No serious leagues?!

[Phonetek]

Today at work I inquired about the leagues and what if any tournaments we had there. I was rather shocked to hear that we had NO sanctioned leagues at all and NO tournaments. I couldn't believe that when I heard it. This is a well established place that's been around since the 1940's. Granted it's a small house only 12 lanes but still. They said there is only 5 people they have that come in that want a sanctioned league. When they try to run tournaments they can't get anyone interested. What is the deal?
It's a well maintained clean place but yet it's all a bunch of goofs bowling? I enjoy the lanes personally, I shoot well and if the shot is poor the only one to blame is myself since I'm now doing the oiling. There is no incentive for me to join a league other than convenience. I certainly don't want to shoot any honor scores there that's for sure. I find this very sad. This is not the bowling I knew 10-15 yrs ago.

[JasonNJ]

Welcome to the modern bowling establishments. A company like AMF Bowlmor has been converting a lot of their centers to "Family Fun Centers" and they find it more profitable to host birthdays parties and be night clubs. Here in NJ, Brunswick Zone Carolier which is a 84 lane house was converted to a Bowlero. They threw out any league that had less than 4 man teams. Carolier has hosted the Men and Women's US Open many times. The Pete Weber, Who do you think you are, I am!!! was at Carolier.


Since you there, maybe you can get involved with running a sanctioned league. Also I think what would be a great league for you to try to start would be some type of youth or Junior Gold league that would include you coaching. You could get your kids in there and make it get kids ready to bowl big tournaments like Junior Gold.

[Phonetek]

They do have a Saturday junior league but I was off so I didn't get to see it. I know at least one staff member is also a coach. Today we did have a junior & adult mixed league but it was only 4 lanes. I'm not sure of how to go about getting sanctioned leagues in there. It's gonna be tough since management doesn't seem interested in doing it. They are all good people don't get me wrong. Being the new guy I can't really go in there spouting off how I think they should do thinks differently. The only thing I do have control of is how often the lanes get oiled since both myself and the head mechanic agree on it being done daily and neither will budge on that. l would like to see a different pattern put down besides THS though. Once they get the lanes cut in a couple months I'll see if we can change it up.

With leagues though I just don't know how to go about it. Even organizing a tournament. I've never done those things. How do I do that? Do I make a sign up sheet? Ask the league and open bowlers if it's something they'd be interested in? Gimme some help here guys. Plus, how does one go about getting one sanctioned by the USBC, youth and adult alike, tournaments or league? I'd be happy to start with a no tap or a red pin candlelight (not cosmic) Maybe even the "Family twosome" tournament I bowled in as a kid. Bowl1820, any advice on this? Again, it's a small house but that don't mean it's just gotta be all birthday parties and drinking leagues leagues. Great for tips at the bar but terrible for the game. In the week I've been there I've yet to see a 200+ game by anyone besides myself and a co-worker.

[mattmc82]

Is your house still a sanctioned alley? I tried to set my league up but then discovered it wasn’t even a sanctioned bowling alley.

[Amyers]

They do have a Saturday junior league but I was off so I didn't get to see it. I know at least one staff member is also a coach. Today we did have a junior & adult mixed league but it was only 4 lanes. I'm not sure of how to go about getting sanctioned leagues in there. It's gonna be tough since management doesn't seem interested in doing it. They are all good people don't get me wrong. Being the new guy I can't really go in there spouting off how I think they should do thinks differently. The only thing I do have control of is how often the lanes get oiled since both myself and the head mechanic agree on it being done daily and neither will budge on that. l would like to see a different pattern put down besides THS though. Once they get the lanes cut in a couple months I'll see if we can change it up.

With leagues though I just don't know how to go about it. Even organizing a tournament. I've never done those things. How do I do that? Do I make a sign up sheet? Ask the league and open bowlers if it's something they'd be interested in? Gimme some help here guys. Plus, how does one go about getting one sanctioned by the USBC, youth and adult alike, tournaments or league? I'd be happy to start with a no tap or a red pin candlelight (not cosmic) Maybe even the "Family twosome" tournament I bowled in as a kid. Bowl1820, any advice on this? Again, it's a small house but that don't mean it's just gotta be all birthday parties and drinking leagues leagues. Great for tips at the bar but terrible for the game. In the week I've been there I've yet to see a 200+ game by anyone besides myself and a co-worker.

