CLINTON, Iowa - Fresh off his first recruiting excursion for Ashford University's newly-unveiled men's and women's bowling programs, Head Coach Brian Swanson recently returned from Indianapolis, Ind., where he monitored action at the 12th annual USBC Junior Gold Championships.

AshfordAthletics.com caught up with Swanson for a brief Q&A session to go behind the scenes and get his thoughts after the nation's most prestigious 21-and-under national tournament.

The Junior Gold Championships was held at three different bowling houses, the Woodland Bowl, Western Bowl and Expo Bowl in Indianapolis. Swanson was accompanied by Ashford University regional admissions representative Ann Dinh at the tournament.

Ashford's men's and women's bowling programs will be rolled out in 2010, with the season spanning from October to February. The addition of both respective sports gives Ashford's athletic department a total of 15.

AshfordAthletics.com: Did you have any expectations for your first recruiting trip at the USBC Junior Gold Championships?

Head Coach Brian Swanson: Each and every expectation I had was reached. I was able to see the best youth bowlers in the country. When you walk into a house and all the kids are under (the age of) 21, it's real easy to question their ability, but after watching for just a few minutes it hits you that they're for real.

AA.com: Can you provide an update on the state of Ashford's bowling program since it was recently introduced?

Swanson: We've received a lot of interest based solely on the fact that kids can bowl collegiately without the umbrella of a club team. The biggest input I've received, and it's really a headturner, is that there are athletic and academic scholarships available for a growing collegiate sport. I was able to talk to a collegiate bowler from South Dakota State University and their club team has a low budget so that means they're responsible to fundraise almost everything.

Ann (Dinh) and I had a chance to pass out as much Ashford University information as we could and get out the feelers. We were able to get a lot of phone numbers to gauge interest in our program. It was a bit overwhelming, but a great start on the recruiting trail.

AA.com: What was the caliber of competition like and how were you able to assess talent?

Swanson: I think the cutoff line was that the best of the best of these bowlers knew how to adjust to lane condition changes. There were three 80-lane houses and they bowled in pairs. Some of the lanes broke down pretty quick, but the oil patterns in each house was different. The oil might stop at 40 feet and then it tends to drift and spreads out as it filters from the ball. The Expo (one of three houses) was an interesting house because it was more dry in the middle and wet outside so each bowler had to deal with a different hook.

There were 1,110 boys and 524 girls competing over three different houses in Indianapolis. Say at a professional bowling event, all the people are fixated on one lane. But at this tournament, there were a ton of people, period. There were a lot of coaches in attendance and some parents were hooting and hollering for their kids.

AA.com: Did you get a chance to network with other collegiate coaches or gather any verbal commitments for the future?

Swanson: I had targeted a few individuals that I wanted to watch and I was able to attend a practice session on Sunday, but there were so many bowlers out there it was hard to follow one for an extended period of time. And because there were so many people watching, it was difficult to pick out the coaches and tell them apart from the parents.

I didn't go into the tournament expecting to sign any kids. It was a great experience just to be out there and witness superior bowling.

There was a convention on Saturday that featured world-class bowlers Chris Barnes, Wes Mallott, Jason Couch and Mike Scroggins (among others), and those guys were signing autographs, posing for pictures and shaking hands for six hours straight. I started to feel sorry for them because they didn't have any breaks and were going through people like an assembly line. But it was phenomenal to be in their presence.

AA.com: With over $100,000 in scholarship money up for grabs and a spot on the Junior Team USA Team at stake, what kind of emotions did you see?

Swanson: I saw all kinds of emotions out there throughout the weekend. Some girls were crying and there were a lot of mental breakdowns. I mean, one bad game could mean you slip over 100 spots or more down in the standings. There were some elite bowlers who didn't bowl like they normally do and the competition is so tight, you can't afford to slip.

AA.com: What was one thing you learned that you didn't know going into the tournament?

Swanson: I learned that I didn't know as much as I thought I knew as a bowling head coach. Certain shells on bowling bowls absorb oil quicker and there's varying cores and covers that are used. It's more technical and scientific than I ever thought. It really opened my eyes to see how many kids really want to compete at the collegiate level.