Love this concept. We see it in lower grades of cricket, AFL football and in countless other sports. How on earth would you manage this? I wouldn't have the foggiest.
My fear in this model is the obvious - the glory hounds will always find a way to exploit - or 'manage their averages' to continue winning. Not much can be done about that, but when introducing this model to a new bowler, one might be discouraged by losing to the bowler who doesn't have the same drive or ambition - which in time - may turn them away.
Brenton raises a good point also - give a league bowler exclusivity - and I mean a little more than 50c off your large cup of premix drink at the cafe. That's not the sole reason league bowlers join. If there was an incentive for them to keep coming back, I'm sure they would. Give them a VIP room with exclusive access to half the bar. Serve food in a secluded 'restaurant-type' area. Charge a $50-$100 VIP membership for the year. God knows we all spend way too much time in bowling centres - may as well feel like a VIP whilst there!
At the end of the day, it's the LEAGUE bowler - NOT the social player - that continuously provides the income for these centres to run.
"Glory Hounds" Have you noticed how other sports dont appear to have a problem with individuals or teams sandbagging ?
I think thats because the grading system focuses the glory and incentive towards being in the higher grade and reduces if not eliminates the tendancy to perform less than your very best. The recognition factor I touched on, also helps, so that people always strive to be better at their sport. That is not the case in majority of bowling league competitors, they barely get interested in the comp and rarely ever practice with a desire to improve.
Brenton's Idea as a bolt on addition to what bowlers are offered is a good addition but does seem to be necessary for other sports and for that reason I say it's a great idea but does not address the flaw within the sport.
I'm developing a plan and putting my own money where my mouth is, which will test my theories of why Bowling has many of the systemic problems it appears to have.
Over the next few months I intend to roll out a three pronged suite of ideas or concepts to see if the Bowling Community, the Centres and the general public will warm to what I am presenting.
I do hope to change bowling, and I know the likelihood of successfully being accepted is extremely remote, however I dont want to die wondering.
I think I have hijacked this thread longer than I should have but I think many of the individual issues such as coaching, sandbagging, lack of drive to improve skills and ultimately the reason why the sport is struggling, all have a central thread which needs to be worked on.
So far, I'm having a go at answering some of the questions myself but would like nothing more if the TBA and Centres and Bowlers all got together and looked at the big picture answers which might drive the sport forward. Everyone in bowling has a vested interest to see the sport continue and grow and prosper, I think now would be a good time to start with a clean sheet of paper and look at every alternative of what could be changed to better the sport.
Anyhow, off my soapbox .
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