When the delegates to the American Bowling Congress and the Women's International Bowling Congress meet in March and April, I hope they have the good sense to do what they should have done last year: create a new United States Bowling Congress.
If they fail to pass the amendment again, organized sanctioned leagues and tournament bowling may be over. It could be the last nail in the coffin. The pulse that has been weakening for more than two decades may finally cease to exist.
And if anyone thinks the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America is not serious about starting its own "bowlers club," think again. The CBA, or Contemporary Bowling Association as it is now called, will develop over the next decade with or without the ABC and WIBC. If ABC/WIBC reject the USBC again, then BPAA will likely accelerate its plans to make the CBA an integral part of their business.
The CBA is not just a bluff designed to entice ABC and WIBC to merge. Most bowling center owners are fed up with seeing a good part of their business walk away from the game, and they are finally ready to step up and give those bowlers what ABC and WIBC have failed to provide: value for their membership dollars. Even if the USBC passes, there is a better than average chance it will be in competition with the CBA in many markets. Bowlers will have a choice. They can join one or the other, or both.
In the January 2004 issue of Bowling Center Management magazine, BPAA executive director John Berglund answers the question "Is the CBA another ABC/WIBC?" this way: "No, why would proprietors try to duplicate organizations that have tremendous leadership, tremendous infrastructure, but that still have declining memberships?"
I think Berglund was being politically polite when he let the words "tremendous leadership" slip into the answer. The truth is that if ABC leadership had been "tremendous" over the past two decades, perhaps membership would not have dropped from near 10 million only two decades ago to about three million today. And it continues to fall at a rate of about five percent every year. Good leaders get good results, and the numbers speak for themselves.
Advocates contend that bowling couldn't survive without ABC/WIBC, but that type of arrogance is likely a contributing factor to the demise of organized bowling. In their defense, however, it's probably not the people in charge that are holding back progress as much as it is the system, that was created over the past century, under which they must operate.
This sluggish bureaucracy would slow anyone down. I more or less said that in a column three or four years ago which got me in a little hot water. When I used the 'C word' (sorry, I'm not repeating it again) to describe the organization's structure, a few paranoid people took it personally. It wasn't. What I said then is still true today. The "system" is broken, and until it's repaired, no one in it can become a good leader within it.
Which brings us full circle, back to the new CBA. By creating a modern up-to-date structure that reflects today's bowler, it will be much easier to make real progress and deliver value.
My litmus test for ABC and WIBC is very simple: How many bowlers would buy sanction cards if it were optional instead of mandatory to bowl in a league or tournament? The answer is very few because there is no perceived value.
Joe Schumacher, the former chairman of BPAA's Contemporary Bowling Association task force, said, "We are going to provide value to bowling proprietors, and we are going to provide value to the customer, to the end user, to bowlers. We need to develop the type of structure that can support bowling today, and more importantly, help generate more interest in bowling." Joe's comments appeared in the same issue of BCM as those above from John Berglund. Obviously, the folks at BPAA that are now working to create the CBA don't think ABC and WIBC have kept up with the times and provided an organization that serves bowlers well today.
That may be true, but think about this: Should it be ABC's job to be all things to all bowlers? I don't think so, and I believe the CBA is long overdue. BPAA should have stepped up years ago to take care of their business instead of allowing the ABC/WIBC to control a large part of it.
The American and Women's International Bowling Congresses were created to be rules making and governing organizations, and had they remained simply a rules management company, and not become a marketing and promotions and public relations company, membership would not have declined as to the extent that it has.
Bowling proprietors, both BPAA members and non-members, have relied on ABC and WIBC far too long. It should have been BPAA's job to market the sport, provide awards, and be the epicenter of the industry. Finally, it appears they are willing to do just that, and if it means ABC/WIBC will be dramatically downsized, so be it.
ABC and WIBC, or hopefully USBC, should make and enforce rules, and leave everything else up to the people who own the bowling centers. It's okay for them to conduct their national tournaments annually, but that should be it; all the rest should be taken out of their job description and transferred to the bowling proprietors. If that happened, ABC/WIBC could be downsized and dues could be lowered to a very small fee. If it only cost $5 or less to join ABC or WIBC, very few would object, and most would agree that is a reasonable amount to have a rules management company that also puts on a big annual tournament.
If the new CBA is successfully fazed into the picture over the next decade, then the size and price of ABC/WIBC membership will decrease as it should. Bowlers will join the club that gives them value, and bowling proprietors have the ability to provide such a club. If it means ABC and WIBC become much smaller and more manageable, that's a good thing for everyone.