Problems Joining a League

[mrbill]

I signed up for a monday night league about a month ago but Some how they lost my name and I did not get in on a team. This league had the owner of the lanes on it aswell as the owner of the proshop and some of the alley workers and alot of great bowlers aswell. leave it to say I was not happy to sit there thinking I was gonna bowl and make new friends, to be standing there alone asking , Whats up?
I was upset and could have been nicer to the kid that told me I was in, no problem and asked me to wait here then wait there then finding him somwhere seeming that he forgot I was waiting for word , then as I was telling him the story of how I was so excited for weeks to get in this league and how I was on a league this last winter but got in only half way through and how i was counting the days even to join this league, then to have him in mid sentence turn his back on me to talk to some one else and not turn back I just said to him that I felt disrespected and that I was not happy.

I just started bowling there 3 to 5 times a week for pratice so I'll try to join another league and make good with that kid I could have been nicer too.
I just did not know it would be this hard to get on a league, I've been out of the game for 20 years

Sorry if it sounds like I'm whineing but its fresh in my mine and venting is good for the sole I'm told, I'll prob delete this post when I'm of better mind.

[kev3inp]

Usually leagues seem to be scrambling for bowlers, especially in the beginning. There's usually a league meeting, too, that you should have been notified about. It must be nice to live in an area where they don't need your money into the prize fund.
As for the kid, I wouldn't sweat it. If he's not smart enough to try to keep customers happy he deserves whatever abuse he gets.

[NoTapNorm]

I also put my name in for 2 summer leagues, but did not receive calls about the organizing meeting or anything.

[kev3inp]

And these proprietors wonder why their league base is shrinking? I think some "politely irate" e mails to them are in order.

[JAnderson]

Leagues are handled differently from center to center. There are independent houses that are as courteous as courteous gets and independent houses as bad as bad gets. The same can be said of the various large corporately-owned chain centers, though in my experiences, the independent houses are usually better.

If a bowling center treats you poorly enough, it's a signal that they want you to take your money and spend it elsewhere. If you're a bowler that lives far from the big city and you only have 1 maybe 2 centers to choose from, I feel for you.

Few centers will call to remind you of the league meeting. If you do want to bowl in a league, find out when the league meeting will be and get there. If the center doesn't know, get the contact information for the league secretary and call him/her.

I've moved around quite a bit in my adult life. Every couple of years I'm living in some new city and walk into a house blind and get put on a team the night of the league meeting. Be assertive. Let people know you want to bowl and make it happen. The squeaky wheel gets the oil!

mrbill - You may just want to keep going back and see if any of the teams needs another roster member or a sub. Work with the secretary instead of the front desk. Be polite but be persistent. When it comes to league, I'd rather bowl with a person like you who wants to bowl and wants to be there than someone who averages 230+ and just goes through the motions.

[mrbill]

Leagues are handled differently from center to center. There are independent houses that are as courteous as courteous gets and independent houses as bad as bad gets. The same can be said of the various large corporately-owned chain centers, though in my experiences, the independent houses are usually better.

If a bowling center treats you poorly enough, it's a signal that they want you to take your money and spend it elsewhere. If you're a bowler that lives far from the big city and you only have 1 maybe 2 centers to choose from, I feel for you.

Few centers will call to remind you of the league meeting. If you do want to bowl in a league, find out when the league meeting will be and get there. If the center doesn't know, get the contact information for the league secretary and call him/her.

I've moved around quite a bit in my adult life. Every couple of years I'm living in some new city and walk into a house blind and get put on a team the night of the league meeting. Be assertive. Let people know you want to bowl and make it happen. The squeaky wheel gets the oil!

mrbill - You may just want to keep going back and see if any of the teams needs another roster member or a sub. Work with the secretary instead of the front desk. Be polite but be persistent. When it comes to league, I'd rather bowl with a person like you who wants to bowl and wants to be there than someone who averages 230+ and just goes through the motions.

Thanks for every post here, I was hopeing I was not crazy lol
"Be assertive. Let people know you want to bowl and make it happen. The squeaky wheel gets the oil!"
I was in the meeting and they said they were trying to fit me in, Since this was my first league that Ive tryed to get in from day one and not in the middle I was unsure what was going on and did not see a problem till the meeting was over and I was told to "wait here" and found myself standing alone
The comforting words and all the advice here will I know make it so this will not hapen to me again.
I went over and over in my head the next time I will stand up in the meeting and say to everyone " I need a Partner! I am better then my Average and I love to bowl"

P.S. I am taking the good advice and I am getting on a wed night league teams of 3 with 3 games mixed, I
will keep on asking the league secretary if theres any spots on monday night aswell.

[Jord_84]

That sounds like a load of crap. Leagues ALWAYS welcome summer league bowlers because their business drastically drops off during the summer. Our center advertised 5 summer leagues and we only managed to fill Thurs. night and a few teams of seniors on Tues. morning. I'd ask to talk to the league organizer, and see if they ever saw your name come up when they were trying to put the league together. If not, then it's a good bet that kid threw your info away. Talk to the league organizer and see if they can't squeeze you in someplace. They could have a vacancy....and at the very least, you could offer to sub.

[tbrownie]

I think i would have gone off on someone. lol

[janbolen]

I would be mad too.. Sorry to hear that.. We have one person that handles all the leagues.. When we signed up, she never forgot our faces, and she always asked if we were ready for league night.. I guess I am lucky..
I hope you get into a league soon.. Because I know what you mean about being excited to join..

[dpmusic70]

A few years ago we had a problem finding a Sunday night league. Not one house in our area was offering one so we had to go pretty far to find one. Luckily this year that league moved to a house near us and that's where we've been ever since.