A better deal for our Rachuig bowlers

[Andrew S.]

I feel the time has come for all parties, National, State, Proprietors and maybe even Regional bodies, to reconsider our attitude to the Rachuig Comp and the Rachuig Teams.

We know we are faced with declining numbers in almost all States - bowlers are becoming more and more disinterested in representing, and the general enthusiasm is no longer there.

Sure there will always be a hardcore percentage of Open class bowlers who regard Rachuig as the ultimate teams comp in Australia, however there are not enough of these bowlers and we are gradually losing those that we do have.

Rachuig has never been a consideration for tournament sponsorship, surely now is the time to consider this?

When Rachuig was healthy, bowling was healthy - roll-offs were well attended and it was very difficult to get into a State Team. Today we have far more competing factors in our lives and we are not making enough effort to keep up.

If this comp is to keep its place at the top we must find a way both to encourage and to reward our top players.

Maybe ML and the other Proprietor groups could consider this - an injection of cash into Rachuig would certainly attract attention and would in the long run increase participation in the sport.

And before someone starts to point out this would be catering to the elite - so what?
We all aspire to get better it should be worth our while when we do reach the top.

 

[Belly]

As a person who has bowled for 40 years and seen the rise and fall of rachuig as the premier event on the bowling calander, I also agree that it needs to be brought up to date to suit the bowlers of today. I now feel that to make this event great again there needs to be prize money attached to the event as bowling for your state sadly no longer seems enough motivation.

However I believe that we can do several things that will improve the whole bowling scene. Firstly what I would do is take away the need to bowl qualifying trials in each state, the way to do this is to make the TBA rankings points mean something and at the end of each year suggest the 30/06 the top 7 bowlers from each state becomes the states rachuig team.

As part of this program each TBA ranked event (as part of its sanction) will have to place $500 into the rachuig fund both adult and youth events combined with approx 28 events this will create $14,000 in the fund as the pool for rachuig to bowl for.

This will give all ranked National events more importance, make the national rankings more meaningful and restore rachuig to where it belongs.

 

[chucker]

that is a great idea steve i for one love rachuig and hope that it can get back to where it was when i used to go along and watch my dad bowl.any improvement is great in my eyes.

 

[granat]

And before someone starts to point out this would be catering to the elite - so what?
We all aspire to get better it should be worth our while when we do reach the top.

I agree, what's the point in striving to reach the elite if there's not some sort of reward when you reach it.
Rachuig is the premier teams event in this country and bowlers who have been successful in making a team should be rewarded.

Belly,
The problem I see with your plan is that aspiring Rachuig bowlers like myself would have to spend maybe $20 000 - $30 000 each year travelling all over the country chasing ranking points. That would put Rachuig out of reach of many bowlers. As it stands right now I still believe that if I continue to practice and improve that I'm still a chance of making a Rachuig team. If the requirement was for me to spend a good deal of money travelling around to achieve ranking points then I know that it's something that I will not be able to achieve.
I believe Rachuig will then become weaker without that drive from the "not quite so elite" bowlers pushing the current elite bowlers to stay at their best.

Regards
Graeme

 

[Belly]

Graeme,

I hear what you are saying and there is a possible answer. That is that for these "Rachuig points" bowlers can only earn points in their own state. Therefore bowlers in Qld only count the points earned in Qld events etc.

 

[xpense]

Andrew & Belly,

Love the idea, of putting prizemoney forward for Rachuig, and ranked events putting in some form of dollars towards that event.

Maybe, instead of national ranked events being used for the points, why not have every state create there own state rankings and state circuit, in which points are awarded. This way the bowlers are are not spending up big to travel and be on the national scene.

With all tournaments attracting a sanction fee perhaps increase these by 50% and put that into the prizepool. Not sure of leagues pay a sanction fee, but if they do, you could increase those fees as well, and then you would have a great prizepool on offer.

The main problem l see with the declining numbers, is it is now a very expensive excerise to compete at Rachuig. Trails, accomodation, Travel, meals, Nationals, Rachuig itself, Dinner Dance, Aus Masters. All adds up to big dollars, and with the incresed costs involved in our everyday lives does impact the bowlers overall. If prizemoney were on offer it is a big incentive to bowlers, who feel they will be able to at least re-coup some costs involved.

I am happy to bowl Rachuig for the privledge of representing our great state, but a number of people would come back out of the woodwork, if they felt they could re-coup some of the costs, through a prizefund being on offer. I would love the idea, of knowing that at the end l might get some cash back, as well the pride of representing the state.

 

[Ice]

I hear what you are saying and there is a possible answer. That is that for these "Rachuig points" bowlers can only earn points in their own state. Therefore bowlers in Qld only count the points earned in Qld events etc.

Firstly I think any thought put towards improving things and advancing the sport is a positive step forward.

