Out of curiousity, I e-mailed the USBC sportbowling@bowl.com and asked: What does the extra fees that I pay for a sport shot get me? I did it because bowl.com had a poll about bowling sport shots. Here is the answer I received.



Hmmm, I can get a crystal bowling pin

I assume you emailed them because you don't think it is right?

For the PBAX leagues I run, I hate that moment in the league meeting when this comes up. Many bowlers are just out to try it and but they have to pay an extra 15 bucks for the membership.

My response to USBC's response...

"The extra Sport Bowling dues allow you to compete in Sport Bowling leagues and compete on the same lane conditions the pros compete on."

- The house can put these shots down at anytime. Of course they should be saying they have to receive the tapes and make sure the leagues lane conditions are compliant.

"You also have the opportunity to receive coupons and discounts from other companies in the Bowling Industry."

- I don't know if anybody has ever uses these, I haven't. A bowler joined in the second half of league, and 80% of the coupons had expired.

"Sport Bowling also has a separate awards program that feature much nicer awards such as our signature crystal bowling pin."

- There are only 4 sport awards (2 adult and 2 youth) that are related to sport bowling other than the high score awards. Most of your PBAX bowlers will never come close to the high score awards. They used to have a better awards program I thought 3 years ago.

That is a terrible answer, they should be ashamed.

No, I don't think that it is right. Do they come to your lanes when an honor score is shot? Do they provide you with special information about the shots that you can't download? The coupons, what are they for? USBC merchandise? Come on.



I think so too. That is why I posted it. I want to fire something back at them.

So basically, we pay more for...nothing. This is why bowling has such a hard time advancing, when the USBC is run by a bunch of half-a**ers.

a Crystal Pin that there special award. Got me thinking what you need to do on sport shot to get one? My Center give us a Customized Pin if we bowl a 300 so i thought you have to get that, NOPE!

You need a 800 or 900 series to get a crystal pin
http://www.bowl.com/Downloads/pdf/awards/08-09SportHighScore.pdf

Speical Achievenment Awards for Sport too - Get Bagtag and towel for 75 pin over average and Clean 30
http://www.bowl.com/Downloads/pdf/awards/08-09SportSpecialAchievement.pdf

After two years, our PBA league folded. It never had more then 20 people in it anyway. I called USBC about the awards because we didn't know how to fufill them at the assoc. office. At first I was told to covert their sport average to regular and see if they still earned the award. If so, then give them a regular USBC special achievement award. The only different awards were the ones Brandon has mentioned, even though the awards ap listed many more. When I asked USBC about that they said they were all discontinued and that only the SPORT leagues should have been getting them not the PBA Ex leagues. Then the next year I was told to not convert the average and just give them a regular USBC special achievement award if suitable. Mind you most of the bowlers in the PBA Ex league were also in other leagues. So getting the regular USBC award was kind of silly. They can do that in any league.

Also you should know that the center and local assoc. do not get one dime of that extra sanctioning money. For all the effort it takes the center to set up the lane machine, take the tapes,read the tapes (a different machine) and then physically send in the tapes to USBC they do not get any part of that sanctioning fee. I have no idea what extra work USBC has to do at their end for a PBA or Sport league but I doubt it costs $15 a person.

Erin

We're getting fleeced and hosed as bowlers. How else can you explain a major increase in sanctioning fees and lesser awards? There are about as many people at headquarters who don't know sh*t from shinola as there are working in Washington D.C. and they're all about as useful, too.

It takes a lot of effort to put down "sport compliant" shots. It also takes very little effort to put down "USBC compliant" shots, but you don't see much of either. <sarcasm>I can't understand why bowling is in such a sordid state of affairs.</sarcasm> Erin, I don't envy you or any other association officer. God knows I've been there even when things weren't this awful and it still was a hassle. I can't imagine how things are now.

It is hard to explain when issues come up. But the worst is that USBC doesn't uphold their own rules that they say we have to adhere to. For example. Honor Scores must be notified to the local assoc. in 48 hours and the paperwork in by 20 days. We in turn at the assoc. level have to process them within 7 working days. Well they dont' give a rats...... about that. Doesn't matter how long the score was, USBC will uphold it. When we've questioned them on this, the reply is "the bowler shouldn't be penalized for the bad effort of the secretary". Well, my response is that it is the bowlers' responsibility since they put the secretary in office. But it falls on deaf ears. But if you start upholding the rules, eventually it should trickle down to the bowlers and their responsibilities to elect officers. That's just one example.

