Why is everyone so depressingly agreeable?

I've made a second round mandatory for all events, and then either 2 or 3-way matchplay or eliminator finals. I'm not reinventing the wheel just giving bowlers what they want and need. The proof will be when we see the numbers after a few events but it has been nice to create some buzz in a quiet bowling state!
 
Here's why we should change Bowling.
Bowling attracts sports players through the recreational play in Centres, no other sport in Aus has 100 plus promoting places working day and night, 7 days a week to attract participants to their sport.
Majority of the people in Aus have tried bowling at some point, and overwhelmingly liked it. No other sport can make this claim.
Bowling sport can be played day or night, 7 days each and every week. Again, most sports can not make this claim.
Bowing sport has a huge age range where people can be competitive. Again, most sports can not make this claim.
Bowling sport has fewer physical attributes required to play successfully. Again, few sports can make this claim.
Bowling should be benefiting from our nation becoming overweight as people find the more physically demanding sports less attractive.
Bowing sport has zero equipment purchase requirement at entry level. Again, few sports can make this claim.

Conclusion,
Due to factors above
Bowling should be one of this country's most popular and largest participant sports.
Clearly this is not the case and the multi decade decline can be attributed to the way we conduct the Sport.




Okay so here is what i think
I have been around since 1970 as a bowler at Hurstville bowl, now gone
and Rockdale Bowl, now gone and Bankstown Bowl now gone !!!!!

Why because of greed of major companies on selling land and opportunity of
an independent on the other

Why do i mention this, because back then your Bowling Centre was like your second home
you could walk in any time and staff would greet you , friends would greet you, you could bowl
play pinballs , pool, sit around in groups and chat..... Not anymore

The ATBC were GOD when it came to the sport , they ran it and arranged it an you followed it
or you did not play , simple....
We had Juniors and Seniors Not Juniors , youth , Adults and Seniors.... This has dispersed numbers

The ATBC ended in a very poor way and left the members feeling very angry and cheated
which all left a poor taste in the mouths of many

Now we have the TBA and we have very few members and very limited funding. We have
too many paid staff at the TBAL level to meet compliance issues and very few volunteers
to do the work that was done back in the day
We had Centre delegates in every Centre who did work to help the association including
taking membership and resolving local issues, None of this happens today

The whole State Administration , in some States, is an absolute Joke... enough said

In terms of the Sport, well the game is very different now
We have high tech balls and lanes and Oiling Patterns
All of these have degraded the Sport from the one thing that made it special
and that was it was equalling for all levels and you needed to practice to get
better not buy another ball.

The House Shot is what has destroyed credibility because back in the day nobody averaged
in league, what the good bowlers could average in tournaments etc.. So what is the point
in going to watch them and learn and have any mentors or heroes..

We used to have wall to wall juniors bowling on weekends and some leagues during the week and
they were nurtured and developed into life long bowlers... Not now granted some very few number
of Centres do promote juniors but not as a whole.

the major player in the Sport decided open play , Birthday parties and music were more important than
league bowlers every week and told everyone who would listen.

The whole Coaching system has been turned on its head and there is bugger all direction
and consistency and good people have been shafted and lost to the game forever.

I am sure some of you won't agree and I am sure there is much more to say but
these are my immediate thoughts.
 
I dont know the event schedule, so will depend what events I could attend, but I will provide a couple of lucky-draw prizes if the stepladder is an XGames match. Would like to also film the match for Youtube if thats not a problem
 
Okay so here is what i think
I have been around since 1970 as a bowler at Hurstville bowl, now gone
and Rockdale Bowl, now gone and Bankstown Bowl now gone !!!!!

