the death of ten pin bowling!!!!!!

Tim Pin said:
Some reading http://www.bowlingdigital.de/bowling/?q=node/5485/1
Click to expand...

Nice link, Tim..........and if you thought the 80's was bad news for bowling, the 90's was even worse and the first decade of the new millenium is shaping up as a disaster. AMF worldwide are suffering huge losses in their bowling centre portfolio, fortunately they have many varying business interests which is propping up the bowling operations........but how long will they last before they unload some more of their costly and unprofitable bowling centres.

It was discussed at the last Goldpin proprieters meeting the dismal figures of almost every bowling centre in Brisbane.................at $4.50 a game on the current lineages seen across Australian centres, it won't be long before many more will be unable to open the doors for business.........currently there is more profit in operating a corner takeaway food store compared to what bowling game rates generate on an annual basis.

Neville Nobody
 
this thread has made many of us realise that bowling is only hanging on by the skin of its teeth!!!!!!

very soon this could be just a social game, not a sport of proffessionals

i think we need to get our sport into the olympics or commonwealth games
this way we get media coverage

with many centres set for closure in the near future, the future is not looking good.

i dare not offend any of the TBA, but seriously guys GET WITH IT!!!! there are serious improvements needed in the area of ten pin bowling in australia.
one suggestion iam keen on is the australian version of the pba tour, if this were to go round australia, and at every centre do advertising, even media advertising, this would make the public want to come and watch.

also a discount card, sort of like the amf card discussion is saying,
many bowlers i know are considering quiting because of a lack of tournaments, the expense and just not enough people to play against.

i have noted at my local bowling centre, the staff walking round trying to "recruit" young bowlers to come play leagues, say around 100 joined, how many would stay on and make that a sport???

we need to get the emphasis of bowling back to a sport, not a social game.
give incentives for new bowlers to join.

i joined a team with mates from school the 5 of us played for 1 season and i was the only one to continue bowling, crunch the numbers, if thats the case with every new team the future is very dim for us bowlers.
already paying $4.00, a large increase over the past few years, many bowlers might be forced to quit from the accounting side of it


from whatever point you look at it, it dosent look good.

so TBA please please do something, instead of sitting there watching the clouds go by, get up and do something ANYTHING
 
Bowler_X said:
i have researched alcohol served in bowling alleys a little and here are my findings
1) correct me if iam wrong but the only place i know that serves alcohol at an alley is ACT
Click to expand...
Fortunately for me Noarlunga also dispense beer and other less important alcoholic beverages, and I'm very thankful for it. Beer is fuel and I'm a V8 gas-guzzler :) Soft drinks only make your fingers sticky.
 
Bowler_X said:
this thread has made many of us realise that bowling is only hanging on by the skin of its teeth!!!!!!
very soon this could be just a social game, not a sport of proffessionals
i think we need to get our sport into the olympics or commonwealth games
this way we get media coverage
with many centres set for closure in the near future, the future is not looking good.
i dare not offend any of the TBA, but seriously guys GET WITH IT!!!! there are serious improvements needed in the area of ten pin bowling in australia.
one suggestion iam keen on is the australian version of the pba tour, if this were to go round australia, and at every centre do advertising, even media advertising, this would make the public want to come and watch.
also a discount card, sort of like the amf card discussion is saying,
many bowlers i know are considering quiting because of a lack of tournaments, the expense and just not enough people to play against.
i have noted at my local bowling centre, the staff walking round trying to "recruit" young bowlers to come play leagues, say around 100 joined, how many would stay on and make that a sport???
we need to get the emphasis of bowling back to a sport, not a social game.
give incentives for new bowlers to join.
i joined a team with mates from school the 5 of us played for 1 season and i was the only one to continue bowling, crunch the numbers, if thats the case with every new team the future is very dim for us bowlers.
already paying $4.00, a large increase over the past few years, many bowlers might be forced to quit from the accounting side of it
from whatever point you look at it, it dosent look good.
so TBA please please do something, instead of sitting there watching the clouds go by, get up and do something ANYTHING
Click to expand...

I feel that TBA are not sitting on their hands. Scroll down the Main Forum posts to Commonwealth games submission prepared by TBA.

Also, did you read the site referenced by Tim Pin above in this forum? It answers your statement about Olympic Games acceptance.

And finally, Tenpin bowling is not a Professional sport in this country - it is essentially a social game.

Cheers

Feral
 
Adrian S, Mt Gambier was put together by the Crew from the old Campbelltown Centre, Sergi the Japanese mechanic, who is still with Astro Lanes and is mainly at Bateau Bay, Dennis Godden who was probably the last Head mechanic at Rockdale before it closed.

I worked at Campbelltown at the time.

willey.
 
