I have visited some bowling centers in the past weeks and have made several observations. Now that smoking is forbidden in the bowling centers, bowlers are outside having a smoke instead of being ready to bowl when it is their turn. As a result, the pace of bowling slows, and others on that pair of lanes get aggravated.
When asked how the night went, one bowler answered, “I did [this or that],” seemingly forgetting that there is no “I” in team.
Some bowlers wondered who the director was for their center, as they had not seen anyone all season.
These are some of the things that need to be corrected, or the sport we love will fade into the sunset.
Other things that need to be considered are shorter length of leagues, maybe splitting each league into two sessions a year. With the current economy and job market, some people don’t want to commit for long periods of time. We need to come up with new ideas to attract new bowlers.
I also asked some league presidents if they were receiving the bank statement as required by the new rule passed at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Convention. In those leagues that were banking with the bowling centers, the presidents were receiving the statement, but the leagues that were banking with outside banking institutions were not.
League treasurers who are not sending the bank statement to the president are violating USBC rules—and both officers could face suspension charges. If you are a league president who is not receiving the bank statement, you should demand the bank statement be sent to you.
Just a reminder: Once a schedule is set, it becomes a part of the league rules. With all the bad weather we have been having, a lot of leagues have cancelled a night of bowling. To reschedule a missed session, the league’s board of directors must decide when it will be rescheduled; the president and the secretary cannot arbitrarily decide when it’s to be done without consulting the league.
Tournament time is just around the corner. If people in your league are bowling in any of these events, all considerations should be given to them when they ask for postponements as outlined in USBC Rule 111b.
I hope that all of you participate in the championship tournaments conducted by the local association. The Youth Championship Tournament is being held at Bowl America Woodbridge the first two weekends of March; the Women’s Championship Tournament and the Open Championship Tournament will be held at AMF Annandale (team) and AMF Capital Plaza (doubles & singles) the last weekend of March and the first three weekends of April. Hope to see all of you there.
For your information, “Punxsutawney Phil” did not see his shadow on February 2, so we will have an early spring.
If you have a rules question that you would like answered in this column, please send me the question, and I will find an answer for you—the correct answer!