ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280032
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
The Roanoke Valley, site of the first state women's bowling tournament in 1958, will serve as host this year for the sixth time.
More than 6,000 women are expected to participate in the tournament, which begins Saturday at Hilltop and Lee-Hi Lanes and will continue for nine weeks.
All the bowling will be Saturdays and Sundays, except for Friday, May 18, when competition will coincide with the annual convention.
There will be a heavy concentration of bowlers from the Roanoke Valley on the weekend of May 11-12, when graduation at Virginia Tech has contributed to a scarcity of hotel rooms. Otherwise, most bowlers will be from outside the area.
The tournament has grown from 12 teams in 1958 to 1,203 this year. It was held in Roanoke every eight years until the city was awarded the event for 1996, six years after last staging it.
``The state tournament has grown so large that there are only six or seven places in the state where it could be held,'' said Mary Jo Snider of the Roanoke Valley Women's Bowling Association. ``Roanoke is one of the few cities that has two 40-lane houses.''
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