Bowling News, USBC Open Championships
Reno loses another event as USBC cancels Open Championships, all national bowling tourneys
USBC cancels all events for the remainder of 2020
The United States Bowling Congress Open Championships in Reno is officially canceled.
The USBC cited COVID-19 concerns as it announced the cancellation of the event on Wednesday alongside all other national events that the organization previously scheduled for 2020. The event was supposed to be held at the National Bowling Stadium in downtown Reno this year.
“USBC has a responsibility to consider the health of its members and their communities,” said Chad Murphy, USBC executive director. “Given the increasing spread of COVID-19 in several states, along with constantly changing guidelines and travel restrictions, we sadly do not see a responsible way to conduct national events in 2020.”
In addition to the USBC Open Championships, the group also canceled the USBC Women’s Championships, USBC Masters, USBC Senior Masters, USBC Senior Queens and Super Senior Classic. The 2020-2021 USBC Collegiate season will also be conducted as a second-semester sport, with events being postponed until January. The organization plans to hold the Intercollegiate Team and Singles Championships next year in the late spring or early summer.
The cancellation of events such as the Open Championships was especially painful for Reno, which was supposed to host the event this year.
The USBC Open Championships were initially rescheduled from their original March 21 date to May 1 as the coronavirus pandemic started to make its presence known in the United States. With the number of COVID-19 cases still increasing in several parts of the country, however, the USBC decided to pull the plug on its major events — a move that Murphy described as “heartbreaking.”
The decision to cancel the events is understandable, said Jennifer Cunningham, acting CEO of the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
“While we are disappointed, we completely respect their focus … on the health and safety of their participants as well as our community at large,” Cunningham said. “As different states started rolling out different guidelines for travel and restrictions, they felt it was best for their organization to ultimately cancel (the events).”
The RSCVA is just one of several organizations such as the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority dealing with the massive impact of COVID-19 on tourism and travel. Earlier this year, the RSCVA implemented steep cuts, including furloughs and reductions in pay, in response to the pandemic and the ensuing event cancellations. The cancellations include major annual events such as Hot August Nights, the Best in the West Nugget Rib Cookoff and the Great Reno Balloon Race.
The advent of the coronavirus means organizations such as the RSCVA will need to learn to adjust to whatever new normal arises as a result of the pandemic.
“We’re going to have to be more nimble and definitely leaner, and learn to do more with less,” Cunningham said. “I think the time is now to really refocus and identify those priorities that we have in order to bring business to the city moving forward.”
The good news is that activity has not completely died out. There are still smaller events and conferences in the books and interest also remains for future dates. Just recently, the RSCVA sales team worked on a deal that would bring 13,000 room nights to the area in 2024.
The RSCVA is looking toward 2021 and subsequent years, including working with organizers to make sure that special events remain viable. Murphy of the USBC echoed the same sentiment.
“Our hope is that conditions improve to allow national events again in 2021,” Murphy said.
Jason Hidalgo covers business and technology for the Reno Gazette Journal, and also reviews the latest video games. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhidalgo. Like this content? Support local journalism with an RGJ digital subscription.
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