FOR HARDWORKING TOURN. ORGANIZERS

[FLOWER]

There is a way to make Tournaments successful, even if only for short periods. Maybe in batches of about 5 years or so, then the novelty wears off and we need to reinvent the wheel!!

STOP TRYING TO ENCOURAGE SCRATCH BOWLERS -most of these spend their time working out why they can't bowl in your tournament - not sponsored so they can't keep up with the
latest gear - the conditions in the centre don't suit ME (I only bowl where I have a chance - not where others might) - too much oil - not enough oil - lefties centre - righties centre - too far away (however, they turn up to criticize those who do bowl) - no job (can't afford to bowl but can offer masses of criticism.

TRY FOR THE MIDDLE RANGE OF BOWLERS - these have been supporting the 'elite' tournaments for many years and most have not quite made it but LOVE TO BOWL ..... ATBSO bowlers are the prime example (another story!!)

TRY FOR ... low cost, reasonable number of games and just give the bowlers a bit of enjoyment and encouragement - it is called the 'personal touch'. Pay down small amounts as far as possible with not too much of top - bowlers love to hear their names called out to collect $$$$$. Be professional in running the tournament - give up to date results etc. - after all they are PAYING.

STOP ALL SELECTIONS for teams etc. and let the scores be the main criteria - it is a 'user pays' society now so why not have open and accountable results. The 'trust' has gone from our sport unfortunately - bowlers have less to complain about if they SEE results printed out - maybe they might ever put something in to the sport to get something out!!!

Andrew Frawley said it all - COMPLAINING IS CONTAGIOUS!

A lot of what has been said over recent times is more like NAGGING - let us get off our bums - find small sponsors - have confidence to try new ideas on a small basis (we need NEW)- run small tournaments that we can afford and just get on with it - there are people to help if asked - after all, most of us just LOVE TO BOWL!!

Mary Flower

 

[strop]

Well dear there are tournaments around for the no so elite bowlers...well here there is...it's called 369 tournaments, no-tap, amf bowler of the month and so...try some of them..they been around for years. you will never eliminate bowlers who whinge about every aspect of this glorious game?????
TRY FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE RANGE BOWLERS (LIKE ATBSO YOU SAY) Well I agree alot of these bowlers bowled in many elite tourney's , kept donating with little return (I take my hat off for these people) but now presto the atbso appears...What happens when the elite bowlers start bowling atbso (some already do)
are these bowlers going to continue....My experience with tournaments no matter for who??? these days and even before ...you try and put on small tourney's ,low cost (hard to do these days with many operators price rising there game fees) more games /???@@# pay down prize funds more????? doesn't always
attract or make a difference.
Cost is a huge factor these days.....
I agree something needs to be done with this sport..but cant see it in the near future and don't have the answers for that...too many people just cant be bothered these day's with little youth coming up to replace the numbers that has been lost of the past 5 years.
Most of us love to bowl in different areas of this game it's just ashame to see the upper division fade away to the level it is now compared to the 70's/80's/and early 90's.....

SOMEONE WHO CARED ONCE>>>>>>>

 

[jl]

I know this has nothing to do with Tournament bowling, but the first step into helping this sport along, is lower game fees, and to get rid of those "Fun" leagues where you get the free "whatever" at the end. They do not promote the sport of 10 pin bowling, what-so-ever. No-one gets coached, no-one gets taught the rules. If this is the case, where is this gonna take us?? Another thing (in the case of junior bowling) is those bumper leagues. Junior bowling will gradually go further down the hole as more and more Bumper league begin to appear.

This is just my opinion.

 

[Sean M]

jl... I think you need to ask yourself what the game is all about. Answer...knocking down pins. So if I young first time bowler for example, say about 6 years old, comes into a bowl and continuously bowls the ball in the gutter, by the time he walks out he is going to be pretty dejected from our great sport but on the other hand if he can knock down a few pins by way of the bumpers and he is excited and happy then this can only be a good thing for the future of the sport. Its all about encouragement as well.

 

[jl]

Firstly, I'm not having at anyone in particular here.

Yes Sean, I do agree with you there. Bumper leagues are essential for building the future. However, the bit of info I actually left out, which I should have included in the original post, is those 10-12 year old kids, who are still bowling in Bumper league after 2-3 years and never hit the Bumpers... that's the bit I left out. I have even seen 14 year old kids with who never hit the Bumpers bowl in Bumper leagues. Why some centres actually allow that to happen, I'll never know. This is NOT the ideal future. Then again, it's also unfair to those little 6 year olds in the same league having a 14 year old always hitting the headpin on every shot. I don't know if anyone else can relate to that. But bumper leagues was not the main point to my original post anyway.

This is just my opinion.