New Forum

**Lance Rasmussen** · July 27th, 2006

This forum is to provide a location for fellow secretaries and tournament managers to discuss rules, handicaps, formats, how to's, etc.

If you have some league formats that have been successful for you, why not post them. Do you have some ideas to help bowler retention?

Does your league have an "odd" rule and do you want to see what others think?

This place is for you.

**Angel Zobel-Rodriguez** · July 28th, 2006

Thanks, guys.

There is NO website that offers a forum like this, especially not one where a critical mass of experience exists. I'm looking forward to contributing where I can and picking people's brains for guidance.

**Frank Goebel** · July 28th, 2006

Ditto, Angel...I think I may have asked for this, or at least pined for it. I will have to make this a part of my perodic browsing.

As it was, I was visiting the current year's BLS program's forum almost daily. I will have to make it a point to get over here, too....I think I can get this forum, the downloads area, and the BLS 2007 forum, to open in tabs on my browser. Add that to my to-do list.

**Lance Rasmussen** · July 28th, 2006

Frank,

I am looking for someone to help moderate this particular forum. Since this forum isn't driven specifically towards our products, but more on how everyone is doing their rules, wants to do their rules, gripes about their rules, etc... With a possible BLS can do that "stupid" league rule by doing X, Y, Z.....

If you're interested, let me know.

**Lance Rasmussen** · July 28th, 2006

BTW,

you can now, with IE 7 Beta 3, put all three sites you mentioned as your start pages and it will open them all as tabs.

**Lyle Garton** · August 8th, 2006

This sounds like a great forum!!!!! Just what I was doing a google search on!!

**Lyle Garton** · August 8th, 2006

What are most of your leagues using for handicaps,,, and anybody have any fresh ideas for the upcoming season?

**Tom Kelly** · August 12th, 2006

We started last season with a rule change that added over $3000.00 dollars to the prize fund ( I have a thirty team league) Arranged with the house to only pay for those bowlers that were present that night for bowling. Absent bowlers paid full dues due for the night they were absent. The cost of bowling three games was $11.00 dollars, that money went into the prize fund.

**Robert Maes** · August 16th, 2006

I am a secretary of a small (14 team) men's league, we will be bowling our 56th season this year. This is not the longest run not even close. However I think we have a different type of league set up and schedule.
The league is divided in 2 divisions, and 2 halfs. Each division determines 1st half and 2nd half winners, on the second to last night the 2 half winners in each division roll-off against each other, on the final night the winners of each division roll off for the championship.
We have found that this keeps more teams with a chance for the championship.

Bob

**JoleenNorth** · September 11th, 2006

Robert,
Our 16 team ladies league also does this. We have two divisions and divide the season into two halves. We have all our roll-offs on the same night, thought, so if you win your divisional roll-off, you get to bowl 3 more games that night for the league championship. The ladies like this format as it does give more teams a chance to win.

**Bob Lanouette** · September 12th, 2006

We have a 20 team league and pay $18 a week, $1 of which ($5 per team per week) goes into a tournament fund... Will explain this shortly. We have no roll-off although we have 2 round winners. Each round winning team receives an extra $500. Prize fund pays off based on total points for the year. League champion is team with most pts for the season... Top 8 teams based on total wins for the year play in a post-season NFL style tournament with a chance to pick up extra $$$ from the tournament fund (only takes one more night of bowling; we play the tournament on the same night as payoff; no banquet). Reason we have no roll-off is that historically we've had teams put in little to no effort at winning the 2nd round since they were already guaranteed 2nd place $$$; in their minds they only had to play one more week for the difference between 1st and 2nd place money. Current system creates intense interest for 2nd half of the season. We have no sponsors, yet last years 1st place team managed to win 2 rounds (1st time that's happened in the 18 years I've been secretary) and received $2500 for the team. They lost in the post season tournament, but the 8th seed managed to come out on top for an extra $1300 on top of their 8th place league money... The guys really like our system.. We have teams waiting for spots to open up.

Handicap is 90% of team difference. (I prefer individual handicap, but here in the northeast, leagues are used to handicap based on team difference even if USBC frowns upon it)