Why because of greed of major companies on selling land and opportunity of
an independent on the other

Why do i mention this, because back then your Bowling Centre was like your second home
you could walk in any time and staff would greet you , friends would greet you, you could bowl
play pinballs , pool, sit around in groups and chat..... Not anymore

The ATBC were GOD when it came to the sport , they ran it and arranged it an you followed it
or you did not play , simple....
We had Juniors and Seniors Not Juniors , youth , Adults and Seniors.... This has dispersed numbers

The ATBC ended in a very poor way and left the members feeling very angry and cheated
which all left a poor taste in the mouths of many

Now we have the TBA and we have very few members and very limited funding. We have
too many paid staff at the TBAL level to meet compliance issues and very few volunteers
to do the work that was done back in the day
We had Centre delegates in every Centre who did work to help the association including
taking membership and resolving local issues, None of this happens today

The whole State Administration , in some States, is an absolute Joke... enough said

In terms of the Sport, well the game is very different now
We have high tech balls and lanes and Oiling Patterns
All of these have degraded the Sport from the one thing that made it special
and that was it was equalling for all levels and you needed to practice to get
better not buy another ball.

The House Shot is what has destroyed credibility because back in the day nobody averaged
in league, what the good bowlers could average in tournaments etc.. So what is the point
in going to watch them and learn and have any mentors or heroes..

We used to have wall to wall juniors bowling on weekends and some leagues during the week and
they were nurtured and developed into life long bowlers... Not now granted some very few number
of Centres do promote juniors but not as a whole.

the major player in the Sport decided open play , Birthday parties and music were more important than
league bowlers every week and told everyone who would listen.

The whole Coaching system has been turned on its head and there is bugger all direction
and consistency and good people have been shafted and lost to the game forever.

I am sure some of you won't agree and I am sure there is much more to say but
these are my immediate thoughts.


Hi Geoff,

This is all very valid. One of the thing I have noticed the most since coming back to bowling is the lack of out side sponsorship. Bathurst Tenpin managed to get a great local sponsor, but could barely raise a field. Which is a shame to see bowlers not support the event, me included.

It would appear that we always look to our suppliers and the bowling industry to prop up the sport.

The other thing that gets me, well grates on me more like it, is negative talk about our sport from fellow bowlers. Not all of them, but a lot of them.

If some one asks what sport I play, I celebrate the conversation. I am excited to talk about it.

When I talk to my fellow bowlers I am genuinely interested in their game. When a new bowler asks what their first ball should be I enjoy the decision making with them and offer guidance.

We need to celebrate the sport not bring it down in anyway, in any conversation. The top bowlers need to talk to the league bowlers and celebrate their little win as the league bowlers celebrate their big victories.

We are in it together, not against each other.
 
Here's why we should change Bowling.
Bowling attracts sports players through the recreational play in Centres, no other sport in Aus has 100 plus promoting places working day and night, 7 days a week to attract participants to their sport.
Majority of the people in Aus have tried bowling at some point, and overwhelmingly liked it. No other sport can make this claim.
Bowling sport can be played day or night, 7 days each and every week. Again, most sports can not make this claim.
Bowing sport has a huge age range where people can be competitive. Again, most sports can not make this claim.
Bowling sport has fewer physical attributes required to play successfully. Again, few sports can make this claim.
Bowling should be benefiting from our nation becoming overweight as people find the more physically demanding sports less attractive.
Bowing sport has zero equipment purchase requirement at entry level. Again, few sports can make this claim.

Conclusion,
Due to factors above
Bowling should be one of this country's most popular and largest participant sports.
Clearly this is not the case and the multi decade decline can be attributed to the way we conduct the Sport.
There all valid points but there is one thing that stands out and that's the multinational owned centres pigeon hole marketing to promote our game as entertainment . Everyone needs to be on the same page to promote bowling as a sport.
Independent proprietors have shown you can have the right balance , Examples , MacArthur kingpin bowling is 5km away from interbowl campbelltown, which has the most leagues & tournaments interbowl ( independent). Illawarra strikezone is 10km from Shellharbour bowl, which has the most leagues & tournaments , shellharbour ( independently owned), AMF strathfield is approximately 3km away from Tenpin City lidcombe, who has the most leagues & tournaments , tenpin city ( independently owned). All centres in direct competition but one promotes entertainment the other bowling. Independents become bowling centres because they care about the sport & development yet also cater to a broader market like the multinationals to supplement their business.

