Australian Tenpin Bowling star Jason Belmonte hitches a 65,000 mile ride

Australian Tenpin Bowling star Jason Belmonte is to find his face reaching literally thousands of motorists across the United States as he features on the billboard of a co-branded PBA-PWBA semi-trailer as it travels over 65,000 miles across America.

Described by the publisher of Bowlers Journal International as “bowling’s most influential” player, winning PBA Player of the Year honours in four of the past five years, becoming the fastest “millionaire” in PBA history and collecting nine major championships (among his 18 PBA Tour titles), JASON BELMONTE is getting a lot of publicity for tenpin bowling lately.

The image of the 35 year-old star bowler from Orange in regional New South Wales will feature prominently on a billboard on 18 wheels that will be seen by thousands of motorists who ‘follow’ professional bowling as it traverses the United States in coming months.  The 53 foot (16 metre) co-branded PBA-PWBA semi-trailer – one of two that transport bowling equipment around the country for the men’s and women’s professional tours – is expected to travel roughly 65,000 miles (more than 100,000 kms) each year and Belmonte will share the bill with fellow PBA stars E.J. Tackett and Dom Barrett on one side, and PWBA stars Shannon O'Keefe, Daria Pajak and Liz Johnson on the other.

Belmonte has also recently been honoured with the accolade of the PBA George Young High Average Award after finishing the 2018 Tour season with a 221.38 average for 270 games.  Players must bowl at least 180 games in a season to be eligible for this prestigious award and it’s the second straight year Belmonte has won after setting the PBA single-season scoring record last year with a 229.39 average for 380 games.

Here in Australia, the multi-titled bowler who has revolutionised the sport internationally with his two-handed ‘footy-pass’ bowling style, appeared this week on Fox Sports popular “Back Page Live” program.   The segment includes news of an exciting new series of Rollin’ Thunder which will air next month on Fox Sports Channel 506 in eight one-hour episodes, commencing on 10th December.  Prominently supported by the sport’s national governing body, Tenpin Bowling Australia, the series will see Belmonte and teams of some of Australia’s top bowlers battle for victory in the Australian Bowling Cup.

Belmonte has several high-profile ambassadorial roles for the sport internationally and has recently partnered with Tenpin Bowling Australia to help develop the sport of tenpin bowling in this country.

“Growing bowling in Australia is very important to me - it’s my home and it’s where I first fell in love with the sport. “Partnering with the governing body (TBA) is a critical step in growing the sport together,” he stated.