I don't know the particulars of your area but getting a competitive bowling started in an area where it's not is hard. I've never understood how bowlers think when it comes to this kind of stuff but they do tend to hold to their own. Rather than trying to create something that isn't their especially at first go find where they are and join them in their spot join a league there get in some tournaments once people know you then you might try starting to bring some of that to your home lanes but your not going to be successful at it until they at least know who you are. It would help to know why they don't bowl there already it might or might not make sense but I can guarantee you there is a reason

[mattmc82]

I don't know the particulars of your area but getting a competitive bowling started in an area where it's not is hard. I've never understood how bowlers think when it comes to this kind of stuff but they do tend to hold to their own. Rather than trying to create something that isn't their especially at first go find where they are and join them in their spot join a league there get in some tournaments once people know you then you might try starting to bring some of that to your home lanes but your not going to be successful at it until they at least know who you are. It would help to know why they don't bowl there already it might or might not make sense but I can guarantee you there is a reason

In Pittsburgh I have spent the last 3 years trying to find one to join. Have over 20 houses within 10 miles. If you build it, they will come.

I hate being in an unsanctioned league, but it is good that my average isn’t accepted from an unsanctioned alley. If I could use my 140 average at a no tap tourney I’d likely finish top 3 every time.

[J Anderson]

Today at work I inquired about the leagues and what if any tournaments we had there. I was rather shocked to hear that we had NO sanctioned leagues at all and NO tournaments. I couldn't believe that when I heard it. This is a well established place that's been around since the 1940's. Granted it's a small house only 12 lanes but still. They said there is only 5 people they have that come in that want a sanctioned league. When they try to run tournaments they can't get anyone interested. What is the deal?
It's a well maintained clean place but yet it's all a bunch of goofs bowling? I enjoy the lanes personally, I shoot well and if the shot is poor the only one to blame is myself since I'm now doing the oiling. There is no incentive for me to join a league other than convenience. I certainly don't want to shoot any honor scores there that's for sure. I find this very sad. This is not the bowling I knew 10-15 yrs ago.

From my 43 years of league bowling, I would say that the majority of league bowlers are there to socialize. They want an excuse to get out of the house, hang out with their friends, and have some friendly but not too serious competition. They have little interest in bowling tournaments whether they be local, state, or national, so they don't care whether the center or the league is USBC certified. The league that I have been with the longest has bounced back and forth between being sanctioned or certified and not being certified. It's usually a case that if there are a few bowlers who want to certify the rest will go along given that USBC dues work out to less than a dollar per week for the season. Some times there are one or two strongly opposed to paying USBC dues who are able to sway the majority to vote against.

If you get in touch with your local association, they should be able to give some advice, if not outright help, in setting up a league and promoting it.

[Outerlimits]

You guys are obviously not in SW Fl, you cant even get an open lane. My house has 32 lanes, just about every day and every night Mon-Fri has a league with 32 teams. Sat morning Youth leagues. That was a problem when I decided to get back into bowling was to find open lanes to practice, they were always packed. They also have bowling at the High School level here. There are 5 houses, within 30 miles of me and they all are packed. During the summer they run specials Kids, bowl free......with a paying adult. Don't even think about bowling then. Its very different than in MD where I bowled last. I could walk into my house there any time night or day and get a pair of lanes. Leagues make money, starting kids bowling young, make bowlers for life. They seem to follow that plan down here for sure.

[Amyers]

You guys are obviously not in SW Fl, you cant even get an open lane. My house has 32 lanes, just about every day and every night Mon-Fri has a league with 32 teams. Sat morning Youth leagues. That was a problem when I decided to get back into bowling was to find open lanes to practice, they were always packed. They also have bowling at the High School level here. There are 5 houses, within 30 miles of me and they all are packed. During the summer they run specials Kids, bowl free......with a paying adult. Don't even think about bowling then. Its very different than in MD where I bowled last. I could walk into my house there any time night or day and get a pair of lanes. Leagues make money, starting kids bowling young, make bowlers for life. They seem to follow that plan down here for sure.

Florida, California, and Wisconsin seem to be hot spots not really sure why

[mattmc82]

Florida, California, and Wisconsin seem to be hot spots not really sure why

And Pittsburgh. I had to go to 5 place before getting a lane for 3 of us to get a couple games in on a Sunday. Most days of the week are filled until at least 10

[Phonetek]

Is your house still a sanctioned alley? I tried to set my league up but then discovered it wasn’t even a sanctioned bowling alley.