Theres a big difference in promoting your sport and promoting your business something the multinationals fail to grasp. Bowling gets lost in the details when skirmish, games tokens, cafe deals etc are pushed more than the bowling itself.
 
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Cant argue with what you are saying, but we as a Sport have blamed AMF for a very long time and whilst AMF may be a major factor, they are not likely to change their direction any time soon as focus seems to now be on Fitness Centres and even less on Bowling. Meanwhile the sport continues to contract and the Independents are not brimming over with sport bowlers either, despite their marketing towards leagues.
TBA seem paralyzed, purely hoping that other will act generously to save the sport. AMF are a lost cause and the Independents are losing the battle.
Most people find a sport and it becomes a lifelong passion. Bowling is popular and over the years thousands have started to bowl as sport, but we dont retain them in the sport as much as other sports manage to.
This is our problem, we do something wrong in keeping people interested in playing the sport. The way we do things interests the people who continue but the majority leave the sport. I can document a 40yr decline to prove the facts, more people leave than stay.

We the bowlers, must change bowling to make it more challenging and more interesting for the hoards of people who come to try it and eventually leave. All of us here who continue to stay in the Sport, need to accept changes for the sake of our sport. Waiting for someone else to save it, wont work.
 
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The problem is ... The hoards that come to try it will never really get a taste of the bowling we all know and love and return to each week ... Instead they get as everyone has already acknowledged entertainment over challenge. I say this as I sit a mere 2km from Splitsville Luxury Lanes ... A 30 lane mega centre, complete with live band playing out in the bar, amazing table service food that includes sushi and that "sport" you are all talking about ... Available for hire at $80 per lane/hr (USD) ... Busy you ask? Packed. Yes the landscape is or should I say has changed.
Get back here and bowl a tournament or three, sounds like you're having too much fun, Florida is it ?
 
The problem is ... The hoards that come to try it will never really get a taste of the bowling we all know and love and return to each week ... Instead they get as everyone has already acknowledged entertainment over challenge. I say this as I sit a mere 2km from Splitsville Luxury Lanes ... A 30 lane mega centre, complete with live band playing out in the bar, amazing table service food that includes sushi and that "sport" you are all talking about ... Available for hire at $80 per lane/hr (USD) ... Busy you ask? Packed. Yes the landscape is or should I say has changed.
I understand you saying "landscape has changed" but fact is, people still like to bowl and to me, that confirms what I've been saying. We need to change and keep changing, because what bowling sport offers is not the format that will attract and keep people in our sport, we have to change everything until we find the formula that does attract and keep people in our sport
 
[/QUOTE]
Dear Proprietor,
A sincere thanks to all bowling centre proprietors who took the time to respond to the original email on 17th October regarding the proposed change to membership for 2015. It was difficult to convey the reasons behind the change and the options for your consideration without turning the letter into a thesis so we appreciate it was quite a direct and hard hitting letter that left many of you seeking further information.
We are pleased to report that after many emails and conversations with proprietors the feedback and acceptance for the proposed alternatives was overwhelmingly positive with only 3 centres to date opting out of being registered for 2015.
Following the ABPA AGM on Thursday 6th November and subsequent TBA Board Meeting on 8th November we are pleased to advise that the proposed membership model with some modifications will be adopted in 2015.
The purpose of this letter is to outline the options for 2015, provide significantly more detail on the implementation of the program and seek your selection of your preferred membership alternative prior to 28th November 2014.
All centres will have 4 options for 2015. These options are:
1. Lane levy charged at $550 per lane (GST inclusive)
2. 25c per league game (GST inclusive)
3. Traditional membership collection i.e. collect an agreed membership fee upfront
4. Do not register for 2015
A reminder that there will be no fee issued any longer for lane measuring regardless of the membership option selected.
A brief explanation of each option follows:
Lane Levy
This option is most attractive to centres that have a high number of league bowlers relative to the number of lanes. Centres who opt for this method will receive two invoices for half the total fee, issued on 1st February 2015 and 1st May 2015. Centres will have 30 days to remit the funds
 
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