Of course the USBC is only concerned about the competitive side of the game.  If you are bowling league and keep track of your average, you are part of the  competitive game.  If you want to bowl in a league, and play by rules you need the USBC, and 20 bucks a years is not a huge price to pay for having them. 

So 70% of these guys will not be bowling any other USBC sanctioned leagues or tournaments? 

Of course the USBC is only concerned about the competitive side of the game.  If you are bowling league and keep track of your average, you are part of the  competitive game.  If you want to bowl in a league, and play by rules you need the USBC, and 20 bucks a years is not a huge price to pay for having them. 

USBC is supposed to be a membership organization and the governing body for the sport of bowling...not a tournament sponsor/promoter. How about investing in making our local associations more effective at acquiring and retaining members since the majority of our membership does not compete in the PWBA, Open Championships, Womens Open Championships, Mixed Open Championships, USBC Masters, USBC Queens, US Open or Womens US Open. Seems like a group that generates a sizable portion of their revenue from membership dues would take a more active role in making local associations more effective rather than #afutureforthesport. Growing membership will make bowling great again, not tournaments.

Quote from: Channelsurfer on May 18, 2016, 08:11:51 PM

So what happens if the secretary runs off with the money in this non sanctioned league?  Just one reason other than an award to bowl in a sanctioned league.

I've heard of some leagues having that problem. Our officers are all upstanding people who all have been in this league for over 10 years. They all do more than what is asked of them in order to make the league successful. They all have families ties to the community and most importantly, we know where they live.

MANY convicted felons began their adult lives as "upstanding people." League secretaries who have been around a league for years have up and walked with large sums of money.  All it takes is one crisis in their life and the easily available cash eases the crunch.  It happens more than you think...and not just in bowling.  Had a client many years ago that got about $750K from a large race track over a period of time (actually more, but not all of it was still within the statute of limitations)...family owned a large car dealership.  She covered it well, both the need for money as well as cooking the books...she was caught because of a tax over-payment refund check that went to the corporate parent of the race track.  It happens, and status in the community does not mean a thing with regards to prevention of the loss if the circumstances are right...

As to awards, without knowing what they were, it may be the association that screwed the pooch.  Some awards are kept local while others have to be sent off to obtain, but that is still an association function, not a league function. 

Steven,
I would expect you to find value with the current direction, you're the part of the 1% as are most on this site. The problem is we've lost about 80% of our membership over the last decade and the USBC seems think investing in the 1% is going to get the 80% back.

 
I like your enthusiasm, but you're focusing on what you want the USBC to be vs. what the USBC realistically can be.
 
Any governing body is going to have severe limitations. The proprietors ultimately decide what lane conditions will exist in their houses. It's about what conditions the owners feel will keep bowlers coming back, and that will never change. I'm good friends with a local owner who has interests in several houses, and he'll toss the USBC (or any governing body) out the door that he believes threatens his bottom line. It's delusional to believe the USBC will ever have significant influence in this area.
 
Again, local association (regardless of governing umbrella) will never become recruitment machines. They don't have the time or background to fill that roll, regardless of how much money you throw at them. It has to come from involved houses, and just as important, from us as concerned bowlers. Looking to others is not going to be the solution.
 
USBC involvement in tournaments and bowler development helps keep bowling relevant a sport. That has to be one of their primary missions. Providing record keeping and other important financial functions is another core responsibility that absolutely necessary and one that they perform pretty well. Realistically, I'm still not sure what you want that's attainable.

I don't think USBC is all that worried about getting the 80% back you're talking about. It's trying to generate interest and bring in newcomers, and they think that can be accomplished by building up the youth, high school, and collegiate programs, which it has done/is doing, and by making the sport visible (i.e. Olympics, PWBA, PBA, ITC's, ISC's, etc.) While they would gladly welcome the defectors back with open arms, I don't think they're trying to bring back the old guard; I think they're trying to bring in the new recruits.

