Nick Froggatt and Angie Brown are to be inducted into the UK Tenpin Hall of Fame, The men’s and Women’s awards are kindly sponsored by Storm Products, Inc., through their UK distributors, Bowltech UK.
Gill and Brian Parker will be inducted in the Distinguished Services division, sponsored by the TBPA.
Nominations were made by each of the ten members of the UK Tenpin Hall of Fame committee and a list was drawn up. The Committee then had access to the UK Tenpin Hall of Fame Database to research details on each player and a ballot was held to find the final Male, Female and distinguished name to be inducted in 2023.
The inductees selected were chosen for their achievements in World, European and Domestic tournaments since the start of UK bowling in 1961 and for additional honours like Bowler of the Year awards and induction into the World Bowling Writers Hall of Fame.
As well as the players being celebrated and honored a distinguished service award was again selected. Since the sport arrived on our shores special individuals all over the United Kingdom have dedicated their time to improving the game and working tirelessly to make the sport better for everyone. From Proprietors, National Associations, YBC officials to tournament organizers and media, these people are the backbone of our sport and make it possible for bowlers to reach for the stars.
So here is a brief run down of the 2023 inductees
Nick Froggatt
Great leftie winning multiple events at all levels including European and Commonwealth medals. One of the few players to win the British, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Opens.
European Team Gold medallist in 2001, Paris Fives winner, European Champions Cup winner in 2001 and 2002, two-time EBT winner.
Angie Brown
Doubles Gold medallist at the Senior European Championships in 2023. England’s star of the Senior Triple Crown winning numerous master’s titles and other medals. Senior BTBA Masters champion.
Winner of a number of Team England events at Adult and Senior level. Many ISBT titles throughout Europe. UK’s most successful Senior Woman Bowler.
Gill & Brian Parker
It all started 32 years ago when Gill was working at AMF Bowling, Firth Park, Sheffield. Her then manager, the late Bruce Ford, asked if they could try and run a junior tournament. They put together a trio’s tournament and, with a lot of thought! called it The Sheffield Trios. No computers for them back then, all scoring/results done by hand on a large wipe clean sheet – the good old days! After a couple of years, the National Association of Youth Bowling Clubs (NAYBC), asked if they could use the tournament for their ranking table.
Then came the Bowlers Club North in Scunthorpe. In the beginning this was a very slow starter with few entries, and they had to make the decision whether to keep persevering or call it a day. This was hard for them, living in Torquay travelling 5 hours to Scunthorpe on a Friday evening after work, back down Sunday evening and back at work Monday morning, but they couldn’t just give in, that’s not them, they carried on. The southern version then stopped for the same reason, lack of entries. Brian and Gill then made another decision to try and move the tournament to a more central area and make it a National Bowlers Club. Coventry became the home for this, and entries grew. Unfortunately, they had to move from Coventry and went to Nuneaton, this was then sold and the club moved to Nottingham and finally to Mansfield where it is now.
When the NAYBC was disbanded Brian and Gill were asked to go onto the newly formed committee of the YBE as tournament managers and now they are running several of the junior tournaments which are on the calendar. Both get a lot of enjoyment from running these events, but it does make them feel old when the kids who were entering when they first started are now bringing their own kids to our tournaments.
Brian also received the BTBA Chairmans award for services to Youth Bowling in 2018.
Over the years Brian and Gill have had, and still receive, a lot of help from many dedicated people throughout their ‘tournament’ lives and thank them. It’s the kids that has keep them going and it is their intention is to carry on, at least until they are told any different.
