The Survivor tournament that occurs at Junior Gold after the qualifying rounds is a related but separate tournament, and is my opinion is a must do and one of the best ways to earn a spot for the next Junior Gold. However, there is a lot of confusion around the costs and the age divisions, etc. so I’ll address them here. Also, you can purchase a ball from the major brands at a steep discount with an entry. It occurs at a center in the same city as Junior Gold and often at one of the same centers, and is a fun relief after the grind of Junior Gold.
Registration is found along with Junior Gold squad registration.
Tournament Format
Much like other tournaments, there is a regular tournament and an optional Junior Gold qualifier. This means you just enter the Survivor without the qualifier. There are various reasons why you might want to do this: You are aging out of U18 and don’t plan on attending Junior Gold in the U20 division, you just want the ball, you’re just trying to earn additional SMART funds because you expect to earn your spot in a Junior Gold league, etc.
The Survivor tournament itself is scratch (no handicap option) and divisions are by age and gender, just like Junior Gold, and the age cutoffs are the same (because the tournament is still happening in the same season). Re-entry is not allowed, bowlers may only enter once.
It is typically bowled on a high-scoring pattern, equivalent to a house shot. The 2022 pattern is shown at the end of this page. It is 5 games bowled across 5 pairs. In typical fashion, the bowlers move after each game. Walk-ins are accepted, however, this is very unusual as the tournament sells out.
The pay-out for SMART is at least 1:6 and the have been paying down further of late.
Junior Gold Qualifier Optional Add-on
You can also earn your spot for the next Junior Gold by opting for the qualifier. This is an additional cost over the regular survivor tournament (when entering the qualifier, you must enter the regular tournament, so the options include the total cost: Survivor + Junior Gold qualifier + memberships. More below). The bowler’s scores during the regular tournament are used in the optional Junior Gold qualifying brackets to determine who gets a spot. The spots are awarded in at least a 1:5 ratio.
One area of confusion is what age division to pick for the qualifier when registering. Remember, this is a qualifier for the following year, so even though you’ve entered the same age division for the main Survivor tournament as you did for this year’s Junior Gold, you’ll need to list what age division your bowler will be in next year for the Junior Gold qualifier. In other words, if your bowler is in U15 for this Junior Gold, but in U18 for next year’s, you need to enter the regular Survivor tournament as U15, and the optional Junior Gold qualifier as U18.
I highly recommend anyone looking for a Junior Gold spot for the following year enter this tournament. The sheer number of bowlers entering the Survivor make this one of the easiest ways to get a spot. Also, it’s typically one of the most cost-effective ways as well (discounting the extra hotel day, which may be a wash anyway).
Cost
The regular Survivor tournament is $60. The optional Junior Gold qualifiers vary by age, but are $35 (U12), $65 (U15), and $75 (U18). When signing up for the Survivor, you must enter the regular tournament, so in the registration the option cover the total cost ($95, $125, $135):
Because the optional Junior Gold qualifier is for the following season, the cost includes the USBC membership and the Junior Gold membership add-on. Some people object, thinking that they paid a lot less for their membership back home, however keep in mind this includes the cost of the qualifier entry in addition to the memberships. Tournament directors must pay up-front for the Junior Gold spots they are offering, so if you do the math this ends up a much better value than doing a separate Junior Gold Tournament especially if you are in an older age division.
For example if you are in the U18 division, the Survivor entry with the optional Junior Gold qualifier is $135. This is breakdown:
$60 – Survivor regular tournament
$4 – USBC youth standard membership
$30 – Junior Gold membership add-on (this is $10 for U12 and $30 for all others)
$41 – Optional Junior Gold qualifier
____
$135
You are paying the $4 youth and $30 (or $10 if U12) memberships either way if you are attending or planning to try for Junior Gold the following year, so that’s a wash. Also, according to the Junior Gold tournament director’s guide the upfront cost to offer a U18 spot is $200 (U12-$100; U15-$150). The tournament directors often discount the cost by dividing it by the number of entries but I’ve typically seen Junior Gold optional qualifiers between $45-75 dollars. So overall this is a pretty good value to boot. You’ll may make the argument that the additional day of a hotel stay may not be worth it, but many have to do that anyway when trying to earn their spot during the year, and may need to do it more than once due to low entries, etc. So given the number of spot offered at survivor this would generally seem to be the most cost effective option for many people if you take the long view.
This isn’t related to Junior Gold, but since we’re talking membership fees, one thing to note is that you local association will also have a fee. So, you’ll still need to pay that locally, typically when you sign up for league. If you paid more than $4, this is why.
Optional Ball
As part of your Survivor entry, you can also optionally purchase a ball from the major manufacturers. This year, the cost is $75 and is offered for Brunswick, Motiv, RotoGrip, and Storm balls. This is typically a deep discount on the balls offered, and generally considered an excellent value.
In the past, the ball has been a specific model or a “Survivor” edition of a specific model, sometimes they offer a selection to choose from. They are generally popular or new-release balls, and as such don’t specify which balls until closer to Junior Gold. They have not specified the 2022 balls yet.
2022 Survivor pattern
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Last Updated on May 19, 2024 by John Voorhis