Making league play more interesting

It should come as no surprise to bowlers in Prince William County that there are fewer bowling leagues today than there were just 10 years ago. Indeed, the number of leagues in states across America has been shrinking for the last 25 years; Virginia is no exception.

According to records kept by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the number of adult and youth leagues in Virginia has dwindled steadily over the last decade from 4,313 in 1998 to 3,274 in 2003 and to 2,116 in 2008. While we do not have readily available statistics for Prince William County, it is safe to say that the number of leagues in the county has dwindled too.

The reasons for this decline are varied and explaining them could fill a book. The fact remains that while America's bowling habits have changed, league bowling has remained largely the same for over half a century. The Bowler's Journal International (BJI) recently decided to ask its readers for ideas on how league play could be jumpstarted to keep its current bowlers and to attract new ones.

New ideas

The BJI received countless ideas and suggestions -- some of which contained wrinkles that might be used to tweak existing leagues to enhance them and make them more captivating. There were too many to include in this article but some of the more interesting ones follow:

n Proprietors should understand that there is no way to strengthen leagues by weakening the environment or maintaining the typical house shot -- i.e., making it easier to get high scores. This entrant suggested adopting USBC Sport or PBA Experience patterns or something similar.

n Introduce "Parents Night Out," providing a "corral" area for children aged 2 to 5. High school bowlers could staff the "corral".

n Launch mentoring programs in which league bowlers could offer their services through schools to youths interested in acquiring bowling skills in a league format.

n Try the "Ultimate Challenge League," in which every team bowls every other team every game, and every bowler bowls every other bowler, every game. In today's league format, each team bowls only against the team bowling on the same pair of lanes. The only drawback to an Ultimate Challenge League is waiting a week for results but computerization might help overcome that.

n Use a split-league approach, in which all teams play each other twice, after which the top half completes two cycles against each other and the bottom half does the same. At that point, an elimination format is used until a league champion is crowned for each division.

n Begin a "National House Team Championship" in which each bowling center would send a team to compete for the title of America's Team Champion -- a handicap system should be used to make the completion fair. Each center would be guaranteed on spot in a regional eliminator. The idea is to make mini-stars out of a great number of bowlers.

The winning idea

The best idea, according to the BJI, did not come from the local level. It came from Hall of Famer Carmen Salvino, who suggested showcasing team play on the national level that can help to filter league development down to the local centers. He suggests a team element on the professional level as part of the PBA Tour. He believes that if people see team play on TV at the highest levels, it could inspire bowlers throughout the country to fan the team-bowling flames. He goes on to suggest that the national teams should represent the same state; otherwise, who would you cheer for?

Gil Sanchez is a freelance bowling writer for the News & Messenger. He is a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America and the USBC Advisory Council. Reach him at 703-587-6792 or at gsanchez@insidenova.com.