This year’s PBA League presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon Draft is scheduled for May 18 at 1 pm ET. The annual event – to be held virtually – will be live-streamed to the PBA Facebook page for the world to watch.
PBA Tour Commissioner Tom Clark was appointed to host the tournament, which expects to feature all 10 PBA League managers. Each of the 10 teams will fill out their roster from a pool of qualified players on Facebook Live.
Established in 2013, the PBA League features 5–player teams, 10 in total, of the top bowlers in the world competing for the eminent Elias Cup, held during July in Portland, Maine.
The league, which is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, boasts a membership of more than 3000 international participants.
Currently, there are a total of 29 players on PBA League rosters according to a statement made by PBA League Manager Saves during a live stream in January. Of the 10 teams, nine have protected players, therefore they can pick three draft players.
The Motown Muscle, a team of five representing Detroit, has two players protected and as a result, will receive three draft picks.
There’s much excitement right now for all the sports enthusiasts as Gov. Janet Mills recently signed off on Maine online sports betting. But hold your bowl, it will be a while before the launch takes place.
Who’s eligible for PBA League drafting?
As it stands, the list of eligible players that could be drafted counts 54. From that total, exactly 21 players will be chosen and these will include the following:
- This year’s best 48 players ranking in the top 75th percentile in PBA Tour competition points, that presently aren’t included on any PBA League roster.
- Six players whose cumulative competition points fell outside the 75th percentile range but who were part of a 2020 League roster:
- Brad Angelo
- Rhino Page
- Patrick Girard
- Matt McNiel
- Christopher Sloan
- Zeke Bayt
- Josh Blanchard, once a star player with the Motown Muscle, had a change of heart. He’s decided to transition from player to PBA League tournament director and shall not be eligible for drafting.
Players up for the PBA League draft
The following players are all eligible for drafting. They’ve been listed according to competition points:
| Kyle Sherman | C. Azcona | B. Runk | Tom Hess | I. Ruiz | Matt Kuba |
| Brad Miller | R. Teece | Santtu T. | G. Fach | Trevor R. | K. Bolleby |
| P. Hanrahan | A. Quintero | A. Spahr | P. Bohn III | A. Gomez | Nick Pate |
| Jason Sterner | Matt Ogle | M. Hupe | Matt S. | Zach W. | R. Russell |
| Jake Peters | Sam Cooley | W. Low Jr. | N. Bohr | Tony S. | C. Barnes |
| A. Neuer | B. Hahlen | DJ Archer | Martin Larsen | K. McCune | Z. Wilkins |
| Osku P. | Matt Russo | K. Williams | S. Spahr | Brent B. | M. Martell |
| B. Novak | M. Tang | Patrick D. | Frank S. | Matt Zweig |
And these additional six players who ranked outside of the 75th percentile yet took part in the 2020 PBA League are listed according to alphabetical order:
- Brad Angelo
- Zeke Bayt
- Patrick Girard
- Matt McNiel
- Rhino Page
- Christopher Sloan
Draft order
The draft type lined up for usage is the snake version in reverse order of each team’s result in the 2020 PBA Championship. This typically provides for a more balanced draft. The third round will belong solely to the Motown Muscle for them to complete their five-man roster.
First round
- New York City KingPins
- Snickers Waco Wonders (formerly Brooklyn Styles)
- Silver Lake Atom Splitters
- L.A. X
- Motown Muscle
- Guaranteed Rate Chicago Hitmen (formerly Philadelphia Hitmen)
- Pabst Blue Ribbon Milwaukee Pounders (formerly Brew City Ballers)
- Dallas Strikers
- Las Vegas High Rollers
- Portland Lumberjacks
Second round
- Portland Lumberjacks
- Las Vegas High Rollers
- Dallas Strikers
- Milwaukee PBR Pounders
- Chicago Hitmen
- Motown Muscle
- L.A. X
- Silver Lake Atom Splitters
- Snickers Waco Wonders
- New York City KingPins
Third round
- Motown Muscle
The current PBA League roster
Compiled below is a list of the 10 League teams with the players they’ve chosen to either save or drop:
New York City KingPins (manager Carolyn Dorn-Ballard)
- Saved: Pete Weber, Darren Tang, Marshall Kent
- Dropped: Kyle Sherman, Osku Palermaa
Snickers Waco Wonders (Johnny Petraglia)
- Saved: Walter Pay Williams Jr., BJ Moore, Thomas Larsen
- Dropped: Brad Angelo, Rhino Page
Silver Lake Atom Splitter (Mark Baker)
- Saved: Jesper Svensson, Tom Daugherty, Chris Via
- Dropped: Chris Barnes, AJ Chapman
L.A. X (Andrew Cain)
- Saved: Jason Belmonte, Jakob Butturff, Stu Williams
- Dropped: Patrick Girard, Anthony Lavery-Spahr
Motown Muscle (Del Ballard)
- Saved: EJ Tackett, Anthony Simonsen
- Dropped: Josh Blanchard, Mitch Hupe, Matt McNiel
Guaranteed Rate Chicago Hitman (Jason Couch)
- Saved: Dom Barlett, Tom Smallwood, Shawn Maldonado
- Dropped: Jason Sterner, Matt Oglo
Pabst Blue Ribbon Milwaukee Pounders (Marshall Holman)
- Saved: Sean Rash, Ryan Ciminelli, Dick Allen
- Dropped: Christopher Sloan, Zeke Bayt
Dallas Strikers (Norm Duke)
- Saved: Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Bill O’Neill
- Dropped: Brad Miller, Nick Pate
Las Vegas High Rollers (Amleto Monacelli)
- Saved: Francois Lavoie, Andrew Anderson, AJ Johnson
- Dropped: Richie Teece, Ildemaro Ruiz
Portland Lumberjacks (Tim Mack)
- Saved: Wes Malott, Kyle Troup, Kris Prather
- Dropped: Martin Larsen, Packy Hanrahan
The PBA League – a brief synopsis
Bowling, also known as ten-pins, truly picked up pace in the US during the 1950s. By the late 20th century, estimates showed that 60 million Americans went bowling at least once or twice a year.
The PBA came into existence in 1958, when 33 founding members banded together to form the Professional Bowlers Association of America. The association quickly developed a star system, fashioning itself after golf’s PGA Tour.
Of course, the booming television industry gave the sports a much-needed boost, allowing for players to win lucrative prizes.
The Professional Women’s Bowling Association didn’t linger long either, establishing itself only a year later in 1959.
To this day, the PBA remains the world’s preeminent organization committed to the advancement of the game and the betterment of its competitions. The association’s members nowadays number in the thousands worldwide, and its fan base is in the millions.
One of its main responsibilities is to set up professional bowling’s biggest tournaments, which include, the PBA Tour, the PBA Regional Tour, and the PBA50 Tour.
In 2020, the PBA inaugurated its PBA Jr, a club for elite youth bowlers below the age of 17 as well as the PBA Pinsiders, a sort of fellowship for fans of the sport.
All this information and much more can be easily accessed at: www.PBA.com.
