From Our Founder
I am not a bowler. I'm just the dad of a girl bowler and a Safe Sport-certified youth league volunteer and I happen to have a background in athletics communications and marketing from a past career. My daughter made her Junior Gold Championships debut in Green Bay in 2025 and I was struck by her experience of bowling in a center full of peers. Two months later, I took her to a "girls-only" qualifier in Pennsylvania and realized there might be a way to recreate the Junior Gold atmosphere for girls and create an environment where girls would have equitable access to Junior Gold by being guaranteed to compete against other girls.
I have been floored by the response to GOAL thus far. The enthusiasm and support for our mission from bowlers, parents, and the bowling community before we held a single tournament has been more than I ever imagined. As I said, I'm not a bowler, but I did run communications for a collegiate athletic department for over 18 years. I know parents want strong communication, well-organized tournaments, equitable qualifying opportunities, and for their daughters to be valued. I'm committed to offering the most generous qualifying ratios possible for the Junior Gold Championships and supplementing our qualifiers with scholarship money. To make all of that work, our entry fees are not low. But I am committed to holding events that you and your bowlers will see the value in - from qualifying for Junior Gold to scholarship money, to the experience itself.
Phil Ticknor
Founder, GOAL Bowling