Why are summer leagues not sanctioned?

[GrumpyCatFace]

This is my first year of bowling, so may be the answer is obvious. But why on earth would there be no summer leagues?

Are there that many fewer bowlers in the summer? Why?

My local center is only open 3 days a week during the summer. In Ohio. This makes absolutely no sense to me...

[Phonetek]

There are summer leagues, unfortunately the popularity is low. Simply put, it's summer so who wants to go week after week to a stuffy bowling alley when it's 85 outside? That's popular opinion anyway. The duration is short. As far as not being certified I'm not sure, could be because of duration I don't know. It could be that the added expense of the certification fee could be a deal breaker for the few interested. There may be an official reason why but I don't know.

[JasonNJ]

Depends on the town and how large your center is. I'm in NJ and most of the centers still have some leagues but definitely less than winter. I think the main reason for less popularity is vacations. My wife has 2 trips planned which depending on the days may make my miss 3 or 4 weeks of bowling. So who wants to pay for a 12 week league if they are going to miss 1/4 of it.

[bowl1820]

This is my first year of bowling, so may be the answer is obvious. But why on earth would there be no summer leagues?

Are there that many fewer bowlers in the summer? Why?

My local center is only open 3 days a week during the summer. In Ohio. This makes absolutely no sense to me...

A lot of summer leagues are certified some are not, it just depends on where your at.

Summer leagues are typically smaller because summer is vacation time, so a lot of people are going out of town and they can't be here every week.

It all depends on where you live.

[boatman37]

Our summer league is 2 bowlers per team but you can have 3 on a team (even 4 I think). You rotate so only bowl twice each 3 weeks. What's nice is if you can't make it just have the off guy cover. Not sure if it is sanctioned though as this is my first year in it.

[bowl1820]

Not sure if it is sanctioned though as this is my first year in it.
Easy way to tell, Did you fill out a USBC membership card and pay the fee for it? If it's a Certified/Sanctioned league that's the first thing you do when you join the league.

[boatman37]

Easy way to tell, Did you fill out a USBC membership card and pay the fee for it? If it's a Certified/Sanctioned league that's the first thing you do when you join the league.

Don't know yet. It starts this Tuesday but I'm going to guess it isn't sanctioned but will let you know. I do know our fall league is sanctioned.

[Phonetek]

Don't know yet. It starts this Tuesday but I'm going to guess it isn't sanctioned but will let you know. I do know our fall league is sanctioned.

Joining a summer league aye Boatman? Keeping it going, very nice. I can't believe it starts that quick, none of our summer leagues start until June. I think the last smattering of our fall leagues finish up this week. I don't think we'd have enough people signed up yet to justify starting yet, still in the recruiting stages.

Speaking of sanctioned, or more accurately these days "certified".....Talked to the boss last night and apparently my voice has been heard and our house is going to ALL certified leagues in the fall. I about fell off my chair because that's the last thing I expected to hear. I don't know if going from none to all is wise given the clientele but the decision has been made and at this point he says it's written in stone. Hopefully it's not going to blow up in our face.

[bowl1820]

Joining a summer league aye Boatman? Keeping it going, very nice. I can't believe it starts that quick, none of our summer leagues start until June. I think the last smattering of our fall leagues finish up this week. I don't think we'd have enough people signed up yet to justify starting yet, still in the recruiting stages.

Speaking of sanctioned, or more accurately these days "certified".....Talked to the boss last night and apparently my voice has been heard and our house is going to ALL certified leagues in the fall. I about fell off my chair because that's the last thing I expected to hear. I don't know if going from none to all is wise given the clientele but the decision has been made and at this point he says it's written in stone. Hopefully it's not going to blow up in our face.

That's great when do they come in to certify the house or has the house been certified all this time and just no league bothered to certify?

If they come in to inspect & certify the lanes, That would be something for you to see.

[Phonetek]

That's great when do they come in to certify the house or has the house been certified all this time and just no league bothered to certify?

If they come in to inspect & certify the lanes, That would be something for you to see.

Our house has always been certified as far as the lanes go, they come twice a year. We are cutting the lanes in a couple months. Apparently more than a standard resurface is needed. After that they be there to certify them. Also our house is expanding to add either 8 or 12 new lanes, the number keeps changing. I also don't know if they are going to make the new ones wood to match the existing or synthetic. I do look forward to seeing the certification process, I will make a point of being there. After they cut the lane we are going to have to lower all the pinsetters to match up with the new height. Even if they take as little as 1/16 of an inch off the surface we still have to lower the machines or the tables will be too high and the spotting cells won't pick up the pins properly.

As far as leagues go, they haven't had any certified ones in years. There is only a handful of somewhat serious bowlers, most are just there for a night out. Out of all the leagues there is only one bowler that is in the 190's for an average. The last 300 in the house was 14yrs ago. Since it's just a 42' christmas tree pattern I don't understand that. I've personally had 2 279's there in the few months I've been there albeit in practice screwing around. So I guess their thinking was why charge the customers more for the fee if nobody is going to bowl well enough to reap the benefits.

Most use house balls, few probably know how to keep score on paper and fewer probably know all the rules. Maybe when the word gets out of the expansion it will draw some serious bowlers. I know they are expanding not only for the benefit of more lanes but because they said we need a minimum of 16 lanes to have certified tournaments. I never knew that. If all this is true then I will have no problem bowling serious there. As long as when I'm bowling I don't get a bunch of people coming to me asking me work related questions making me loose my focus. My next feat is to convince them to put down some sport patterns!