Who cares where the growth comes from, we haven't experienced any membership growth in more than a decade while we've lost roughly 8,000,000 members.

Quote from: morpheus on May 19, 2016, 10:33:48 AM

USBC is supposed to be a membership organization and the governing body for the sport of bowling...not a tournament sponsor/promoter. How about investing in making our local associations more effective at acquiring and retaining members since the majority of our membership does not compete in the PWBA, Open Championships, Womens Open Championships, Mixed Open Championships, USBC Masters, USBC Queens, US Open or Womens US Open. Seems like a group that generates a sizable portion of their revenue from membership dues would take a more active role in making local associations more effective rather than #afutureforthesport. Growing membership will make bowling great again, not tournaments.

 
Membership growth rarely emanates from efforts by the local associations. These are local volunteers who are well meaning people, but have no clue about recruiting masses of new bowlers, and won't no matter how much money you throw at them. They're challenged enough performing basic administrative functions.
 
The reality is that recruitment is a local house effort. Good proprietors run promotions to get people in the door for open bowling. Once they're in, management has the opportunity to present opportunities for league bowling. It works when the focus is there. 
 
I personally find a lot of value in USBC sponsored tournaments. I believe you're underestimating their value in keeping bowlers enthused about the sport. Even if the majority of bowlers don't compete, the record keeping and other back-of-house functions the USBC performs are worth far more than the pocket change of annual dues we all pay.
 
I've yet to hear a reasonable alternative to what we already have.

Good points Steven, and I will go even further.

If we as bowlers want bowling to become more popular, it is up to us.

How many people here can say they have personally made an effort to further bowling?

I guess that leaves the question of "What can I do as an individual?"

We can bring in more league bowlers. I know this works because that's how I started bowling. A guy I work with wanted to start a company team and ask if I would be interested. I had never thrown a bowling ball and the idea of it had never actually crossed my mind. But I did join his team and became a regular bowler.

How many of us bowl in tournament like the State or USBC Open? Getting league bowlers to participate in these events makes people more interested in the sport itself. It doesn't take a lot of effort on our part to sign up an extra team or two. You might have to explain to these newer bowlers how it works and what to expect, but it's not a lot of extra work and it promotes the sport.

If we all did just these two things, the sport of bowling would grow from a huge base of people who know very little about the game/sport. The youth are a good place to help grow and USBC is working that angle, but the biggest untapped group is the middle aged and older folks who would enjoy the social aspect of the game. They just have no idea how to get started or never gave it any thought, just like it was for me.

milorafferty hit on one of my biggest issues with the USBC. I find in unconscionable in 2016 that there are not coordinated media efforts between the BPAA, USBC and local associations to engage current and p

Quote from: Steven on May 19, 2016, 11:58:30 AM

Quote from: morpheus on May 19, 2016, 10:33:48 AM

USBC is supposed to be a membership organization and the governing body for the sport of bowling...not a tournament sponsor/promoter. How about investing in making our local associations more effective at acquiring and retaining members since the majority of our membership does not compete in the PWBA, Open Championships, Womens Open Championships, Mixed Open Championships, USBC Masters, USBC Queens, US Open or Womens US Open. Seems like a group that generates a sizable portion of their revenue from membership dues would take a more active role in making local associations more effective rather than #afutureforthesport. Growing membership will make bowling great again, not tournaments.

 
Membership growth rarely emanates from efforts by the local associations. These are local volunteers who are well meaning people, but have no clue about recruiting masses of new bowlers, and won't no matter how much money you throw at them. They're challenged enough performing basic administrative functions.
 
The reality is that recruitment is a local house effort. Good proprietors run promotions to get people in the door for open bowling. Once they're in, management has the opportunity to present opportunities for league bowling. It works when the focus is there. 
 
I personally find a lot of value in USBC sponsored tournaments. I believe you're underestimating their value in keeping bowlers enthused about the sport. Even if the majority of bowlers don't compete, the record keeping and other back-of-house functions the USBC performs are worth far more than the pocket change of annual dues we all pay.
 
