Pioneers League, 10 years, from 0 to 109 PBA members.January 1, 2024 · Ningbo Zhao

Ten years ago, on January 1, 2014, the inaugural edition of the Pioneers League commenced at the Longmarch bowling center in Minhang gymnasium, Shanghai, China. The last edition took place in 2019, with that we had successfully run 19 editions with 109 bowlers applying for PBA membership. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of Covid in early 2020, we were unable to proceed further.

The Pioneers League was established by Frank Zhao, the founder of Longmarch Bowling, in late 2013 with the support and agreement of the PBA. The league aimed to provide a pathway for Chinese bowlers to attain qualifications recognized by the PBA for membership. Essentially, the Pioneers League is a customized tournament where bowlers compete in 12 games per day over three consecutive days, totaling 36 games. Bowlers who maintain an average score of 200 or above qualify for PBA membership.

Majority of these 109 bowlers are Chinese bowlers, but there are also 9 bowlers from Taiwan, 4 from Hong Kong and 1 from Philipine.

Some of these bowlers have participated in PBA events in the U.S.