Ticknor to be First Kent Resident to Compete at National Youth Bowling Championship Event

Abigail Ticknor of Millington will become the first Kent County resident to ever compete at the USBC Junior Gold Championships, an annual tournament for the top male and female youth bowlers in the United States, when she takes to the lanes at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wis., on July 14th.

Eleven-year-old Ticknor, who qualified for the national championship event back in September, will be competing in the U12 Girls division. Bowling center assignments for the tournament, which will be held at eight different venues across northeast Wisconsin, were announced on January 7th when registration officially opened.

Ticknor secured her spot for the championships on September 22nd, finishing in third place in a co-ed field of U12 boys and girls in the first Delaware-sanctioned Junior Gold Qualifier of the season at Milford Bowling Lanes in Milford, Del.

Ticknor bowls in the Varsity Division of the Doverama Dragons Youth League in Dover, Del. While she has been bowling in leagues since the age of 4 (beginning with bumpers), this was her first year pursuing a spot in the Junior Gold Championships. She has thus far earned nearly $1,000 in college scholarship money via her achievements in youth bowling.

The 2025 USBC Junior Gold Championships, which will consist of six divisions (boys and girls divisions in U12, U15, and U18), will take place from July 11th through the 19th. The event begins with three days of practice, followed by an opening ceremony. Four qualifying rounds of four games each take place over the next four days with the highest finishing bowlers moving on to the final rounds on the 18th and 19th. Ticknor will bowl two of her qualifying rounds at Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley and the other two at Dale’s Weston Lanes in Weston, Wis.

The Junior Gold Championships have been held annually since 1998, other than in 2020 when the event was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

Those wishing to support Ticknor’s travel expenses for the Junior Gold Championships can contribute at https://www.gofundme.com/f/abigail-junior-gold .