New league designation to bridge gap between standard, sport.

[fordman1]

Three division are fine for tournaments but you should leave the leagues alone. In my entire life I have never heard so much BS from people who sound smart but don't have a clue.

[seajaye]

I haven't read ANY of these past comments, but I am more than thrilled at this new league designation.

I have bowled in many "Sport" leagues that put down 100% Sport patterns, but did not go through all the hoops to be "Sport" Certified. So, my average was significantly lower for these leagues. I really didn't mind this, because if I were to enter a tournament, I could bring up my lower averages and ask to be upward-adjusted. Obviously not ideal, and leaves the possibility of other people being less-than-honest, but good enough for me in particular.

More recently, I bowled in a league that put down about 50% Sport, 50% Challenge, but was totally unsanctioned (so, I didn't have any average to enter tournaments with). I just talked to our house's 'unofficial' USBC rep, and she told me about this new designation that would be *perfect* for us. As an aside, it seems the most accurate would be to weight the average by the proportion of Sport vs. Challenge, so my 174 in this particular league would turn out to (188 * .5) + (202 * .5) = 195. I wonder, is there a set of stipulations for these Challenge leagues that they submit their patterns every week? Will they still have to take weekly tapes or whatever Sport-Certified leagues have to do now?

[J Anderson]

I haven't read ANY of these past comments, but I am more than thrilled at this new league designation.

I have bowled in many "Sport" leagues that put down 100% Sport patterns, but did not go through all the hoops to be "Sport" Certified. So, my average was significantly lower for these leagues. I really didn't mind this, because if I were to enter a tournament, I could bring up my lower averages and ask to be upward-adjusted. Obviously not ideal, and leaves the possibility of other people being less-than-honest, but good enough for me in particular.

More recently, I bowled in a league that put down about 50% Sport, 50% Challenge, but was totally unsanctioned (so, I didn't have any average to enter tournaments with). I just talked to our house's 'unofficial' USBC rep, and she told me about this new designation that would be *perfect* for us. As an aside, it seems the most accurate would be to weight the average by the proportion of Sport vs. Challenge, so my 174 in this particular league would turn out to (188 * .5) + (202 * .5) = 195. I wonder, is there a set of stipulations for these Challenge leagues that they submit their patterns every week? Will they still have to take weekly tapes or whatever Sport-Certified leagues have to do now?

Sport leagues haven't had to run tapes for the last year or so.

[fordman1]

Nice post, who are you and are you getting paid for posting this? I don't believe a word you typed. Your first ever post and I knew without checking you would have nothing in your profile. Who do you work for the USBC? I wonder where you bowl that they have only sport leagues that aren't certified? I know you are a plant because I am the only one on here that says Certified. The rest of the "bowlers" still say Sanctioned.

[seajaye]

Sport leagues haven't had to run tapes for the last year or so.

I'm pretty behind-the-times but was trying to dig into the requirements for getting our league Sport-Certified. Glad to hear that hoop has been eliminated. Like I said, the Challenge distinction might be more fitting for us considering we mix up the patterns and don't run Sport 100% of the time.

Nice post, who are you and are you getting paid for posting this? I don't believe a word you typed. Your first ever post and I knew without checking you would have nothing in your profile. Who do you work for the USBC? I wonder where you bowl that they have only sport leagues that aren't certified? I know you are a plant because I am the only one on here that says Certified. The rest of the "bowlers" still say Sanctioned.

Bahahah. Wow.

I don't work for the USBC.

I've bowled in a few houses that offered up Sport Leagues but did not report them as Sport. So, they were bowled as Standard Leagues, but if you look me up [#987-34048], you'll see these averages are much lower than my other leagues on THS.

More recently, my current house was willing to put down Sport/Challenge patterns for a trial short-league (is that what the "bowlers" say?) but was not willing to sanction the league at all (even as Standard). Now that we've been able to drum up some interest, and now with this new distinction, I think the League Manager is willing to get the work done to sanction it. I'm excited and looking forward to having a book average, as I haven't had one in almost 10 years (and I've only been bowling for about 10 years).

[Tony]

My proposal may seem "too much"...but it can actually be implemented in a very inexpensive way...especially the last part (oil patterns and inspection):

1) USBC Divisions
Sanctioned USBC leagues are now "Beginner", "Intermediate", and "Advanced".

Those who are new or low-level bowlers with no average or an established average 0-135 are eligible to join a "Beginner League".

Those with a > 135 average and < 180 average may join an "Intermediate" league. "Beginners" are also able to join this division.

Those with a > 179 average may join an "Advanced" league. "Intermediates" and "Beginners" are also able to join this division.

2) USBC Red, White, Blue Patterns

"Beginner" Leagues bowl on the USBC Red Pattern.

"Intermediate" Leagues bowl on the USBC White Pattern.

"Advanced" Leagues bowl on the USBC Blue Pattern.

If you want to decimate regular league bowling and put the USBC out of business, this is the blueprint to make that happen.

Regular league bowling is not an all out competition, that's for the tournaments and big money leagues ect. Regular league bowling has a social component to it, that's why friends and family bowl together so often.

I can tell you what would undoubtedly happen in my case / my area, all the recreational bowlers who wish to bowl with friends and family will move to the non USBC certified beer and pizza leagues, in fact those leagues are already growing and have surpassed the number of bowlers in the USBC leagues in my area.

You think there is sandbagging now, wait until you implement this, there will be a number of bowlers who struggle to stay under 179 so they can bowl with their buddies, or as I said above abandon the USBC entirely except for the tournament bowlers, in my higher end winter league I would estimate less than half the guys bowl in tournaments on a regular basis. You'll really love all the 179 bowlers shooting 700's come tournament time.

I commend you for considering ways to enhance and improve the sport of bowling, but this plan has serious flaws that make it an unworkable solution in it's present form.