Getting the answer to that sounds like it would be the logical first step. If it's not then I'm probably beating a dead horse right from the get go. Is there an expense out of pocket for the bowling alley itself aside from the fees collected from the bowlers? If there is then I need to present them with research on the pro's and con's of being a sanctioned alley, hopefully with more pro's to prove my case. I do remember the boss saying that the lanes are measured/inspected twice a year, I would assume that would be by the USBC?

Then it sounds like if I can get far then it's on me to present a case to the bowlers themselves. Maybe some sort of fact sheet of WHY they would want to be on a sanctioned league or tournament vs. not. I personally am not educated myself on all the advantages either. All I know is that you get to report honor scores and rings/trophies for them.

All I see right now when leagues come in is people bowling. I hear nothing over the intercom about pots, high scores or anything over the intercom for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I love where I work but I guess I'm trying to find out if it's a bowling alley with a bar or a bar with a bowling alley. For employment purposes I guess it doesn't matter which one it is. For the love of the sport is where it does matter to me. If I can do something about it I would like to even if it requires me to do it on off hours. I think the bowlers, alley and the sport deserves that.

[Phonetek]

Florida, California, and Wisconsin seem to be hot spots not really sure why

Getting a lane at this place is fairly easy if you go online you can set up your own lane reservation. No waiting (not that it happens frequently anyway) but you can even make sure a pizza or other food is ready when you get there, your shoes are waiting and the names are already programmed on your lane with or without bumpers for each bowler. You just put on your shoes and bowl. It will not allow us to assign the lane to anyone during that time. It won't allow double booking either, if it's already assigned for league or another party it will show when it will be available. It's a pretty slick system to be honest.

I will say it reduces the amount of people who come and walk out because they can't get a lane and the people who use it love it. For us employees it's nice too because it automatically starts a tab on the lane so everything including bowling is automatically calculated. At the end we just click pay, the receipt pops out and they sign it, add a tip (hopefully) and off they go. Then the screen goes to cleaning mode telling us they are done to go clean up the lane for the next people. I'm so glad you don't have to "Prepay" for bowling. That always annoys me having to keep going to the counter if I want to bowl more which I usually do. To me that makes me want to bowl less, hence they lose money.
So in most cases there is lanes available. There is a lot of hours that I've seen where nobody is bowling or 1 or 2 people. Sounds like good hours to set up a league.

[boatman37]

And Pittsburgh. I had to go to 5 place before getting a lane for 3 of us to get a couple games in on a Sunday. Most days of the week are filled until at least 10

Same here. I am a little north of Pittsburgh and our place is always pretty full. 40 lanes and Tuesday night there are 3 leagues going (17 5 man teams in our league alone). Sunday afternoons aren't bad. I stopped in Saturday at about 9:00PM and the place was full of teens. I think Mondays are pretty light there too but the rest of the week there are leagues every night and most every day. Those are usually retired folks that would rather avoid the big loud crowds.

[Eddy]

Florida, California, and Wisconsin seem to be hot spots not really sure why

New York is a pretty big bowling state too from what I remember. I'm in Georgia now, which actually has a fair amount of serious bowlers. There are many tournaments held at the center I bowl at. The Atlanta area is pretty good for serious bowlers.

[Phonetek]

There is some hope that maybe by next fall I can get management to get some real leagues in there. I was told they are expanding the bowling alley. From what I understand it's going to take place this summer. We're actually going to have an upper bowling alley installed. As I mentioned before we have 12 lanes and it's downstairs. Obviously the place is doing well if they are doing this. I'm not sure exactly how many lanes yet, they are in talks with an architect to figure it out. If they are doing this well, I think this would be a good time to plead my case.

It's going to be interesting to say the least. I'm curious if they are going to have wood lanes in the new area or go to synthetic. I know they are sticking with the same AMF pinsetters as we currently have AMF 8270's. As I mentioned they are going to have the wood ones cut 1/8" this summer so they are keeping them wood obviously. I wouldn't mind if the new ones were synthetic it would be nice to have the best of both worlds. This may attract more serious bowlers. It opens up a whole lot of possibilites