Yesterday I presented
my thoughts on summer league bowling to a group of proprietors in the cold northeast
tundra, I heard a lot about weather, cold and closings. Some centers were
closed 4 to 5 days since the beginning of the year and that included a Saturday
here and there.
I suspect that
this summer, with the predictions of an El Nino, will be a more difficult
challenge due to the fact that people have been cooped up all winter and want
to be outside even more. Eventually the El Nino weather will bring them inside
for some “cool” summer fun.
And that’s why it
will be more important than ever to have league programs, available as short
season (8 sessions or less) offerings in June and July. Just because you put
your first wave of league bowlers on the floor doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try
for a 2nd and 3rd wave that appeals more to open play
bowlers, beginners and adult child leagues.
If you time it
right these leagues would end just before the fall season starts and you would
have a better chance of “rolling’ them into a fall program.
It’s a little
thing to remember, but if you get some equipment into these newbies’ hands,
your odds increase dramatically of getting them to bowl in the fall.
Remember, there
are a lot of people out there, about 250 million to be exact who didn’t bowl
last year PLUS about 65 million open play bowlers who “don’t know they are not
supposed to bowl in the summer.”
How many can you
corral?
