42 | OCTOBER 12 • 2023 J
N
SPORTS
H
oward Waxer wants to grow the
International B’nai B’rith Bowling
Association. Seven dollars at a time.
Waxer, a Farmington Hills resident, is
the newly elected president and a longtime
board member of the IBBBA, which is cele-
brating the 85th season.
There were as many as 20,000 B’nai B’rith
bowlers in leagues affiliated with the IBBBA
throughout the U.S. and Canada during
the organization’s heyday in the 1960s and
1970s, and 414 bowlers in IBBBA-affiliated
leagues last season.
That drop mirrors the loss of B’nai B’rith
bowlers and leagues in recent years.
As an incentive for leagues to join the
IBBBA, the $7 registration fee per bowler
in those leagues has been waived for this
season. Jewish bowlers not in a B’nai B’rith
league also can join the IBBBA for $7.
Those are Waxer’s ideas.
Joining the IBBBA means bowlers are eli-
gible for awards for accomplishments such
as high scores in different average categories
and to receive a gold watch and plaque for a
perfect 300 game.
“Who wouldn’t want to participate in
our awards program for nothing?” Waxer
said. “More importantly, I want to create
camaraderie among Jewish bowlers around
the world and build a larger Jewish bowling
organization.
“I want to expand the world of Jewish
bowlers and create pride among Jewish
bowlers, whether they’re bowling here (in
Detroit) or in Montana.
”
In addition to the waiving of the IBBBA
registration fee, Waxer is trying to grow the
IBBBA through his bowling friends across
the globe.
Many of those friendships were forged
when Waxer was a U.S. team bowler at the
Maccabiah Games in Israel in 2001 and
2005 and the Pan American Maccabiah
Games in Chile in 2003. IBBBA bylaws do
not preclude leagues from outside the U.S.
and Canada joining the IBBBA.
The low fees for bowlers to participate in
IBBBA tournaments, which are held simul-
taneously with league play, will remain in
place, Waxer said.
It costs $25 per bowler to participate in
the IBBBA
’s sectional tournament, which
has been held nearly every year since the
IBBBA was founded in 1939 — World War
II and the COVID-19 pandemic caused
cancellations — and has large cash payouts.
The sectional formerly was held in cities
across the U.S. and Canada. Detroit, Las
Vegas, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis,
Kansas City, Denver and Toronto were
some of the sectional sites.
The sectional may return to a live format
this season after the pandemic forced it to
be held virtually.
Waxer said Detroit would be logical site
for the 2024 sectional.
“We have the infrastructure and key play-
ers in place here,
” he said.
Detroit also has the largest B’nai B’rith
bowling league in the country.
The Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson
league bowls weekly at Country Lanes in
Farmington Hills. It has 24 teams and more
than 100 bowlers this season, which is four
weeks old.
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson league sec-
retary Gary Klinger said each league bowler
is an IBBBA member.
Probably the second-largest B’nai B’rith
bowling league is the Iz Harris League in
Columbus, Ohio, which had 16 teams two
seasons ago.
Former Detroiter Mark Sperling, who
bowled in the now-defunct Tucker-Grant
and Zager-Stone B’nai B’rith leagues when
he lived here, has been the executive secre-
tary of the IBBBA for at least 35 years.
Now living in Crown Point, Ind., Sperling
is the dean of the School of Education at
Indiana University-Northwest in Gary.
His son bowls in a B’nai B’rith league in
Hammond, Ind.
Sperling is a big fan of the IBBBA sec-
tional tournament, which had 46 teams
participate last year. Sperling especially
loved the sectional when it moved from city
to city.
“You’
d see people at the tournament on
teams from leagues from coast to coast,
”
he said. “It was great renewing friendships
every year.
”
Leagues and bowlers interested in joining
the IBBBA can contact the organization
through its Facebook page or send an email
to Sperling at mark373@aol.com.
Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
To celebrate its 85th season, the International B’nai B’rith
Bowling Association offers an incentive to join.
Bowling for Dollars
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Mark Sperling is executive
secretary of the IBBBA.
Howard Waxer is
president of the
International B’nai
B’rith Bowling
Association.
HOWARD WAXER