The four-day tournament kicked off with the Open Doubles (female and male division) at the Pier Side Bowling Center on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), followed by the Mixed and Odd Doubles at Kaneohe Bay Bowling Center, continuing on to the Singles event at Schofield Bowling Center, and concluding with the championship event at Hickam Bowling Center.“This is our 24th year in running,” said Millie Gomes, bowling manager for JBPHH Morale, Welfare and Recreation bowling centers. “The tournament consisted of all branches of service and a team of retired service members who had gone through preliminary tryouts to qualify for the top six and the top two females to make up a team.”
Among the Navy team was Chief Information Technology Specialist Devin Tedrow, assigned to Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet who shared his experience and love for bowling.
“This is my second time on the Navy team, and I wanted to bowl one last time before leaving in October,” said Tedrow. “I bowled throughout high school, and I did a league on and off after that of my Navy career. It’s really awesome to get back into it because I really love bowling.”
“It’s just a really cool opportunity for bowlers to come together from all the services because not a lot of areas do this tournament,” Tedrow added.
Senior Airman Jared Mallon, assigned to the 154 MXS (Maintenance Squadron), who serves as the bowling team captain of the Air Force, also shared the importance of camaraderie between service members and the bowlers.
“I think this is a good collaboration between multiple branches of the military, combined with the retirees,” said Mallon. “This is a good morale booster, and the winner can have bragging rights of who is the better team.”
With the camaraderie of each military branch, not only did this build the morale, but it also brought each team together outside of work, ending the week with a game of fun competition.
The retirees team took home the trophy, winning this year’s Hawaii All-Military Bowling Tournament championship.
Among the winners were Vincent Davis, Darryl Debebar, Sue Stephens, John Hata, Randy O’Neal, Mebelin Saylor, David Scott, and Mike Heffner.
For more information, visit the JBPHH Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s (MWR) GreatLife Hawaii website at https://jbphh.greatlifehawaii.com/