Heart of America Junior Classic is a volunteer-run nonprofit youth bowling tournament organization. Our tournaments travel to bowling centers throughout the Kansas City area. We aim to prepare bowlers for college bowling and beyond while providing a challenging, long-format tournament experience.
Any sanctioned youth bowler may participate. Because our tournaments use challenging lane patterns and a long format, we recommend an average of at least 150. We also hold two Adult/Youth tournaments each year.
Sanctioned adult bowlers may participate in our Big Guy Little Guy and Mini Big Guy Little Guy tournaments. All other HOAJC tournaments are youth-only events.
The entry fee is $50 per bowler. The entry fee breakdown is $25.00 Lineage, $2.00 Prize, $20.00 Scholarship, $3.00 Expense = $50. We have two other optional add-ons for youth, the High Game Pool ($8) and Junior Gold ($50). We accept cash, check, and all major credit and debit cards. If paying by credit or debit card there is an additional fee of $2 for entry fee or Junior Gold and $0.30 for High Game to ensure the total fees collected can cover the related scholarships and expenses.
You will receive a confirmation email at the address entered on your registration form. Returning bowlers will automatically appear on the appropriate rosters. New bowlers will appear on the squad roster immediately and on the division roster after an HOAJC director assigns their division.
If you have registered and need to cancel, please contact Drew Knudson or send us a message on Facebook as soon as possible. You can cancel at any time. Refunds are only available prior to your first ball being thrown, including practice. Once you have thrown a ball, you are considered participating in the tournament and cannot receive a refund of the tournament entry, High Game, or Junior Gold.
Changing to a different squad is generally permissible. However, squad changes are limited to the maximum number of entries allowed. So if you are currently on A Squad and B Squad is full, you would be moved to the B Squad Waitlist instead of directly to the new squad. If the squad is not full, you would be moved to B Squad immediately.
After you register, our tournament directors will assign your division. The guideline for division placement is Major: 150 - 175; Classic: 176 - 195; Master 196 and above based on your highest league average of 21 games or more. This is just a guideline, though, and HOAJC reserves the right to re-rate your division on a case-by-case basis.
When you first bowl with HOAJC, you are assigned a division and remain there until you earn enough points to move up automatically. You may also choose to move up at any time, but you cannot move back down. If your listed division appears incorrect, contact a tournament director so we can review and correct it.
You may move up because you chose to do so, earned enough Division Points to advance automatically, or were re-rated by the tournament directors. Director re-ratings are uncommon, but HOAJC reserves the right to re-rate bowlers when necessary. The complete advancement rules are available in our Tournament Rules.
View Tournament Rules →No. Everyone bowls Saturday qualifying individually in Big Guy Little Guy and Mini Big Guy Little Guy. Bowlers who make the Sunday cut are paired through a blind draw. You may request to bowl with a specific person on your lane pair on Saturday, and we will do our best to honor the request, but it is not guaranteed.
Our standard tournament begins with eight games of Saturday qualifying. The top eight bowlers in each division advance to Sunday match play. After eight Sunday games, the top four in each division advance to single-elimination stepladder finals. Mini Big Guy Little Guy follows the same format, with the top eight adults and top eight youth in each division advancing from Saturday. Big Guy Little Guy advances the top ten adults and top ten youth in each division. Sunday match play consists of ten games, followed by stepladder finals for the top four Adult/Youth pairs.
We do not run brackets, but we offer an optional High Game competition by division. Entry costs $1 per game ($8 total), and awards are paid as SMART scholarships rather than cash. High Game is available only to youth bowlers, including during Adult/Youth tournaments.
Most HOAJC tournaments include a Junior Gold qualifier. The exceptions are our Let’s Roll Gladstone tournament (formerly Gladstone Bowl) and Big Guy Little Guy tournaments. Junior Gold requires an additional entry fee of $50 and a current Junior Gold membership, which may be purchased through Bowl.com.
Visit Bowl.com →Check-in times and other important tournament times are posted in the Schedule section and along the bottom of the website.
Our dress code is outlined in the Tournament Rules. If you still have questions after reviewing the rules, please contact a tournament director.
View Tournament Rules →Yes. Bowlers may use phones to track their games or scores as long as they remain ready when it is their turn to bowl. If phone use begins delaying play, a tournament director may ask the bowler to put the device away.
On Saturday, if there is no waitlist, a late bowler may still participate but will receive zeros for missed frames. If practice has begun and a waitlisted bowler is present, the waitlisted bowler may take the open spot. Please contact a tournament director as soon as possible if you are running late. Sunday qualifiers must arrive by the 8:30 a.m. meeting. If a qualifier is absent and an alternate is present, the alternate may bowl in their place. If no alternate is available, the qualifier may still bowl upon arrival but will receive zeros for missed frames.
You can use any bowling ball that is approved by USBC for league play.
You are allowed to change your ball surface during practice periods. Practice periods are immediately prior to the following: - Saturday qualifying games - Sunday match play - Sunday position round (match play) - Between each stepladder game
All tournament volunteers must complete Registered Volunteer Program (RVP) and SafeSport certification. Both requirements can be completed through Bowl.com.
Visit Bowl.com →Donations support scholarship payouts at HOAJC tournaments throughout the year. We aim to award scholarships to every bowler who advances to Sunday match play, and donations help make that possible. Use the Make a Donation link at the top of the website to donate securely through Square.