Just had to reply finally - only a comment -

Twin Tour at Greenslopes on 4th/5th Feb. has 187 bowlers booked in with still a week to go......our motto, you ask? 'THE TWIN TOUR IS FOR BOWLERS WHO LOVE TO BOWL.'

Flower
 
Many years ago I used to do roller skating as my chosen sport, most people view roller skating as a leisure activity rather than a sport, sound familiar. All the competitive skaters of the time, the centre reps the state team skaters of the time even the national reps were always encouraged to come and practise during general session times. Get out on the floor with the general public and do jumps and spins etc. We were also expected by the coaches at the rinks to come along and help the learner skaters, we didnt get paid to do this we did it for the love of our sport. Seeing those little kids and even some of the older ones being helped around the rink by a gentleman named Paul Irving, who was the best skater in the country at the time, was priceless. The more the better skaters helped and showed what could be done the more these kids and adults wanted to learn. My point being guys there are some fantastic bowlers around in many of the centres, how many of you offer your help with coaching or even just helping with the junior leagues even with some of the newer adult leagues. We have one coach in our centre a lady who spends seven days a week helping our juniors, she doesnt get paid to do this she just does it out of a love of our sport. Bowling is not dead it just needs a few more of you better bowlers to volenteer some of your own time to get people into it. You can argue all day about the price and it will not change, owner/operaters pay millions of dollars for these businesses, they do this to make money not friends. The age old argument of is it a sport or a social activity has been around for years and again will probably never be resolved... so why not follow in the steps of some of the true heroes of our sport, the likes of Mary Flower and do something to change our sport for the better. Get involved, help with the juniors, talk to people, some of you kids talk to your school sports masters ask them the question, why can't ten pin bowling be part of our school sports curriculum. We have thousands upon thousands of bowlers in this country if everyone of them bought one more person or offered to help in their own centre what a strong sport we would have. There is no quick fix solution only peoples dedication and willingness to give a little of their own time to help bring new blood into our sport. What kid wouldnt want to have a 5 min session with Carl Bottomly or George Frilingos. Or hear some encouragement from someone who has represtented their state or country. I am sure your centres would love to see you in there talking to these kids and showing them how it is done. Why be so negative, why talk about the technical /financial side of the business why think that you as a person can't make a small difference, decide to get in and do something and do it, leave the doom and gloom mongers to ring the death knell and prove to them that they are wrong.. this sport is only dead if we the bowlers and the centre staff allow it to be....
 
A couple of points i've been thinking about for a while:

1. Respect for the sport: My girlfriend was talking to some of her workmates last week, and they were bagging out bowling. "Hang on! My boyfriend does tenpin bowling as his sport!" This was met with huge laughs from everyone. "Bowling? That's not a sport!" To them, bowling was simply a random event where you get very drunk. I've talked to my friends, and most of them could not think of anything more boring than watching bowling on tv. As mentioned earlier, it needs big personalities, big strikes and most of all a two handed wonder whose shot no one couldn't be impressed with!

2. High scores - I'm not a huge fan of high scoring conditions, particularly in leagues where people create inflated averages for themselves. But i don't think such conditions are leading to the death of tenpin bowling. These bowlers will always suffer when travelling to a different centre with lower scoring conditions. It's the bowlers that take the time to challenge themselves, for instance in Mentone's Sport League, that will beat these bowlers every time in competition. Even when people take issue over high scoring tournaments, the cream will still always rise to the top; the best bowlers who took the time to work on their game, instead of shooting high at the local ditch will be at the top of the leader board.

I'm not even going to touch the issue of equipment technology. Technology is inevitable in every part of life. Have all the technology you want; it won't make you better than the bowler with the same technology who can actually adapt to the lanes they're shooting on.
One day, technology is an issue that may need to be dealt with, in the form of some sort of restrictions. I can see it happening, but not right now.

Right now we need to focus on gaining publicity, coverage and ultimately respect for the sport in Australia. If Channel 7 is continuing with that riduculous Headland show, why not a drama or reality bowling show? Maybe a mini-series over a few nights based on a Rachuig event or a tournament. Plenty of drama at least! Or a reality show where bowling coaches get a group of average people, and they train them into bowlers. Best bowler/ coach gets a prize! I'll start developing the script right now.
 
What i think bowling needs is a bowling label....ball company or something IN AUSTRALIA ...someone to porperly sponser tournaments and funding...just like the states do.

And less negativity from bowlers and more turnouts for tournaments...having said that im so impressed with the ammount of names down for twin tours this weekend....a perfect example that bowling is certainly not dead.

and finnally....bowling too easy? too many high scores?

I keep hearing people say their are 300's shot everyday etc

Well then i guess if its so easy...not one person on here should be without one...

George Frilingos is the finest bowler in the country... and hes got 24 or something...not certain...he probably bowls 40-50 games a week...

and 24 in his career...doesnt seem like many does it!

