My first year, experience, after that, the mission. And even though I failed that mission of making the team, I only left with my head down once because I threw myself out of the cut. Every other time, I learned more and more about myself.

The scholarship amount is, weak, for how many kids are there ( it was $200 if you made first cut, then scattered if you made match play when  I was bowling) I won more money in the warm up tournaments and side events back then, so I wasnt bowling to make scholarship money.

Now the kids today automatically believe they are bowling as the best the youth in the country, when they are bowling against the few of the best youth bowlers in the country. The qualifying process is ridiculous now-a-days, so you're not seeing the elite bowlers showcased anymore. And it does come down to some who have a good week, while one of the best might not have a great week and finish outside of the number (I.E. Josh Blanchard)....just my opinion
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Justin Buford