John and Cher Breunig have set the standards for what it takes to run one of the country’s most successful junior bowling programs over multiple decades — putting the success of hundreds of kids before theirs.
History
The couple took over the Sun Prairie Junior Bowling Program at Prairie Lanes in 1988 after they began to get involved in bowling with their son, Beau. The prior leaders were retiring and the Breunigs didn’t want to see the program go away.
“These people helped us and now it was our turn to get involved,” John said. “From there, we were fortunate enough to surround ourselves with really good people.”
He mentioned Steve Powers and the late Lowell Maves as two people that were instrumental in the beginning years.
“We had so much fun running the program and people saw that,” John said. “I think that’s why so many parents wanted to get involved.”
The Breunigs centered their life around bowling. Cher grew up bowling in the youth program as young as 5 years old. She helped coach the little kids when she was in high school. John and Cher met at the bowling center, and even held their wedding reception at Prairie Lanes.
John said that the moment he knew he was getting old was when he started coaching the kids of kids that he had previously coached. He said it won’t be long before he’s coaching the grandkids too.
Scholarships
After growing the junior program year after year, they took a step to build the program in 2006.
“We attended a coaching clinic that talked about giving out scholarships,” John said. “We had one meeting at the bowling alley and decided we were going to do it.”
John said the great thing about youth bowling is that “everyone participates and no one sits on the bench.” Every youth bowler began receiving scholarships just for actively participating. In recent years, kids as young as 3 years old earned scholarship money for bowling.
Since 2006, the Prairie Lanes Junior Bowling Program has handed out $251,420 to youth bowlers of all ages. Junior bowlers earn scholarships based on their performance, such as bowling a game or series a certain number of pins above their average, or bowling a game without any open frames.
The program is still one of few programs to give scholarships for bowling in youth leagues.
The Breunigs also run the youth bowling leagues twice a week on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.
In order to be able to give away scholarships, the Breunigs spent many hours volunteering.
But they could not do it alone.
“This program is so successful because of the amount of support we have,” John said. “We always have a strong group of parent volunteers.”
Throughout each generation of youth bowlers, parents have volunteered and joined the scholarship fundraising committee. In recent years, the program has had a concessions booth at each Wisconsin Badgers home football game. Other volunteers help run local tournaments that financially support the junior bowling program.
The youth leagues also have several coaches on the lanes with kids each week, actively coaching them to improve their game. These coaches are all certified and are either parents or lifelong bowlers.
The Breunigs also credit their employers for being instrumental in their support of the bowling program. Cher worked 41 years at the Bank of Sun Prairie and John worked 39 years at Pepsi.
“I want to thank the Bank of Sun Prairie and Pepsi for their decades of support,” Cher said.
“The bank wanted its employees to volunteer in the community. They’ve supported all the work we’ve done. It makes you feel good about working for them and doing what you do.”
She remembered the bank provided her with $500 for the bowling program one year for being the Bank of Sun Prairie employee with the most volunteer hours.
John said that both Bank of Sun Prairie and Pepsi have given cash contributions to help support bowling through their volunteer service. In addition, the bank sponsors plaques for the Bank of Sun Prairie Bowler of the Week and Pepsi sponsors the Pepsi/Mountain Dew Bowler of the Month awards, as well as a tournament.
John and Cher also thanked Ross, Don and Traci Bussan for their support of youth bowling through Prairie Lanes.
Coaching Accomplishments
John is a USBC Silver Certified Coach and Cher is a USBC Bronze Certified Coach. In addition to leading youth bowling leagues, the Breunigs have built one of the country’s most successful high school bowling programs since taking it over in 2005.
John has coached the boys varsity bowling program every year until this year, when a second high school team was added.
Cher has coached either junior varsity or the girls varsity bowling team every year since she became involved with the program.
Since 2006, the Sun Prairie High School Boys Varsity Team has won the District 4 Conference all but three years.
The Sun Prairie High School Girls Varsity Team has won the conference all but four years.
The Breunigs coached their way to five team state championships as well as three singles state championships. Most recently, the Sun Prairie-Marshall-Cambridge Co-op Girls Varsity team won the 2023 state championship on March 5. That means during the past six seasons, the girls varsity team has finished no worse than third at state.
“It was very special when our daughter, Bobbi, became the first state champion to represent Sun Prairie in 2004,” John said.
In addition, since the high school bowling national championships started in 2016, the couple has coached two national championship teams, two national runner-ups and two singles national champions.
In addition to coaching, John also runs multiple junior bowling camps every summer and has assisted Team USA Coach Mike Shady for several years.
Honors
Because of their dedication to the sport and growing the sport through youth bowling, John and Cher have been honored with many awards. John was inducted into Madison Area USBC Hall of Fame in 2011 for his meritorious status and Cher was elected in 2012 for her bowling accomplishments.
“I never even thought about going into the Hall of Fame,” John said.
John said one particular award is his favorite.
John and Cher both recently received the 2022 Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin (BCAW) Award of Excellence.
“This award is the most special to me because Cher and I were honored together for it,” John said. “I was truly honored.”
They were nominated for the award by fellow youth bowling advocate Mary Conklin.
On BCAW’s Facebook page, it said that “the Breunigs have displayed supreme commitment and dedication to youth bowling and coaching in the state for the past three decades.”
The post added that the Breunigs have actively promoted youth bowling in the Madison area with more than 100 active bowlers last year.
Time commitment
John said the program wouldn’t be successful without Cher, because she is the mastermind behind all of the paperwork and finances to operate junior bowling, among other youth bowling programs.
She has been in charge of organizing 5-6 bowling leagues a year, including the coordination of registration, awards, banquets and entering weekly scores.
She also organizes city tournaments, state tournaments, Pepsi Regionals, Capital Times, and Family Two-some tourneys. She is also the director for the Badgerland Youth Bowlers Tour. The tournaments provide additional opportunities for youth to earn scholarships.
“She spends countless hours each week in the office,” John said. “All of her work is greatly appreciated.”
Depending on the week, the Breunigs dedicate a significant number of hours to youth bowling — spending an average of 20 hours per week to coordinate and organize youth bowling events.
Coachz Pro Shop
John’s experience as a pro shop owner and knowledge of bowling equipment gives Sun Prairie youth bowlers an edge.
“Being able to coach the bowlers and know what bowling ball is missing in their game and being able to drill it up for them is really beneficial,” John said.
John learned how to work in a pro shop and drill bowling balls from former Professional Bowlers Association member Rob Bailey, who still owns Rob Bailey’s Pro Shop in Sun Prairie.
John has owned and operated Coachz Pro Shop for 23 years at Prairie Lanes.
In 1998, he started a bowling ball recycling program, to be able to equip all youth bowlers with a bowling ball even if they couldn’t afford it.
“We do whatever we could do to get each kid a ball that fits them,” John said. “We try to help out whenever we can.”
Parental figures
For many youth bowlers, the bowling alley is their second home and they spend a lot of their extracurricular time there. Over the years, kids have referred to John’s pro shop as “Johnny B’s Day Care” and many youth look up to John and Cher.
As mentors, the Breunigs care not just about bowlers’ athletic ability, but also building personal character and making sure the youth bowlers thrive in all environments.
John recalled even driving to a youth bowler’s home to take him to school every morning because he was the only one that the kid would listen to.
“I hope kids leave here grown up and feeling a sense of achievement,” John said. “The best part for me is building so much self esteem. You hope you’re the adult they can talk to or give that hug that they don’t get elsewhere. I love seeing their smiles when they hit a milestone achievement.”