Lane certification. USBC no longer cares if a center has any compliant lane dressing. Plus they used to issue "points" to non compliant centers that supposedly could eventually result in non-USBC certification. Well that never happened/s. They always give them another warning and more days to come into compliance. Its a never ending cycle. Now they just don't care anymore. A once a year certification is all that is required.

USBC is pushing PBA and SPort bowling but they are charging the bowler $15 more to do so with only two additional awards (except honor awards).

Awards in general were once touted as the strength of ABC/WIBC. The organizations were the most rewarded sports for everyone to participate in. Last year we heard rumbles of "once in a lifetime" awards. Which for seniors is really depressing because they are not improving year to year, but rather fighting to stay at their skill level each year. The registering body went from "look at us, join us, we give out awards" to "we want more increasing skill therefore we're only going to reward accomplishments once a lifetime, no matter how small". its a flip flop that had many of our members pretty hot under the collar. Apparently hot enough that USBC tabled that idea.

Its tough to explain all this to Joe and Jane Bowler. We are finding more and more unsanctioned leagues in the association then ever before. Most are Senior leagues or 9 pin no tap leagues (which can be sanctioned by the way). There was a movement a few years ago for California to seperate from USBC (then ABC and WIBC). Make its own registration. However the founder of this idea passed on before anything could get wings. We at the local association level have to try to keep some reason in the leagues and their sanctioning. Some ability to guide them in fair rules of play and what should and shouldn't happen. Some place where issues of transgretions can be solved. But its not easy.

Its really not easy, which is why I urge everyone to look into joining the local association board so that you can help the process and hopefully keep bowling going and growing. Its not easy. But I can guarantee that no matter your skill level, you can be a huge help if your heart is in it. That's what your local association needs. They don't need your average, they need your heart and dedication to the game. If we don't keep trying it will not get better. We, the bowlers, turned around the "once in a lifetime awards". We can make a difference.

Erin

Over the Summer, I questioned why the Summer PBA League cost an additional $2 weekly, and an additional fee for Sport sanctioning. I got about the same response.

PBA Leagues, as I have reported previously, have failed miserably in our area. We had a PBA league in each house when it started. That's 13 leagues in 13 houses. We are down to 2. And, those 2 have done it the right way. Rather than just throwing the bowlers on the oil, they actually had Pro level instructors working with the bowlers. Bowlers learned something, and it was worth it.

I also questioned why another house outside of our association, charged $16 to bowl 4 league games, besides the sanction fee. When, they put down a practice shot every Monday night of the same pattern, and only charged $1 per game. So, does it really cost $12 to input to a score sheet?

The PBA shot is worth while for many. But, without the knowledge and instruction, it failed badly. And, the price difference was, in NO WAY justified.

In terms of awards, they have to be visible. Forget the pins for achievement. Every bowler who participates in the PBA or Sport league, should receive a bowling shirt, that clearly states, PBA League. Awards should be jackets or another visible thing.
Otherwise, rings, patches and pins just sit in the bottom of my bowling bag or in a drawer. Bowlers wear shirts and jackets, and most are proud to do so.

Additionally, I found that prize money was NOT the incentive to bowl on Sport patterns. It was the Challenge. Put some instruction with it, and you could lower the weekly fees, give everyone a Polo bowling shirt, and a jacket for league awards. You would get more people participating.

$1 per game based on the practice fee = $4
$5 per bowler for an on site instructor, 20 bowlers pays the instructor $100 a night
$8 per shirt just for participation, which is a 1-time cost, spread over 16 weeks
$3 for oil lay down and taping, a bowler can understand this extra cost.

That's about $12.50 per week over 16 weeks. And, the house should give out jackets for awards. Add a few bucks for that weekly.

This way the bowler gets something for his effort, and learns something at the same time.

I agree, instruction needs to be a big item with the PBAX leagues. During our large PBAX Summer league (160 bowlers) we have had Barnes, Ballard, etc... come in for the league meeting to discuss the patterns. Although, I think that is great, I think they left most of the bowlers short of the information they should be getting.

I missed the league this year with Ballard doing the discussion. Came in the first night of league and looked at the ball returns. Everybody and their brothers bowling balls where sanded at 320. I asked why everyone's stuff was sanded. I discovered that Ballard had suggested to use sanded equipment. I guess at least they listened. But, I would have hoped something more would have come out of the discussion.

Another instruction item i tried this last summer was to give away 30 minute coaching sessions for the PBAX League bowlers. I was doing a simple video analysis and talk about the bowlers opinions and problems with ball reaction and lane play. I was disappointed that I didn't get as much interest has I thought I would have. But we will try again next year.