[Phonetek]

I was just wondering. I wonder if my boss really has the authority to require ALL leagues to be certified? Wouldn't that be up to each of league presidents not the house? I think he needs to proceed with caution or he may end up losing more leagues than gaining. He may be setting himself up for an epic fail.

[GrumpyCatFace]

I don’t understand why anyone would prefer an unsanctioned league.

[Phonetek]

I don’t understand why anyone would prefer an unsanctioned league.

Think of a mixed league where it's you and your significant other and it's just a night out. Like my wife, she is a 120 average tops. She knows I'm serious but to her it's a night out. Do you really think she cares if it's certified or not? She just wants time with hubby away from the kids where we can have some drinks and have a good time. It's a step up from open bowling where she can make friends, it's not about competing or rules to her let alone honor scores. In this example I would take the seriousness down a peg or two and just enjoy being out with my wife. In this case certification is pretty irrelevant and more money for nothing. There could still be prize money and or pots either way.

[boatman37]

Joining a summer league aye Boatman? Keeping it going, very nice. I can't believe it starts that quick, none of our summer leagues start until June. I think the last smattering of our fall leagues finish up this week. I don't think we'd have enough people signed up yet to justify starting yet, still in the recruiting stages.

Yeah. I guess ours runs end to beginning, meaning the week after fall league ends until the week before it starts. Guess that's why they do the 2 man team with an option to rotate in a 3rd. The 2 I'm teaming with (father and son, 204 and 200 averages) won the summer league a few years ago with a 3rd member. The father (204 average) and I had bowled together since I graduated from high school until I left 15 years ago (1990ish-2002ish). Always on the same team.

[RobLV1]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but everywhere I've bowled (Nevada, California, Ohio, N. Carolina), USBC dues were good for the year. Unless bowlers are bowling only during the summer, why would anyone choose not to sanction a summer league when their individual dues are already paid?

[boatman37]

Maybe I'm missing something here, but everywhere I've bowled (Nevada, California, Ohio, N. Carolina), USBC dues were good for the year. Unless bowlers are bowling only during the summer, why would anyone choose not to sanction a summer league when their individual dues are already paid?

Good point Rob. Actually when I signed up in January they told me the league paid everyones dues out of the fund so I didn't pay it. I did hear they were raising it for next year (currently $17.50/wk). Our summer league my be sanctioned but I really don't know yet. Not sure if the format would affect sanctioning? It's a 4 game set with 2 bowlers per team. We start at 8:00PM because of it being summer but with only 2/lane I guess we are still done by 9:30ish. I was told they usually fill all 40 lanes so must be 80 or so in the summer league. We have about 120 in our regular league.

[J Anderson]

I don’t understand why anyone would prefer an unsanctioned league.

First of all, USBC has never, at least in my experience done a good job of explaining its value to the average league bowler.

This last season I bowled in one certified league and one non-certified league. Both leagues are primarily social. The first is only certified because there is a vocal minority that enjoys bowling in an occasional tournament, and need to have certified averages. The majority don’t really care one way or the other.

I bowl in the uncertified league for two reasons:
The other bowlers are a lot of fun to hang around with.
I can switch hands without the federal case the USBC rules make out of it.
I can experiment with things, like using my spare ball for every shot, without being accused of sandbagging.

[JerseyJim]

It's been quite a while, but every summer league that I've bowled in was sanctioned.

[JasonNJ]

First of all, USBC has never, at least in my experience done a good job of explaining its value to the average league bowler.



Since there really are no awards any more except for your first 300, there isn't much benefit unless you are a money league. I believe the USBC will insure the league's prize fund. So if the treasurer or president runs off with 50k, at least the league is protected.

[Amyers]

You do need to remember that if you are on a local association USBC board or other USBC board you are prohibited from bowling non sanctioned leagues. I see a lot of benefits to being USBC sanctioned for very little costs myself personally but that's my opinion only. In a short summer league it does make a smaller difference.

[fordman1]

Never turns out well when you argue about some things. Politics, religion or the modern release. :rolleyes:
I do believe there is a short league certification that can be purchased. If it is under 16 weeks. $10 or so.
Another reason is yo might get some people who never thought they would want to join a league to reconsider joining and becoming a regular league bowler. Not that we need them.
How can anyone refuse to Certify in an established league. The cost is so minimal and the fact that you are helping bowling while doing so should be enough.
I hear about the rings all the time. Think about the last time you wore your ring? I sure can't remember.

[Eddy]

Must be an Ohio thing not to have any summer leagues. Bowling is gaining popularity down here in the ATL. Go Falcons! Anyway, at the center I bowl at, they have leagues 6 days a week in the summer. I guess it just depends where you live. It's obviously not that way everywhere.

[GrumpyCatFace]

We do have leagues, just no “official” ones in my area of 3 bowling centers. I assumed it was a national thing?

[Amyers]

We do have leagues, just no “official” ones in my area of 3 bowling centers. I assumed it was a national thing?

Not really. It may be more of a bowling center decision than anything. there are more uncertified leagues here in the summer than the fall but still plenty of each

[boatman37]

found out the summer league i am in is sanctioned