hillhawks02, welcome to the site. Wow, you are really learning a lot. I'll just make a couple of comments. As an officer on my league, I like to see new faces and especially one with enthusiasm. Don't be afraid to ask league specific rules of your league officers, as most leagues have by-laws that may be specific to that league. This is generally referring to substitution rules, payout plans, and the like.

One thing each league is looking for is that the new bowler ha made a commitment to bowl. And, that is for the entire league duration, not sporadically. It really is not fun if a team has a missing bowler often. It hurts the team.

If a bowler has trouble making every night, lets say, due to work commitments, check with the league officers to see if they allow team substitutes. It is not uncommon for a league to allow an extra bowler on a team, and the team rotates which bowler bowls each night. That is a league specific rule.

Again, as an officer, we don't like to see bowlers miss nights because they are still responsible to pay for the night. Frequently absent bowlers are the hardest ones to collect back fees from. Most leagues around here allow 1 night behind in payment. If that night is not paid, the bowler cannot bowl the next night he shows up. Again, league rules.

Payout schedules and league by-laws are published by the league, and available for all to see. Usually, one copy is issued to each team captain for that team. So, there is every opportunity to learn the rules.

Payouts are predetermined for each league, and are as different as there are leagues. All you can be certain of is that out of your payment each week, the first paid is the House for use of the lanes. Secondly, the league has expenses and takes an allowance out of each weekly payment. The remaining should be what is left over to award the bowlers usually based on performance. Better performers get more returned to them, individually or by team, again according to league rules.

If you study the leagues available to you at Houses near you, you will find differences in league rules, payout schedules and such. Over time, you can decide which combination best suits you.

Some people look for the highest payout leagues, or more competitive leagues, or social leagues. It is totally up to what you want.

Good bowling

hillhawks02, welcome to the site. Wow, you are really learning a lot. I'll just make a couple of comments. As an officer on my league, I like to see new faces and especially one with enthusiasm. Don't be afraid to ask league specific rules of your league officers, as most leagues have by-laws that may be specific to that league. This is generally referring to substitution rules, payout plans, and the like.

One thing each league is looking for is that the new bowler has made a commitment to bowl. And, that is for the entire league duration, not sporadically. It really is not fun if a team has a missing bowler often. It hurts the team.

If a bowler has trouble making every night, lets say, due to work commitments, check with the league officers to see if they allow team substitutes. It is not uncommon for a league to allow an extra bowler on a team, and the team rotates which bowler bowls each night. That is a league specific rule.

Again, as an officer, we don't like to see bowlers miss nights because they are still responsible to pay for the night. Frequently absent bowlers are the hardest ones to collect back fees from. Most leagues around here allow 1 night behind in payment. If that night is not paid, the bowler cannot bowl the next night he shows up. Again, league rules.

Payout schedules and league by-laws are published by the league, and available for all to see. Usually, one copy is issued to each team captain for that team. So, there is every opportunity to learn the rules.

Payouts are predetermined for each league, and are as different as there are leagues. All you can be certain of is that out of your payment each week, the first paid is the House for use of the lanes. Secondly, the league has expenses and takes an allowance out of each weekly payment. The remaining should be what is left over to award the bowlers usually based on performance. Better performers get more returned to them, individually or by team, again according to league rules.

If you study the leagues available to you at Houses near you, you will find differences in league rules, payout schedules and such. Over time, you can decide which combination best suits you.

Some people look for the highest payout leagues, or more competitive leagues, or social leagues. It is totally up to what you want.

Good bowling

Sorry, double post

Awesome stuff guys...I really had no idea there as so much that went into leagues! I take it that you pay per week instead of a one time fee? Also, haha what is a league officer do? I thought the alleys run the league.

You have to pay every week, unless you have the money to pay well in advance for several weeks. I like to get my leagues paid off as quick as possible so when I have extra money I will put in what I can afford. I bowl with one guy that will bring a check in and pay off at least half a season if not the whole season.

As for league officers, they are responsible for the league and are the intermediaries between the league and the center. Not all leagues are ran by the center, very few are in fact. Many of the summer leagues might be center run leagues but the majority of leagues are ran by the league officers that are also bowlers in the leagues. These leagues at least have a President and Vice President and a Secretary/Treasurer. Several of the duties of the President is to enforce the rules, preside over the league meetings and many others. The Vice President duties are to fill in for the President if he/she is not there. The Secretary/Treasurer collects the payment envelops every week, keeps Track of who owes how much and takes care of the standing sheets along with other duties. Many of the centers do offer the services of a Sect/Treas but the league still needs to elect one. Also to bowl in the majority of leagues you have to pay a once a year sanction to the United States Bowling Congress, USBC for short. If you live around Baltimore its $20 for a male.

If you join a sanctioned USBC league then there is a fee that is extra, and rules to basically govern the leagues as well as some insurance against your league's prize fund.

Beware.....if you quit, you are liable to give written two week notice. If you do not do this, then the league can and might bring you up on offenses and USBC will suspend you. So there are basic rules of the road.

Erin