The Greater Iowa Bowling Association has released its 2023-24 schedule, which again will include the 11thFrame.com Open, a pair of Ebonite Classics, and the Iowa Open.

As I have written and said many times, GIBA is run by Joe Engelkes, his wife Rosie and daughter Jennifer Wittenburg. They are among the best, if not the best, tournament operators I’ve seen this side of the PBA, running efficient events, taking no expense fees and putting half of the bracket proceeds back into the prize funds at each event — the only money they take out of a tournament is the other half of the bracket proceeds. They also do a great job getting sponsorship for tournaments, and/or working with centers that do that.

In announcing the schedule for his 25^th year as administrator, Joe Engelkes said that “We are excited to share that we have a couple of sponsor changes for this season. The list of sponsors is lengthy and we hope we didn’t leave any out. We continue our sponsor agreement with Ebonite as our season long bowling equipment sponsor and in addition, Ebonite is a title sponsor of three major tournaments. We are fortunate to have Ebonite coming on board as a sponsor of the 11thFrame.com Open along with their continued sponsorship of the Ebonite Fall Classic and the Ebonite Winter Classic events.”

(As part of my semi-retirement from competitive bowling, I decided to retire from the staffs of Storm Products, Turbo 2-N-1 Grips, and IAMBowling, although I will be a life staffer with all three in my heart. But this does enable GIBA to have its overall sponsor Ebonite pick up the 11thFrame.com Open as well. I appreciate Ebonite allowing Storm to sponsor the 11thFrame.com Open while I was a staffer.)

“Another season long sponsor with a minor name change will be Brandon Steen/The Steen Team as Brandon has now become a licensed realtor along with his mortgage financing position,” Engelkes said. “Our other two season long sponsors will be I AM Bowling (formerly LogoInfusion), and Kwik Trip/Kwik Star.”

These are the sponsors for individual events:
11thFrame.com Open – Diamond Jo Casino, Cherry Lanes, Ebonite, Dubuque Regional Sports Commission, I AM Bowling, 11thFrame.com, GIBA
Ebonite Fall Classic – Ebonite, Waterloo CVB, Budweiser/Bud Light, Maple Lanes, Hampton Inn, I AM Bowling, GIBA, The Other Place Ridgeway
Bowlerama GIBA Singles – Bowlerama, Yaw Auto Salvage, Bowlers Connection Pro Shop, GIBA
Revs Pro Shop Scratch Tournament – Revs Pro Shop, GIBA
Iowa Open – May City Bowl, GIBA
Ebonite Winter Classic – Ebonite, Waterloo CVB, Budweiser/Bud Light, Cadillac XBC, Hampton Inn, I AM Bowling, GIBA, The Other Place Ridgeway
Plaza Bowl Open – Plaza Bowl, GIBA
GIBA Doubles – Twisterz Pro Shop, GIBA

“We will continue working to pick up additional sponsors as well,” Engelkes said.

Notable schedule changes for the 2023-2024 GIBA season include the Ebonite Winter Classic returning to its normal dates the last weekend of February, the tournament at Plaza Bowl in Clinton moving back to Jan. 6, and the 2-pattern doubles Jan. 28 at Big River Bowling in Davenport.

As the world gets further from the COVID-19 pandemic, Engelkes said GIBA been able to get back to a more normal amount of funding from both the Waterloo Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Dubuque Regional Sports Commission, which will mean more added prize money for the Ebonite Classic events and the 11thFrame.com Open.

“We appreciate the support from both of these groups,” Engelkes said. “The plan is to continue adding GIBA funding as added prize money to each of our events as well. Last season, our sponsors along with money added by the GIBA allowed us to add more than $30,000.00 to the prize funds for the 10 events on our schedule.”

The season kicks off with the 11thFrame.com Open Aug. 18-20 at Cherry Lanes inside the Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque, with a sweeper Friday night and the tournament Saturday and Sunday. I will be posting a separate preview story on the tournament.

The Ebonite Fall Classic will be Sept. 15-17 at Maple Lanes in Waterloo and the Ebonite Winter Classic will be Feb. 24-25 at Cadillac Lanes in Waterloo.

The rest of the schedule includes a singles tournament at Bowlerama Lanes in Des Moines Oct. 1, the Revolutions Pro Shop Tournament Oct. 22 at Cedar Rapids Bowling Center, the Iowa Open Nov. 19 at May City Bowl in Cedar Rapids, the 50/50 4-Person and Doubles tournaments at Cadillac Dec. 2-3, the Plaza Bowl Open Jan. 6 in Clinton, and the 2-Pattern Doubles Jan. 28 at Big River Bowl in Davenport.

The Iowa Open in recent years has included a spot in the U.S. Open for the winner, and GIBA last year awarded a USBC Masters spot to the points list leader

For more information, go to the GIBA website and Facebook page.