Five-pin Bowling - Major Tournaments

Major Tournaments

There are three groups overseeing the major tournaments in five pin bowling.

• Canadian Five Pin Bowler's Association (C5PBA): The C5PBA is the body that governs the rules and regulations of the game. The C5PBA operates three major national tournaments. The showcase tournament is the "Open", a scratch tournament that involves both teams and singles. The national finals of the Open span three to four days and culminate with a stepladder format to determine national champions in men's singles, women's singles, men's teams, women's teams, and mixed teams. There is a second tournament known as The Youth Challenge, which is shorter than the Open in length, but involves a similar format to the Open. The Inter-Provincial, which replaced the High Low Doubles, became a national event in 2008 and is pins over average format.

• Bowling Proprietors Association of Canada (BPAC): The BPAC is the body that represents the bowling centre owners. The BPAC oversees Youth Bowling Canada (YBC) and Club 55+ (formerly the Golden Age Bowler's Club). Both organizations feature national championships. The YBC national championship is known as the "Four Steps to Stardom" while the Club 55+ national championship is known as the "Team Triples". The BPAC also runs the National Classified Championships, a scratch tournament where bowlers are qualify through their bowling centre within average categories. The BPAC runs the Canadian qualifying for the AMF World Cup and the various five-pin TV shows such as CBC's Championship Five Pin Bowling and the TSN Pins Game. In 2006, the CBC series and the TSN series were consolidated into one tournament, the Canadian Bowling Championships. As of 2009, TSN dropped the Canadian Bowling Championships from its televised schedule.

• The Master Bowlers Association of Canada: The MBAC is a unique organization that serves as the technical branch of the sport and provides a single national championship with both total pinfall and pins over average divisions. A third branch of this organization involves the Seniors Division (over 55yrs). Typically the Teaching and Senior Division bowlers hold mid- to lower-range bowling averages. Bowlers in the Teaching Division are required to serve as coaches in the YBC (Youth Bowling Canada). The Master Bowlers operate under a strict dress code including a standard shirt in the provincial colours with the bowler's name embroidered on the back.

Qualifying for a national championship usually requires three qualifying rounds

• League, House or Centre round - for most provinces, this is usually not required for the C5PBA Open or C5PBA Youth Challenge.
• Zone round - the number of centres in each zone varies, but the zones are set up geographically. In some provinces and tournaments, the zone round may be bypassed.
• Provincial championships - the winners of the zone round qualify for the provincial finals. For most tournaments, Ontario runs two provincial finals - a north provincial (Northern Ontario) and a south provincial (Southern Ontario).

Each province also offers a number of tournaments that conclude with the provincial finals. The tournaments, formats and prize offerings vary by province. These tournaments are operated through the provincial bowling proprietors association, local and provincial five pin associations, and individual bowling centres.