New CEO required for the TBA - Well what do we make of that?

[SeanGothe]

If you don't already know Martin Stillman CEO is no longer with the TBA. I wish him all the best in finding a role which is more suitable for his talents.

Funny how this isn't the lead story on the Tenpin Bowling Australia website. I have a sneaking suspicion it may get a mention now.

Maybe the Chair would like to update the membership on what is going on. Maybe he would like to address my letter of 5 December 2020.

I am today calling for a ''clean out'' of the TBA.

Below is the email response I received today:

Please be advised I no longer work at Tenpin Bowling Australia, please refer all matters to the TBA National Office.

With Thanks

Martin Stillman

 

[steve jones]

Oh Ok .........................so.................something is [definitely] rotten in the state Denmark

 

[SeanGothe]

Funny thing - there is no longer an automatic reply when you email Martin Stillman. That was stopped very suddenly but it was also entirely predictable. Were the TBA members not supposed to know that the CEO was gone after 6 weeks? Why nothing on the TBA website? I would think that the departure of a CEO warrants comment. It is more than a little embarrassing. Who takes responsibility for the appointment?
So is the next CEO going to be another MELBOURNE (sporting capital of Australia) appointment? Will we finally see the ''clean out" I have been calling for?
I could call 3 or 4 other knowledgeable BOWLING people and together we could do a far better job of running the game from the "kitchen table" to borrow an analogy from Steve Jones.

 

[SeanGothe]

Next weekend the "John Sullivan Seniors Australian Open" is being held at Keon Park in Melbourne. An event named after a kid from working class Collingwood who not only became one of the greatest bowlers Australia has produced but a man who also possessed a brilliant mind. Now for the senior execs at the TBA (Tenpin Bowling Melbourne), Keon Park is located in Melbourne's working class northern suburbs. Not a place for private schools and rowing regattas unfortunately. Given this weekend is Moomba when rowing regattas are usually held, next weekend should be available for you to see what bowling is actually about.
Wouldn't it be great to see the TBA Chair make an appearance at the AO. He might even learn something from the 100 plus bowlers who will be in attendance. Most of the participants will have been around the game for more than 35 years. Maybe he could finally address my 91 day old letter and maybe he could also explain the departure of the new CEO after only 6 weeks. Perhaps he could even announce his resignation from the TBA Board.

 

[steve jones]

...............whilst you are at it Sean let's add - given it's close to Easter - that He might also make an appearance - I'd say the odds of either happening are about the same.

Oh ............I shared a house with John for a number of years - a few of us were able to slow down his brilliant mind now and again - but it usually took a good deal of brandy.

 

[SeanGothe]

Hi Steve, yes the same odds as me being seen inside a church. I would probably spontaneously combust on entering.

I am wondering if my computer is playing up? I can't see any messages of support for the Chair from his fellow Board Members or those 2 non-bowling General Managers!!!
The silence is absolutely deafening.

 

[steve jones]

..................well one mans place of worship is another mans bowling centre Sean.

I understand, from a recent conversation, but of course the person I spoke to could be very, very wrong, that one of the current directions of the TBA is to package service providers [you know soft drink suppliers, insurers that sort of thing] for and to bowling centres. It's a well used concept of course - centre associations both state and national have done it over the years - and there were two ex AMF regional managers who combined to do the same some years ago. I believe they were successful and good on them if they were.

There is of course a very useful turn of phrase "there is nothing better than an old idea that's time has come".

So maybe this is a good thing and well timed - I am way out of the loop so I don't know if there are still centre groups by state or even a "Gold Pin" type national entity. I understand that the TBA want's to package these offerings so they get a piece of the action - and certainly nothing wrong with that.

Yet - somewhere in the back of my old"ish" mind there is a niggle that says "this is not the role of a national governing sporting body and the sport of bowling has enough difficulty in the eyes of many [and many who count] separating itself from the commercial side of the business".

Speaking of "many who count" this is without doubt [and I say "without doubt" because I was at the 1994 Centennial IOC Congress in Paris when this reality hit home so along with about a dozen or more bowling people from around the world, I received the message loud and clear] one of the primary reasons bowling is yet to be accepted as a medal sport in the Olympics - the other primary reason is of course money..........and this is about where in the woods the paths diverge and I shall take the one well traveled by...and stop right there!

 

[SeanGothe]

Steve,
You are probably right as anything is possible. The TBA now flogs Wills through its website. The problem is that we are talking about an organisation which hasn't even responded to a simple letter after 3 months. I am not sure whether the senior officials could successfully run a "çhook raffle''. I also agree that the governing body of a sport has to be very careful when encroaching on the commercial side of the business. Maybe the next Chair and CEO (if they can find one) will decide to be fully transparent with the books and articulate exactly what they are intending to do and where they are spending member's money including any grants received. I never thought my simple letter of December last year could be so intimidating. A bright teenager could probably have had a go at producing a reasonable response to the questions I have asked. I will quantify that by saying a bright teenager who didn't need mummy and daddy to spend a couple of hundred thousand dollars trying to buy their offspring some intelligence within a fancy school behind big metal gates.

 

[SeanGothe]

Hey CHAIR, when does the departure of the former CEO after only 6 weeks get an explanation on the ''News" section of the TBA website?
There have been 2 new entries posted in the past 24 hours to the TBA website but nothing about the departure of the CEO.
I can't think of anything else near as important as the CEO leaving after only 6 weeks in his role.
I am staggered that you didn't follow him out the door. I do applaud Martin Stillman for his courage in making his decision so quickly.
Why did he leave CHAIR? Did you appoint him? Did the other Board members even see the resumes of all of the other candidates for the role?

 

[DaleS]

Seeing this hasn't been released on social media - and social media drives the world - maybe it needs to be mentioned on social media.....in the interests of transparency of course

 

[RobK300]

Well well well....

So many questions, but there will likely be no answers.