Possibility of a concurrent scratch\handicap sports series

[tixmclaren]

Hello all,

I have been bowling in tournaments this year for the first time and all have been scratch tournaments where you basically have to bowl the card (200 + average ) just to make the cut and\or cash. Now i am not here to bitch and moan about this as i know the requirements to cash before i agree to bowl in them and i am happy to bowl in them for experience sake but i have seen little or no tournaments more directed at the mid range bowlers.

In a perfect world it would be nice to see not only a scratch tournament put together in say for instance the sports series where in the VIC sports series from 2 weeks ago there was both scratch and handicap bowlers bowling and they were able to select which division they wanted to bowl under and the results were 2 squads and close on 70 or so bowlers, surely this is a great way to go forward and both scratch and handicap bowlers can bowl together to learn from there elitist (if that is a word or even spelt right) bowlers and 2 competitions can run sisinctly and a ladder for the season can be put together.

With this being said i thought it might be an idea to see if there is any interest in a similar sports series being created in NSW if there is enough interest for the concept, I would still bowl in the sports series regardless because i believe it is a low cost, very challenging way to improve my bowling but if we could get both handicap and scratch bowling together this could make for a good way and a good step for mid range bowlers to challenge themselves against bowlers of a similar strength in bowling and also to improve there game to the next level and start having a go at the scratch bowlers not only in sports series but also in other top scratch tournaments.

So have a look, make your vote and have a voice because i know there are a lot of people out there that complain about not being able to compete against top bowlers and that there to expensive well the sports series has only been 85 dollars for 10 games in NSW and the payouts have been 1 in 3 so let me know what you think.

The more bowlers the better i say.

Regards
Michael Mclaren
tickets for short lol

 

[PoITeR]

i dont mind both run at the same time,but time will tell if it can work

 

[tonx]

Moving forward, down here, we will be running womens section and handicap section alternating each event.

The 12 or so bowlers that were genuine handicap bowlers made the need for the second squad, and a 10 hour takes up far too much time for the centres to be making money.

The only solution I can think of for your situation, is to run the handicap sections the weekend before at the same centre.

 

[aphelion]

Sounds like we really need a Twin Tour in NSW.

Unfortunately there's only one Mary Flower and I don't think she's going anywhere.

 

[da_cowman]

Moving forward, down here, we will be running womens section and handicap section alternating each event.
The 12 or so bowlers that were genuine handicap bowlers made the need for the second squad, and a 10 hour takes up far too much time for the centres to be making money.
The only solution I can think of for your situation, is to run the handicap sections the weekend before at the same centre.

Tonx made the one very important point as to why this would be extremely hard to achieve. The linage that we get from the centres to make this a low cost event means that we should be grateful for them giving us 4 hours of their time. Let alone 2 squads. For us to take an entire Sunday at this really low cost is just plain stupid from a business point of view. Which is the main reason why I haven't really looked for a second squad. If a centre doesn't mind giving up their entire sunday for the low cost event. Then yeahs ure, we could make a whole day of it. But I don't see it happening. Not just yet...

Later Da Cowman!

 

[tixmclaren]

thanks for the comments especially from tonx and da_cowman who actively are making these sports tournaments possible. I am a novice when it comes to the linage costs (even though i am aware it is not cheap) as well as other requirements that would be required in a handicap situation and all your feedback is great and encouraged. the more we no about these things the more understanding we can be of the situation those trying to organise these tournaments have to go through to get them up and running.

Tonx you also brought about an idea of holding the to tournaments over different weeks so that we are not using up the lanes of the centres for a whole day, thats a great idea but one which i believe would need more than one committee of people to run.

I as much as anyone knows the time and committment that would be required to get something like that up and running and i would be more than happy to help if it was possible but being that i also hold positions of Vice President for a cricket club here in sydneys west for doonside cricket club as well as taking on the role of the Darryl Holt Womens team Manager i could not personally take on a major role at this stage but if someone was willing to want something like this to happen and take on a leadership role for a handicap tournament of this stature to work with the scratch version already in place then i would be more than willing to help out anyway i can with the time i have in place to do so.

We seriously could not ask the cowmans to try to run both a handicap as well as the existing scratch sports series so if anyone would like to seriously want to make this happen please make your comments heard and lets all see what we can do to improve the tournament scene not only for scratch bowlers but also for the mid range bowlers. As we know the ideas for any tournaments come from the bowlers themselves and making things happen.

Michael Mclaren
tickets for short lol

 

[tonx]

Michael,

If you wish to start up a handicap tournament series, you should first contact centres to see what sort of linage costs you can get from them.

You should also try and gain some sponsors, as its quite difficult to run these events without any outside assistance. Remember when looking for sponsors, it's not what they can do for you that is most important to them, its what they get in return. Ebonite have been great in helping set up the Victorian Sports Series, and in return, the Series definately will promote Ebonite bowling products moving forward.

I would suggest also going around to the leagues in the area a month or so before every event, to get NEW bowlers involved in tournaments. This is how you help the sport the most, by giving new bowlers something to work towards!

All I will ask, is try to give enough distance between the handicap events and the scratch events, as the last thing you want to do is cripple the scratch sport bowling revolution. Work with Steve on dates, and I can't see it being an issue moving forward!

Cheers mate, and goodluck!

Andrew Tonkin
Tonx for short lol...

 

[Leggi_23]

Michael,

John and his family do such a great job at running this event and I don't think that you actually know how hard it is to actually get these events running in centers that just don't want to run events.... most of the Bowls in the Sydney area are more inclined to book birthday parties as they run at a better profit for the centre than actually running one of these events.

For John and Stephen to actually get 6 great events going in the past twelve months was fantastic and I am looking forward to the upcoming events for the next twelve months.

I hope that the 2009 Series is as supported as this years Series was. I know that I will be there to help out

 

[tixmclaren]

You have pulled a thread out that i created back in 2007, i am well aware of the Sports series as it is now and i fully support this series. I in no way want to change the sports series now or even add a handicap to it any more, this was just an idea i had over a year ago so my apologizes if i upset you or anyone else with it but please check the dates before making comments on threads that are so out of date its not funny lol.

I support what John has done and John is well aware of this as we talked about this series quite a lot when i bowled in the Restricted challenge at the Australian Nationals when he managed that team, i am also greatfull for the time you put into this sports series also as i know this is hard work for everyone involved and as always i will support this sports series in 2009 starting in February with the Tuggeranong stop.

Have a great 2009 and will see you at the bowling centres

Michael Mclaren
tickets for short lol