Opinion on prize funds please

[Jase]

Can I get your opinions please!!!!

It has been bought to my attention in Private Messages over the last month or two that certain prize funds are a little one sided…

For Example

NSW Open is coming up and these were the figures sent to me…

The men are paying $16900 to play for $16320 and the women are paying $5000 to play for $5705.

The women get the games free and another $705 kicked into the prize fund and the men lose money off their entry.

This just does not seem fair somehow!

Men based on the 65
Total entry fee money $16900
Prize fund $16320
Games based at $5 $ 4335
Sponsorship $ 3755

Women based on the 25

Total entry fee money $ 5000
Prize fund $ 5705
Games based at $5 $ 1530
Sponsorship $ 2235

While the sponsorship is higher for the men when you break the sponsorship down to per participant the men get $57.76 sponsorship per bowler and the women get $89.40 per bowler as sponsorship.

I'm afraid I don't see the equity when the higher entries get the lower sponsorship!

I remember not that long ago that a certain High Profile bowler wasn’t happy about the fact a certain centre canned the ladies division all together and thought it was disgusting…I’m sure they wouldn’t be to disgruntled with this scenario though…

How do we fix it…Are the Tournament organizers doing enough to warrant holding these events…

How do we break down the sponsorship if there are two separate divisions…?

 

[GeorgeF]

I think we should give women 8 pins a game and create bigger single prizefunds instead of separate divisions. Europe, Asia and the mid East have figured it out, whats wrong with us?

If you want to learn more about International formats and prizefunds be sure to grab the latest issue of 'Whats the Score' where I've written a small article on this issue.

As for NSW, not much we can do at the moment I'm afraid

 

[tidal wave]

jase ,
just a quick question ...wot happens when the field numbers are increase on the male side of the event ??? by my rough numbers it think total number of nominated enteries are something like 112 or better with only about 25 females for the nsw open in the total field

 

[Rowey the li'l lefty]

Even though this isn't a massive tournament in Australian tenpin bowling because of its regional and local status, the Illawarra Junior Tenpin Bowling Committee has discussed the equity issue in regards to the upcoming Illawarra Junior Championships and its prize funds.

I put forward the idea that we should have as much equity for both the boys and girls prize funds as possible, and fortunately this has been the case for this tournament.

We have been able to get $220 guaranteed for 1st place in the boys and girls Open Masters. We have also put up equal prize amounts for 2nd, 3rd and 4th place. This is the same in our Classic and Restricted Masters divisions, and I believe that by having more equity in as many things as possible, the more incentive bowlers may have to compete in the various tournaments we have around Australia at no matter what level.

The committee asked me to be a junior delegate and therefore voice and rant to them about what I think might be good for the tournament as a whole and what new and old ideas we should bring into championships. For example, again, the prize fund being of equal and similar amounts is a new idea, as well as increasing the amount on offer from first place from $100 last year to $220this year.

We have also brought into account a Classic Masters who are possibly not ready for Open Masters but might not want to compete in Restricted.

Also, another new edition to the tournament includes a Scotch Doubles tournament where mixed doubles teams play 5 games and the winner is decided through total pinfall.

The main objective we hope to achieve through trying new things such as a little more equitable prize fund is to gain more numbers to the tournament as well as give the bowlers more reason and more determination to come and compete. It gives us a chance to see which things work best, and which things don't work out so well.

Overall, I think that this year's tournament will be great, and I hope that we can make a difference in regards to the prize funds and to sustain a future for junior tenpin bowling and even more so for other various levels of bowling in the sport.

Thanks for giving us the chance to talk about this!

Ciao Now

Rowey

 

[edfleminglanes]

For the a Female tournament to be successful in Australia you need the support of the bowlers, which as everyone knows does not happen,at the moment we have about 20 - 24 bowlers who will travel the country, the rest will not compete against the best in Australia.
Some say it is because they can not compete against the best or are not good enough,so WHY waste effort and Dollars.

Other will not compete because they are not prepared to give up a whole weekend for tournament play.(families come first).
It is very hard for most of our female bowlers to committ to weekend away if they have children or Husband to look after.(and we all know how demanding both can be)

So maybe each state needs to have several 1 day events with only 2 Majors.
This way we could actually educate our female bowlers to accept tournament play on a regular basis.Like most things all States and associations need to accept responsibility to encourage our female bowlers to bowl regular events from Juniors into Youth and finally Adult Tournaments.

I firmly believe that the national body "TBA" needs to put more pressure on State bodies to run special Female events, we need to start small and build up to a national tournament tour.

With regards to prizemoney for Female events, most tournament directors have a problem, as basing an event on 24 bowlers with very little sponsorship is not going inspire anyone to bring bowlers from interstate to compete.:surrender:

But to get the ball rolling George's idea is a good one, give them 8 pins start.Yes some males wont like giving someone like Putney or Simpson 8 pins start. But if we dont do something soon, we will not even have 24 females bowling in events.

What about this for a solution.:Run the Australian Open for both Male and Females prior to Rachuiq weekend.
Set entry fee at $190.00 you have approx 60 -70 bowlers in each division, that would generate about $13,000.00 income plus sponsorship (each division) would create one of the biggest events on the Australian calendar. Maybe winner could be automatic selection for the next Australian Team. With both the centre and TBA working together we would have the biggest Tournament and the best bowlers bowling for the ultimate prize "A Spot in the Australian Team".
And the wonderful thing about this event is that every year it will be scheduled for a different Centre and / or State. What a fantastic vehicle to promote the Sport of Tenpin Bowling.

 

[amagill]

And the wonderful thing about this event is that every year it will be scheduled for a different Centre and / or State. What a fantastic vehicle to promote the Sport of Tenpin Bowling.

Could not agree with you more Joe!!