MHSCA held its annual awards ceremony recently in the Bovee Center on the campus of Central Michigan University. The award was given to Tomassoni based on his contributions to the sport of bowling, school and community.

It was always Tomassoni’s dream to see bowling as an accredited varsity sport in Michigan’s high schools, and he worked tirelessly to fulfill that vision. He began by forming youth leagues at his home bowling center, Recreation Lanes, in the 1960s, and helped other centers in the area form youth leagues of their own.

He then worked with the area schools to introduce kids to bowling through physical education classes. In 1993, Tomassoni, along with nine other proprietors in the U.P., established the Upper Peninsula Bowling Centers Association.

Their next move was to approach their schools about getting bowling into their high schools. The first season of the Upper Peninsula Bowling Conference was held the winter of 1993-94. Motivated by the success in the Upper Peninsula, Tomassoni began contacting other proprietors throughout the state to create conferences in their areas.

RON TOMASSONI

He worked closely with Randy Allen, former assistant director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, to establish guidelines and rules for bowling which would follow the rules of the MHSAA. Because of Tomassoni, in 2003 bowling became a varsity sport in the state of Michigan, sanctioned by the MHSAA.

The first state regional and state finals were held in 2004 with schools participating in 12 regions within three divisions. This coming bowling season’s regionals tournament will have six regions in each of the four divisions, with 387 schools participating in high school bowling.

The model that Tomassoni is credited with developing has been the basis for the development of high school bowling in 37 states.

Tomassoni’s Iron Mountain High School varsity bowling teams attended local conference, regional and state tournaments. In 2009, his IMHS boys bowling team placed first in the Division 3 state tournament, bringing home the first state championship bowling trophy to Iron Mountain and the Upper Peninsula.

Tomassoni was also an avid bowler. He was inducted into the Tri-Area Bowling Hall of Fame for his dedication and service to the sport.

He founded the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association and served as its first president. In 2009, MHSAA honored Tomassoni by naming him the 2009 High School Bowling Coach of the Year. The city of Iron Mountain also presented him with a proclamation at a city council meeting in April 2010, acknowledging all that he has done for the youth of Iron Mountain and the sport of bowling in Michigan.

Tomassoni passed away on Oct. 19, 2010. Serving as pallbearers were members of his 2009 state championship team.

“High school bowling would not be where it is today if it were not for the insightful vision and unwavering determination of Ronald Tomassoni,” the MHSCA said in presenting the award. “He will forever be lovingly remembered as the “Godfather of High School Bowling.”

This award has been given to the likes of Fritz Crisler (Crisler Arena) and Lloyd Carr, both successful high school and college coaches from Michigan. Tomassoni’s award is only one of four outside of football or basketball.

Accepting the award in Ron’s honor were his children, Paula (Tomassoni) Hepinstall and Peter Tomassoni.