MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Hawaii -- After four days of spirited bowling, the Retiree Team struck down the competition during the Hawaii All Military Bowling Tournament at the Pearl Harbor Bowling Center Friday.
The Marines held a narrow lead after the opening match March 27 during the Doubles Event. On day two the Retiree’s took over the lead and maintained it until the end. Team Navy took second place followed by Team Air Force, the Marines and Team Army.
“This is the first time in ten years the retirees have won, there’s no words to describe it,” said Gary Naone, retiree team captain. “It felt perfect. It was really great to pull out the win.”
The retirees had the lead for the majority of the tournament and Naone believes it was the effort from the women that helped his team claim victory.
“It was a team event and the women stepped it up and came out ahead in their part and the men finished second in their division,” said Naone. “The women finishing first put us over. I was really proud of the team effort and we did really well team wise. Our goal was to get the team overall award.”
The Hawaii All Military Bowling Tournament is an annual event that brings together the best bowlers on island of each service to compete for bragging rights. Each team is given about a month and a half to prepare. During that time, each service holds tryouts, then forms a team using the top six male and four female bowlers.
During the four-day event, six games are played a day. Each day is a different competition. Day one is the doubles tourney, day two mixed doubles, day three is singles and day four is a team event. At the end of the four days the combined scores from all days are added up and the team with the highest score is declared the winner. The tournament is a favorite among service members, and even after funding was cut from the event, bowlers decided to pay for it themselves.
“This is the only all services tournament in Hawaii and they love the chance to come together and compete and show camaraderie,” said Millie L. Gomes, Navy Region Hawaii bowling program director and tournament organizer. “I’m a bowler myself and when they said they couldn’t fund it anymore because of cutting funds, I asked everyone if they still wanted to do it anyway. All of the bowlers stepped up and were willing to pay their own fees and there’s no other tournament like this.”
The near loss of the tournament has been upsetting to most competitors who look forward to the yearly challenge. Still, they are quick to show their appreciation to Gomes and her dedication to keeping the tournament going strong. Under Gomes organization the tournament has been self-sufficient for the past 10 years.
“For me personally, I enjoy bowling and meeting people from other branches of service I don’t usually get to see and share in the camaraderie between each other,” said Naone. “I really do appreciate that Millie keeps this tournament going and bringing us together each year.”