I have a whole lot of used bowling balls some of which have not been used much at all, so I thought I would like to donate to youth bowling so I inquired at my bowling establishment (AMF) and they said they no longer have youth leagues so I sent the USBC representative for my area asking him if he could put me in touch with a youth league representative so I could donate equipment to them  and he told me about a bowling establishment that has a rack for used equipment that they sell it and donate to youth bowling. I was wondering if this is the norm now or that it is just my area where it seems youth bowling is not doing well at all, this is Richmond Va. area so there are plenty of youth around and I know that there used to be a lot of youth bowling going on but not now.  How are youth bowling leagues doing in your area?

Are we talking about bowlers that have been in the game awhile or NEW BOWLERS? Young folks on their own trying to make it day by day ..how much disposable income do they have to spend on bowling?

"Young people" live check to check because of their entitlement issues. They think they deserve a new car they can't afford, live in a house or rent above their means, buys a new $1000 cell phone every year, and has all name brand clothes, from top to bottom.

Drive a car you can afford, live in a house you can afford, use a phone for longer than a year, and make a coffee and some food at home once in awhile, in they would have some "hobby" money.

Also, very few young people work a second part time job, like we used to for some extra income, or to save for that extra thing that wasn't in our full time job budget.

Quote from: JOE FALCO on July 25, 2019, 07:05:55 PM

Are we talking about bowlers that have been in the game awhile or NEW BOWLERS? Young folks on their own trying to make it day by day ..how much disposable income do they have to spend on bowling?

"Young people" live check to check because of their entitlement issues. They think they deserve a new car they can't afford, live in a house or rent above their means, buys a new $1000 cell phone every year, and has all name brand clothes, from top to bottom.

Drive a car you can afford, live in a house you can afford, use a phone for longer than a year, and make a coffee and some food at home once in awhile, in they would have some "hobby" money.

Also, very few young people work a second part time job, like we used to for some extra income, or to save for that extra thing that wasn't in our full time job budget.

"Young people"? You are describing most Americans. How many people over 50 have nothing saved for retirement? Or maybe wages have stagnated and the cost of living is astronomical? Or student loan debt is way out of control? More empathy and less judging, seeing that you are such an outstanding man of God, you already know that.

They should sacrifice so I can show them how great I am and to be a donor for my league and tournaments?  Gee why wouldn't they be interested?  I am sure your speech will inspire the younger generation to change their decadent ways.

Since when is driving a couple year old Honda such a sacrifice. I know MANY young people driving Acuras, Mercedes, BMW's, and are the same people complaining they have no money.

When did being non-materialistic become "sacrifice"  There in lies the issue. If people want a hobby, then it is THEIR duty to save for it, or make a "sacrifice". It isn't the rest of the bowling world's job to make it "affordable" for them. It's called a budget.

The point is, as someone else posted earlier, bowling compared to other hobby's that are equipment based such as fishing, hunting, boating, archery, etc etc... is not that expensive.



With that being said, if bowling some how found away to regulate lane conditions, I would be fine with regulations on bowling balls, and have a much simpler game that would be more cost effective. But we all know that is out of the USBC's capabilities, and a completely different topic.

Quote from: northface28 on July 26, 2019, 11:28:06 AM

"Young people"? You are describing most Americans. How many people over 50 have nothing saved for retirement? Or maybe wages have stagnated and the cost of living is astronomical? Or student loan debt is way out of control? More empathy and less judging, seeing that you are such an outstanding man of God, you already know that.

There's no judging, there is stating facts. All across America, there are TONS of trade jobs available. So many in fact, that even non-skilled plumbers, carpenters, HVAC workers are making WAY more than college graduates, with less over-head for schooling. People don't want to get their hands dirty anymore, that's not my fault. Lawn care/ snow removal professionals in my area are making money hand over fist. There is lots of money to be made, people just have to be willing to work for it.

A few years ago, we needed new cables installed for some new equipment on the edge of a taxiway, so they contracted out the job to dig out the trenches for the cables and the company sent out a four-man work party with a trencher and shovels. 

The twenty-something year old guy operated the trencher and the three others, aged about 55-70, dug with the shovels.  One of my co-workers asked the foreman why they didn't have younger men digging and he said young people want to operate the equipment not shovels.  They couldn't find any to hire so they hired retirees who they said were also more reliable about showing up every day.

I was amazed.

Just a quick note while we ARE talking about youth bowing .. there's a show on UTUBE that's going into it's fourth year titled PRODIGY BOWLING .. these kids surprise me. I believe if they pushed TWO HANDED bowling years ago we'd have a lot more bowlers today!

Yes the kids on Prodigy bowling are very good and I also enjoy watching them and I also am one of their supporting subscribers.

The last number I've heard (several years ago) was 1.5 million sanctioned bowlers, men, women, and youth.

I know locally we have gone from over 25,000 sanctioned bowlers in 1980 to 3000 today.