I've yet to hear a reasonable alternative to what we already have.

Good points Steven, and I will go even further.

If we as bowlers want bowling to become more popular, it is up to us.

How many people here can say they have personally made an effort to further bowling?

I guess that leaves the question of "What can I do as an individual?"

We can bring in more league bowlers. I know this works because that's how I started bowling. A guy I work with wanted to start a company team and ask if I would be interested. I had never thrown a bowling ball and the idea of it had never actually crossed my mind. But I did join his team and became a regular bowler.

How many of us bowl in tournament like the State or USBC Open? Getting league bowlers to participate in these events makes people more interested in the sport itself. It doesn't take a lot of effort on our part to sign up an extra team or two. You might have to explain to these newer bowlers how it works and what to expect, but it's not a lot of extra work and it promotes the sport.

If we all did just these two things, the sport of bowling would grow from a huge base of people who know very little about the game/sport. The youth are a good place to help grow and USBC is working th

Quote from: milorafferty on May 19, 2016, 12:56:03 PM

Quote from: Steven on May 19, 2016, 11:58:30 AM

Quote from: morpheus on May 19, 2016, 10:33:48 AM

USBC is supposed to be a membership organization and the governing body for the sport of bowling...not a tournament sponsor/promoter. How about investing in making our local associations more effective at acquiring and retaining members since the majority of our membership does not compete in the PWBA, Open Championships, Womens Open Championships, Mixed Open Championships, USBC Masters, USBC Queens, US Open or Womens US Open. Seems like a group that generates a sizable portion of their revenue from membership dues would take a more active role in making local associations more effective rather than #afutureforthesport. Growing membership will make bowling great again, not tournaments.

 
Membership growth rarely emanates from efforts by the local associations. These are local volunteers who are well meaning people, but have no clue about recruiting masses of new bowlers, and won't no matter how much money you throw at them. They're challenged enough performing basic administrative functions.
 
The reality is that recruitment is a local house effort. Good proprietors run promotions to get people in the door for open bowling. Once they're in, management has the opportunity to present opportunities for league bowling. It works when the focus is there. 
 
I personally find a lot of value in USBC sponsored tournaments. I believe you're underestimating their value in keeping bowlers enthused about the sport. Even if the majority of bowlers don't compete, the record keeping and other back-of-house functions the USBC performs are worth far more than the pocket change of annual dues we all pay.
 
I've yet to hear a reasonable alternative to what we already have.

Good points Steven, and I will go even further.

If we as bowlers want bowling to become more popular, it is up to us.

How many people here can say they have personally made an effort to further bowling?

I guess that leaves the question of "What can I do as an individual?"

We can bring in more league bowlers. I know this works because that's how I started bowling. A guy I work with wanted to start a company team and ask if I would be interested. I had never thrown a bowling ball and the idea of it had never actually crossed my mind. But I did join his team and became a regular bowler.

How many of us bowl in tournament like the State or USBC Open? Getting league bowlers to participate in these events makes people more interested in the sport itself. It doesn't take a lot of effort on our part to sign up an extra team or two. You might have to explain to these newer bowlers how it works and what to expect, but it's not a lot of extra work and it promotes the sport.

If we all did just these two things, the sport of bowling would grow from a huge base of people who know very little about the game/sport. The youth are a good place to help grow and USBC is working that angle, but the biggest untapped group is the middle aged and older folks who would enjoy the social aspect of the game. They just have no idea how to get started or never gave it any thought, just like it was for me.

t angle, but the biggest untapped group is the middle aged and older folks who would enjoy the social aspect of the game. They just have no idea how to get started or never gave it any thought, just like it was for me.

Sure would be nice if there were coordinated social media campaigns (USBC/BPAA/Local Associations) to engage current and potential members. I mean I love a gobowling.com logo on a NASCAR as much as the next guy, but it might be time to try something relevant that promotes membership.