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Sport Bowling Is Growing Up The Program Aimed To Ensnare Bowlers Who Seek Greater Challenges Begins Its Fourth Season With A Head Of Steamby Johnny Campos AFTER SUFFERING THROUGH A few growing pains and surviving the Terrible 3s (which was really just a carryover from the Terrible 2s), the ABC/WIBC sport bowling program has a better-than-average chance of avoiding any Frightful 4s by making things a little easier to stomach for everyone involved. Sport bowling, which was introduced at the beginning of the 2001-02 season, is being relaunched for the upcoming league/tournament sessions this fall. The goal from Bowling Headquarters in Greendale, Wis.: to end up with a program considered to be more bowler-, proprietor-, and association-friendly, while increasing membership. Heading up the efforts is former touring pro Steve Wunderlich, who owns two PBA titles and the 1985 ABC Masters championship. "I don't want to make it sound like we've totally revamped the program," says Wunderlich, who's been the director of the ABC/WIBC sport bowling program for one year. "We have not. It's a program still in its infant stage, and change is inevitable. We're looking for ways to build value for our members and improve our service to proprietors and the local associations, while still maintaining the integrity of the program." Soon after taking over the fledgling sport bowling program in the summer of 2003, Wunderlich discovered rather quickly that there were some major pot-holes to repair if he wanted to expand or, even more importantly, save the program. "My goal was to eliminate as many hurdles as possible," he says. There were several of them, including the $9 additional membership fee, three separate lane readings required for certification, and the following rules, which are in effect regardless of the condition or type of lane surface: * The ratio of oil must be 2-to-1 or flatter. A ratio of 2-to-1 means the amount of oil in the middle (from board R18 to board L18) can be no more than twice as much as the oil on the outside board (boards 3 to 7 on either side). * The amount of oil measured on the outside boards (the average of right and left lanes 3-7) at 15 feet must be greater than 10 units, and the amount of oil measured on the center boards (the average of L18 to R18) must not exceed 80 units of oil. "I went to Bowl Expo in my third week on the job, and I had a lot of proprietors come up to me and ask why they should sanction their sport bowling leagues," he recalls. "They said that sport bowling was forcing their league bowlers to pay $9, and they felt they weren't really getting anything for their money." Besides a greatly enhanced sport bowling awards program, Wunderlich says, the program offers something bowlers can't put a price tag on: success on the lanes. "There's no question that people who are in sport bowling leagues are the most successful out of their home bowling centers," he says. "Some tell me it's almost like having a coach when they're bowling. "It's amazing to sit at this desk and get calls from bowlers who said they went to the ABC, WIBC, state, or local association tournament and had their best scores, their biggest cash, or their highest finish," Wunderlich adds. But all bowlers might not fully attribute their success to the sport bowling program, so Wunderlich has taken things a step further. He has been working with industry manufacturers and has developed a rebate program that will benefit sport bowling card holders [see sidebar]. The list is impressive, to say the least. "I'm working on a couple of other things, including a new Sport Bowling Tournament Series," he adds. "The member benefits package is one of the major hurdles we have faced, but I think we are going to put bowlers and proprietors alike at ease with this new program." That should satisfy the bowlers, but what about the proprietors and league/tournament administrators? Proprietors have to take on additional maintenance and activity expenses to participate in the program, such as sending in tapes or graphs of lane readings of their sport bowling leagues to Bowling Headquarters. That's also being addressed. "Right now, tapes must be taken at three different locations on the lanes to be sport bowling compliant," Wunderlich explains. "They have to be taken at 15 feet, 25 feet, and two feet before the end of the oil patterns. That is a hassle for the proprietor and local associations. We understand that, and we sympathize with them. To help, we're going to reduce that [requirement] to two tapes. We're looking at 20 feet and two feet before the end of the pattern. But that could be tweaked to maybe 22 feet. We're still finalizing some of the details. "Unfortunately, we can't eliminate this process, because we don't have any other means to measure the distribution of oil," he adds. "Our specifications and certification group are working with an engineering firm on a new way to read oil, but that technology will not be ready by August 1." Other than the $9 membership fee and lane tapes, probably the biggest hurdle in the program to overcome for Wunderlich was the 2-to-1 oil ratio on the lanes. When the sport bowling program was developed, it was determined that the ABC/WIBC would rather err on the side of lane conditions that were too tough rather than too easy. After all, the whole premise of the program is to create an environment that is challenging. |
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