Something occurred on the second day of the state junior bowling tournament that jogged my memory and drove me to post the question, "is it just me, or are bowling centers taking advantage of us because of our good nature and politeness?"

On Sunday, we went in 1/2 hour before our squad time to check in. We were told that there was an hour delay because of some scheduling conflicts. I had noticed adults bowling in what appeared to be some type of competition, although I thought they were practicing and would be getting off the lanes soon. A parent asked the head maintenance guy as he walked by and asked him why the delay? He (literally) snapped back that it was a scheduling conflict and that the regular Sunday league bowlers had to be accommodated because they are "regulars" and insisted on bowling rather than skipping because of the junior bowlers. When she tried t ask him another question, he walked out the side door muttering something under his breath.

If the bowling center knew of the scheduling conflict, couldn't they have set the squad times differently? I know for a fact that the sign ups had to be done months and months in advance of the tournament dates. But, everyone was acting as if the scheduling conflict came up at the last minute.

To make a long story short, everything was pushed back by about 1-1/2 hours and the 3 PM squad did not begin until after 4 PM. That last squad included kids from far away and some of the coaches said that it was going to take them about 6 hours to get back home so the kids would not be getting home until about 2 AM Monday morning and they had to go to school.

So now, with my experiences conducting bowling tournaments around the state, I do know that we have been delayed because the center overbooked special events such as birthday parties, social events, and company outings even though they knew our tournament was scheduled. We have had to delay our squad times much to the consternation of bowlers who had to be somewhere else at a certain time and the delay put a kink in their plans.

Is it just me, this part of the country, or are you seeing the same things going on around the country? I'd like to hear from you.


Clyde "Choc" Higa, Editor
http://bowling.bellaonline.com
USBC Bronze Certified Coach
International Bowling Media Association