My name is Mark Elmer but I like to go by Markie. I created this website to make things easier on not only myself but all those who come for a taste of bowling. Whether that be the SMAJBT Tournaments, The Annual Guys and Dolls Tournament, or to sign up for the Crofton Youth League.

Backstory:
I have been bowling ever since I could remember which is when I was 3 years old. I was put into the Youth League at Fort Meade where I grew my passion for bowling. Of course there was a reason why I was first put into the bowling league which is to the thanks of my Grandfather, Scott Gielda. Which many of you know as Coach Scott.

Once I moved to Crofton my grandfather decided to take up running the Youth Program for the Crofton Bowling Centre where he has run Fellowship for as long as I can remember.

That is when my relationship to bowling began to flourish. He pushed me to be my very best and to be the one to pass as much knowledge I can onto others. As my skills grew he began to put me into tournaments where I got to travel all across the country with him. Every step of the way he stood by my side coaching me and keeping me in check when needed to. He is the one I can thank to getting me to experience what its like to bowl at every level from Youth, Collegiate, and at PBA Regionals.

Scott’s Battle with Cancer:
With that being said I was informed that in February that my Grandfather was Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. He then went along with getting chemo to fight back the cancer however it began to take a toll on him and his body. In June I was told that he was found unconscious in his bed still breathing from the result of a seizure that he had the previous night we are to believe. With this he was rushed to the hospital where he stayed a couple weeks in the ICU and where we found out the damage that the Seizure had done to his brain after being out for a while. He’s struggling with retaining short term memories along with some of his motor skills. With this information he was not able to continue the regular bowling stuff he was previously taking on (The Youth League at Crofton, The SMAJBT, The Guys & Dolls, along with the tons of other Youth and Adult Leagues he had been running for years). With this news I was now in charge of carrying on what he had started and try my best to continue running the programs and leagues at the best I could do.

It is the least I could do for everything he’s done for me and plus I learned everything from the man of bowling himself. He liked to refer to himself as “Kingpin” which is why I thought it was only right to continue his legacy by naming the site after him since he’s the one who started it all.

At the time of writing this he’s currently back home in Maryland and is under the care of my mother. He’s glad to be back and enjoying the world world of bowling once again. Back to coaching like nothing ever happened.

How To Reach Out To Scott:
Tons of people tend to ask me how he’s doing but I would like to remind you to reach out to him through Facebook Messenger as he loves to hear from everyone, (It also gets his brain going).
So don’t be afraid to reach out to him and ask him how he’s doing.

Update with Me:
Now with me in college at University of Maryland College Park studying Architecture, Working as a Leasing Professional at my Apartment, Running the Crofton Youth League every Saturday Morning, and running the SMAJBT, you can probably tell I have quite a lot on my plate. Which is why I only wish for those to have patience with me regarding these programs since I have so much going on at once its sometimes hard to remember the simplest things I need to do. I am still learning a lot of these new things I never knew about but I like to think I have somewhat of a good grasp on all this. It seems impossible to keep up with at times but I wouldn’t do it for anyone else besides my grandfather.