Its the same playing fieldfor everyone....lets get over the high score bashing...i dont have a problem with it
 
Ducati 851 said:
George Frilingos is the SECOND finest bowler in the country
Click to expand...

Fixed. Hell, he isn't even the best lefty this country has ever produced, and WILL NEVER overtake the Best.

Now for my say on the topic.

Read the Maquarie report. Bowling won't be dead for a long time. Company still profiting? Bowling will stay around.

As long as it has bowlers like you and I bowling week in, week out, there will always be a market for it. It will just be in between moonlight bowling and league hacks. Start recruiting bowlers yourself, bring a friend, and get them involved! This will become a snowballing effect...
 
tonx said:
Fixed. Hell, he isn't even the best lefty this country has ever produced, and WILL NEVER overtake the Best.
Click to expand...

Maybe not EVER, but now that Fred Allsopp is in semi-retirement, he's the best lefty in Australia RIGHT NOW.

I'd like to know who you think is better than him.
 
I've played 10-pin bowling in league for about 20 years now, and am the secretary of the New Image League in Geelong. I know that a few years ago, we had 16 teams of 3 in our league, now we have 9 teams, which is a bit of an alarming drop i guess. I'm not quite sure i can correlate the serving of alcohol with numbers of bowlers though, as our centre only permits being served alcohol at the restaurant while seated, one cannot take alcohol into the lane area. Practically no-one in our league drinks anyway!

Also, the cost of bowling is not a genuine issue in my opinion. That may be controversial to some, but our league was always about $15.00 up to a decade ago, in that time it's currently $19 for 3 games, which includes $4.70 prize fund/dinner money. Surely a lobster a week is hardly a killer, and given the nominal increase over the years, i would be very surprised if cost is the reason.

Social bowling is actually much more expensive than league, 3 games is the best part of $20, and a single game for an adualt is near enough to $10, so bowling in leagaue is actually a great way to enjoy the game at a cheaper cost. The person who said at $4.50 a game, that was cheaper than years ago, I'm not sure about that, as when i started, in 1986 a student or concession rate was just $1.70, and an adult game $2.10. But league games have not increased a lot in price inthe last 10 years. Social bowling games have by contrast increased in price considerably.

But when compared to footy, golf, or cricket, bowling just seems to not be considered by some to be a sport. Also, all those sports especially on a social level, or up to sub-district grade, have a heavy emphasis on alcohol, especially after the game. Think of the importance of 'Barrels days" or the scene at the bar after a game! Definately a drinking culture in those sports! Golf, well there's a sport where the wealthy will spend thousands on memberships, and equipment, and it also seems to be popular, maybe because of the amount of media coverage it generates.

Maybe league bowling's falling popularity has to do with the reduced time people may have to do things, the evenings may be hard for people to set aside time to spend 2-3 hours doing something, the entertainment at home, the computer, work commitments etc might just make it all too hard. I love my bowling, and i play in a side with two of my brothers, and i hope that the numbers can start building up again. Some of the reasons that others have pulled out over the years are mainly due to family, ie new babies, work, also redundancy to at least 2 teams, ie no work. It seems that despite the apparent increase in wealth of people over the last few years, that has come at the expense of time. Maybe that's what is affecting bowling numbers. What to do about it, I'm not really sure I'm afraid.
 
aphelion said:
Maybe not EVER, but now that Fred Allsopp is in semi-retirement, he's the best lefty in Australia RIGHT NOW.
I'd like to know who you think is better than him.
Click to expand...


OK he is the 3rd best lefty this company has ever produced. Sorry Fred! you were before my time!

One Must take a certain BLONDE into consideration. One that has done more for the sport, and is a ROLE model for younger players. Ringing any bells?

Do you need 3 guesses?

Prize for the winner :p
 
The day there's nomore Cable TV Foxtel/Optus, no Pokies, No Poker Games, NO DAYS OF OUR Lives at the bowl ( all the bitching and fighting) hehe .. lol that day will never happen. Like my mate Tonx said let's start to recruit and get them involved in our sports. In our league,we challenge our members to get one bowler a year and we are growing. Let the members know the success of the league belong to them not u, not the center not the committee members but them!! It is their league. It's time we humble ourselves and put aside our differences and help to revive our beloved sport. It is not too late !!
Cheaper game rate will be a great start. How about inviting our local schools to the bowls. Give them say $2 - $3 game rate. Let the kids have fun and get them hooked to bowling !! They are our future bowlers. Get more sponsors to sponsor our tournaments. If you are sincere in helping us, let it not be profit all the time. Remember, without us league bowlers..u guys won't have a job and you won't be making any profit!! If the Poker game can get so many sponsors and pay millions why not our sports. It won't be easy but we have to start somewhere.
That's my two cents
Later :D
 
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