Getting on a leauge

[Loyer807]

This is more of a vent then anything.
I have been trying to get on a league since January here (Portland, OR).
The other day I was told I had a spot on a team for tonight and I was just stoked.
I have bowled by myself since I've started really (Besides a few occasions with the girlfriend and friends but no one serious) and was just excited to get out there, play, bowl one some freshly oiled lanes and meet some fellow bowlers.

An hour before I get ready to head to the lanes, I get a text saying they filled the spot and the secretary for the team didn't know.

Bummed but oh well, I figured it would be hard coming in mid-league but man didn't think this long!
Not going to let it get me down, heading out after league tonight to try to salvage some oil off the lanes and throw a few good games.

[bowl1820]

Might try going down and seeing if you can sub on league if you can't get on as a regular.

[sukeetoshyoo88]

i kind of have similar problems getting on a league.
most of them require 4-5 man teams for the smaller weekday leagues.
but i can maybe get 1 or 2 other people at most.

[ecub]

I agree, try being a sub. The secretary of the league should know if a sub is needed for a team. If not, grab a league schedule and look for any teams with either VACANT or blind scores.

[Tampabaybob]

I agree..many times teams need a sub on a moments notice. Go to the lanes, introduce yourself to the league secretary and let him or her know you're available to sub that day or in the future and leave your phone number with the secretary. The nice thing about subbing also, is the bowler you're subbing for, is responsible for the money so you should be able to bowl for free. Don't get bummed, if you don't get a pot this season, the summer season isn't far off. Just look for the sign-up sheets in a couple of months and sign up. In the meantime it'll give you more time to practice, get better, and learn more about the game. If you don't already have your own equipment, now would be a good time to start. Visit the pro shop and talk to them about equipment. Good luck, let us know how you make out getting picked up on the league.

[ecub]

The nice thing about subbing also, is the bowler you're subbing for, is responsible for the money so you should be able to bowl for free.

It's very common, but not always the case. It's up to the team to see how to deal with it. They can either request you to pay the normal fee, which inturn, you will get some of the prize money. Or you pay the bowling center's lineage fee, which the bowling center charges the league bowler to bowl 3 games. So, if the weekly league fee is $25, in which $10 deducted for the lineage fee. The team can request you to pay either $25, or maybe $10.

[ArtVandelay]

Might try going down and seeing if you can sub on league if you can't get on as a regular.

Yes, especially if you are even close to something that resembles normal. I have never once seen a normal sub on a league night. hahahaha. I was in a serious league years ago and if we were missing someone, there was always 10+ subs available so you almost always had to take a sub. Those are some weird cats.

One guy threw a crazy ugly ball but threw a fit every time he left an ugly split (about 5 frames a game... Just an awful bowler). He was actually my favorite sub of all time, just because he had so many great stories about the time he spent on the PBA and everything else. Sometimes you just gotta feed those guys, sit back, listen, and enjoy the ride because they don't MAKE the kind of drugs that can take you on that wild of a trip!


It's very common, but not always the case. It's up to the team to see how to deal with it. They can either request you to pay the normal fee, which inturn, you will get some of the prize money. Or you pay the bowling center's lineage fee, which the bowling center charges the league bowler to bowl 3 games. So, if the weekly league fee is $25, in which $10 deducted for the lineage fee. The team can request you to pay either $25, or maybe $10.

True. And I hate that, too. We had to pay a $10, "Substitute fee," to our league prize fund. So the Sub paid $10, and that went directly to the prize fund, and the person who missed that week from our team still had to pay the full $15 we were being charged for league (they liked big prize funds...). But in a way it was nice, because it was nothing out of our pockets and it DID make the prize fund bigger because that league would have 5 or more subs per week.

I just wish they would have let the person who had to miss off the hook for the money... I hated paying for bowling if I couldn't even make it to bowl, AND a sub filled in for me anyway.

[billf]

I often go to the alley about a half hour before a league starts if I want to sub. There are very few times all the league bowlers will show. If they do then I could just practice but 99.9% of the time I end up subbing. Since I moved Jan 1st I'm now 3 minutes from the alley. Last week I got a text to sub and got there in the third frame (they were waiting for me). Both teams agreed to wait as they didn't text me until they started. The opposing team started having second thoughts as I started with the front 8. Maybe warming up isn't always such a needed thing afterall.

[SouthpawTRK]

I would also recommend that you try to sub for a league since it sounds like they are full up. I've been subbing for a league over the past month or so and it's been a great experience. The good thing about subbing, is that you bowl when you can (provided that they have space for you), but you are not responsible for fees when you cannot make it.

[TheSheibs]

You could also talk to the league coordinator for the bowling alleys near by. They sometimes have a better idea on which leagues have vacancies. Plus a lot of leagues are posting online using www.leaguesecretary.com. You can search for leagues that way.

[scottymoney]

I often go to the alley about a half hour before a league starts if I want to sub. There are very few times all the league bowlers will show. If they do then I could just practice but 99.9% of the time I end up subbing. Since I moved Jan 1st I'm now 3 minutes from the alley. Last week I got a text to sub and got there in the third frame (they were waiting for me). Both teams agreed to wait as they didn't text me until they started. The opposing team started having second thoughts as I started with the front 8. Maybe warming up isn't always such a needed thing afterall.

One guy on my team bowls his best when he shows up as practice is ending, he normally has just enough time to put on his shoes and go up for his first ball.

I wish I had the extra time to sub, but having kids get in the way of that!

[Tampabaybob]

Yeah having kids and their schedules can really mess things up. Had 3, now all grown, 2 with their own kids. Paybacks are great when you hear them complaining. I always tell them I wished it on them when they were younger !! Grandchildren are great though, you can spoil them then 'send 'em home' !

[explorer05]

We bowl in a mixed league and what we did is allow 6 person rosters. We still only bowl 4 at a time but with a 6 person roster you had the rights to that person so they could not sub for another team if the team claimed him. You still had to make a legal lineup with men and women. If he or she was a sub they could bowl for anybody. Would pick a league and sign up for it as single not part of a team at the beginning of the season (fall or summer) and I always got in. There were a couple of leagues that were always full so they would ask what other league I wanted. As I got to know people it got easier to get into some of those leagues.

[SmilingBowler]

My story is quite the same as explorer05.

I've been a part of the non-sanctioned Wednesday Night Mixed League for over 15 years. Once I improved my average to a steady 155-160 for a full season, I asked my Dad about joining the USBC sanctioned Monday Night Mens League he had been in for a long time. In 2005-06 I was able to play the full season. This was my first USBC experience.

I took some time away from bowling 2007-2010. In 2010, I got back into the Wednesday Night Mixed League. After 2 years I was able to increase my average up over 175, where I am now and rejoined the Monday Mens League mid-season, as a sub. To prepare for PA State Competition in May, I have to establish a USBC average (21 games), which I'll continue to track in my signature line.

Because I have limited opportunity as a sub in the Monday League, I recently (last Thursday) joined the USBC sanctioned Thursday Mixed League. I'll be able to play the next 8 weeks (24 games) of that league to establish my average - anything I do as a sub in the Monday League will just help my USBC average stand true.

The Monday Mens League is on http://leaguesecretary.com (http://www.LeagueSecretary.com/LeagueFilesStandings.aspx?LID=64646&DT=2142013114038AM) however, the Wednesday and Thursday Night Leagues are not.