Having said that, whilst your ideas may improve things for some it would be detrimental for others. For example FNQ bowlers, who would be hard pushed finding time and money to travel enough to gain National Ranking points. QLD is a big state remember and even if an FNQ bowler only had to bowl in ranked events in QLD Nth area, they would be hard pushed finding enough ranked events to bowl in. There may been others but the only ones I can think of right now are Cairns Open, Suncity Open(Townsville), Mackay Open and Burdekin Open.

 

[Belly]

Once again I understand what you saying about Qld being a big state etc however and other reasons it is easy to find reasons why things won't work lets concentrate on reasons and ways things might work.

Positives and new ideas is what bowling needs right now so lets hear some real new inovations if not bowling will die.

 

[Ducati 851]

Sorry guys i dont think the problem with rachuig is the prize or motivation, well in my opinion from a qld perspective, i think the problem is finding people who actually have the money ...your looking at 2000 plus...its a lot of money not everyone can afford, and also getting time off work to enter..

SO if you put brisbane circuit points, add another 1000

so 3000 dollars, its so much money, but id still pay it to represent my state

my 2 cents

 

[JAY K]

As my own opinion may not count for much, but here we go, I am a mere graded bowler and love the game. So please explain to me, why should my sanction fees go to Rachuig. If this was to happen then why should I pay fees at all. For all those who bowl league only, why should their fees go to Rachuig, WHO MADE THEM GOD ?????????????? just remember that 90 % of bowlers are graded bowlers who play league , the sport is expensive enough for the average person as it is, without extra fees. This issue should not be about the mere 10% out there but about bowling in general as we are not the future of bowling, we should look to the juniors and bring them along with a positive attitude to the game .

 

[Andrew S.]

Jay for what it is worth I happen to agree with you about your sanction fees. However please don't say that this issue should not be about the mere 10% because it is about the mere 10%.
For years and years I have heard a small minority of Joe Average bowlers complain that Rachuig bowlers think they are God.
I don't know how many State Team bowlers you know but attitude does not necessarily go hand in hand with Rachuig.
Certainly some of them may be a little self ascendant but then they were probably that way long before they became Rachuig Team members.

 

[xpense]

With all tournaments attracting a sanction fee perhaps increase these by 50% and put that into the prizepool. Not sure of leagues pay a sanction fee, but if they do, you could increase those fees as well, and then you would have a great prizepool on offer.

Just to clear this message up from my last post. It is not the sanction fees from the bowlers l was talking about. Only the actual fees that a tournamnet must pay to the TBA if they want the event to be sanctioned. I am not sure if leagues also have to pay this fee.

I know that most nationally ranked events pay approx a $100 sanction fee / registration fee what ever you wish to call it. State events are approx $50 l believe. If these were to be increased, then this would not impact the average bowlers wishing to only bowl league, as the individual fee would not change, only the fees for the tournaments, and leagues it self if they pay this fee.

 

[granat]

Graeme,

I hear what you are saying and there is a possible answer. That is that for these "Rachuig points" bowlers can only earn points in their own state. Therefore bowlers in Qld only count the points earned in Qld events etc.

Yes, I like that idea. A state circuit that feeds a national competition. Its kinda like the Cricket. District cricket - feeds the shield (Pura Cup but it's still Sheffield Shield to me) teams which then feed into the National team, Its been a proven successful formula for a long time.
You would have to perform over a long period of time to make the team and not just fire on a couple of weekends. It may even help to put some respectability back into De Veer if there were graded sections

Jay, sanction fees do not just go to Rachuig, but they go toward bowling development at all levels including the Adult and Junior Nationals which cater for all levels of bowling. Surely it is reasonable that a portion of this go toward Rachuig.

Ducati 851
In my opinion a bowler who makes a Rachuig team should not have to put their hand in their pocket for anything. Clearly sanction fees would not be able to cover this so we get back to Andrew's original point of some sort of cash injection.

Regards
Graeme

 

[JAY K]

I would like to address that I do know quite a few Rachuig bowlers and found that a handful have your attitude and that sucks because it is this attitude that is bringing down bowling as we know it and I feel sorry for the future of it. I must say to have a scratch average is something to aspire to, which most of us try to do, myself included and I will get there. But at the same time I would hope that I do not forget what it took to get there, let alone walk over the people that helped get me there like coaches and supportive friends. It would be nice to have funding to help me get there , at the upper level where the money already is

 

[Vaughnn]

I believe there is a small number of bowlers who are committed to Rachuig, every year, and these people budget themselves to ensure when they make the team, they can afford all the fees, the travel, etc.
Then there is a group who would probably do the event (probably do when it is in their own state), but the cost is a prohibitive factor.

The solution to this is sponsorship. The same as with other areas of bowling, including state based tournament circuits, business sponsorship is what will help. This would also assist in getting a higher profile for the sport, as these sponsors only get the benefit of the sponsorship, by a public awareness, or advertising the fact they sponsor the sport.

If the numerous AFL, Rugby, Basketball, Netball, etc teams can all get various amounts of corporate sponsorship, why not a healthy family sport like bowling. (Which is basically where the grassroots of it really is - the leagues).

The challenge is to find the right group of people, who can create an infrastructure of sponsorship, at both a national and state level, so that representative bowling costs have a reduction. The sponsorship will only improve the sport by giving it wider community exposure, and perhaps even help attract more people to the leagues.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Joe "Very Average" - Bowler

 

[The Spanner]

I think I've brought this up before, but if every bowler was required to pay a fee each year to their state association (Around $40-50), we could send all of the rep teams (Rachuig, De Veer, Juniors, Disabilities, Youth and Seniors (Sorry to put you last seniors, thats just the way they came to me) to their respective competitions for minimal further expense to the bowler.

If you could bowl Rachuig, or De Veer, for free, would you have a go at trying to qualify?

As there is 'a team for everyone, regardless of ability', there should be no complaints.

Peter Martin

 

[Belly]

To clear a few things up regarding the $500 I suggested comes from each ranked event. Is not my intention that this money comes from sanction fees, my idea is that before a tournament can be ranked the tournament itself must put $500 into a rachuig fund before the event can be ranked. This money is NOT to come out of sanction fees.

The other idea is that every tournament bowler pay $50 $100 or something to get a National Players card. Without this card yoyu cannot bowl in National Ranked events outside your state, then there could be a State Players card for State events at $20 for those only wanting to bowl in their own state.

These are some of the ideas that need to be discussed amongst bowlers to find a solution. You may decide to use all the money raised to pay a professional sports promoter to find a national sponsor.

Anyhow keep thinking and discussing

 

[K-C]

The other idea is that every tournament bowler pay $50 $100 or something to get a National Players card. Without this card yoyu cannot bowl in National Ranked events outside your state, then there could be a State Players card for State events at $20 for those only wanting to bowl in their own state.

From memory a similar idea was tried by TBA a few years ago - a higher registration fee for those bowlers who wished to be eligible for the NTS, etc (which I believe was about $75 for the year).

It also failed from memory. I know people were allowed into the NTS that hadn't paid the extra money and I doubt there were many that did cough it up at all. I think it ran for one year and they binned the idea.

 

[FLOWER]

Mr. Bell, I don’t think the Qld. Ladies Classic would be impressed with having to donate $700 to a Rachuig appeal…..$500 for Rachuig plus $200 to rank this tournament…..we are struggling to provide a reasonable prize fund as it is without subsidizing any other tournaments….are the Senior tournaments also being encouraged to donate so much of their HUGE Prize Funds to this cause also?

Maybe the time has come with so much expense attached nowdays to the Nationals (ALL SORTS !), to change the way we are doing things. Rachuig may gain some prestige if it was a STAND ALONE tournament – a long weekend now being used by a Super 6 tourn. (rumour has it that some of these may disappear in the future – what? Rumours in bowling – surely not!) could become a major weekend of advertising and big sponsorship opportunities for some lucky firm as well as providing some return for the expenses incurred…..TV even!!!

The numbers competing in the Rachuig Team Challenge would surely be similar to some of the existing tournaments and maybe the day before the actual Rachuig could be used to run a mini competition with prize money attached - 3 or 4 games, as many attempts as you can fit in !

AND – some major promotion by TBA letting the ordinary bowlers of the new bowling world know what RACHUIG is and how to pronounce it !!!! I speak to bowlers who are well qualified but have never heard of this great event – it is a closed environment and ‘we don’t want to tell anyone else in case they have a go and shut ME out’ – ADVERTISING, ADVERTISING – our great traditions are being lost with no memories of our past greats and their stories. I KNEW what Rachuig was 35 years ago but it is only the inner sanctum who know now…..bowling needs some REAL PRESTIGE attached to this great team event and maybe the sponsorship $$$ would flow.

North Qld. is very fortunate to have 4 ranked events within a fairly close driving distance – no one else has this many – but I don’t think bowling ranked events is the right answer to the make up of the teams…..there does need to be some qualifying criteria allowing the bowlers to get some bucks back for their entry – maybe small tournaments in your area or state with prizemoney attached and these tournaments are open to all comers, not just nominees – more entries, more money and more competition to get the best available…..

Another view - for what it is worth !

FLOWER

 

[Andrew S.]

I agree with you regarding the ranked events Mary. What I would like to see for a start is one weekend - the same weekend - reserved in all States and Territories for Rachuig roll-offs. Nothing else to be sanctioned on that weekend anywhere in Australia. It would instantly be known as Rachuig Trials weekend. Promotion would of course be up to the State Committees but at least they would have a head start.