Welcome To Winter 2020

Hello, my Pindependents!

This is your "welcome to bowling" email. It's a long one and if you've bowled with us before, then you'll be bored by the end of it. However! This has the information you'll need for the season, so just archive it and save it so when you have a question later, you can check this email again.

- Here's the TL; DR version: we start at 6pm on Sundays, be on time, pre-bowling is cool but post bowling isn't, remind yourself about bowling etiquette, and league cards mean discounts. 

For the long version, buckle up, because here we go.

League Details:

-  We play on Sundays and we start at 6pm.  At 6pm, you will get 10 to 12 minutes of practice (I know, it used to be 15, but AMF seems to be standing firm on this one). 

-  All teams should have max four players. For teams with 3, a vacancy will fill in that bowls the league average.

-  Each week's scoring is based on your TEAM's performance. There are 4 points awarded each week: 1 for each win and 1 for total pins (including handicap). 

- We have ~ 14 teams and 10 weeks to bowl, so everyone should get to play everyone this season.

-  Players may pre-bowl if they miss weeks (more on that later) to use their scores for their teams. 

What to expect the first week:

-Please plan to arrive a few minutes early to get set up (I recommend 5:45ish). We will be playing at the end of the bowling alley where the balls are stored. We will need to manually put in player and team names on Sunday night, and filling out paperwork.

- You should also plan on having your team name ready for me Sunday by the end of the night (write it on your team score sheet).

- Plan on bringing your shoes with you or renting them. Shoe rental is NOT included in the price of the league.  You are responsible for your own shoe rental if you need them.

- If you have not paid for the league, make sure to find me! I want your money. 

- There will be no averages/handicaps in the computer for week 1, this is the week that we establish them.  A few things about averages:

Averages are just that: your average score among all of the games you've played.After week 1, averages are calculated and handicaps created and added back to the score to sort out the points for that week. So yes, week 1 games DO count for points. We've tried making it not count, but our league scorekeeper (who does the work for free) gets it confused sometimes and it's just easier to count every week.There is no benefit to sandbagging on week 1 so that you get a higher handicap for week 1 and 2. Your average will be fluid and change as you play more games. So please, I know we joke about bringing your "C" game to week 1, be a good sport and do your best every week. 

- We play tournament style. This means for each turn, you alternate lanes. If you're not familiar, ask a friend or teammate, they've probably done it before. 

**For those of you who have already alerted me that you have to miss this week, you should be able to post-bowl this week if you complete it by Thursday. See below about pre-bowling, the information there is still good. This will be the ONLY week where post bowling scores will be accepted.**

What to expect for the rest of the season:

 - Make sure to arrive no later than 6pm so that the league can start on time. Don't be that guy who has to play in every week on the first game.  Respect your fellow bowlers and show up on time

- The new scoring system at the bowling alley should have each team/match up with bowlers' names entered at the beginning of every subsequent week. 

- Once you press "Ok" or "start" on the new scoring system, your practice time will start and competitve play starts automatically 10 minutes later. No more announcements that we're starting or to hold up on your practice. You control your lane. This means that you DO NOT press start or ok until all the bowlers on your lanes (both teams) have arrived.

If someone is late, you may start no later than 6:05 pm. 

- Players who are late or missing will be blinded so that play can proceed.  (I will explain blind scores later when we talk about pre-bowling).

- Make sure to record your team scores on the score sheet at your table. The computer DOES NOT automatically save them, so the written score sheets are the scores that are turned in. 

- At the end of your 3 games, complete your score sheets, players sign them (one from each team) and make sure to turn those sheets in to me. 

Missing a week:

I- Say you have a cool beach vacation planned and it turns out a hurricane did not blow away your rental house, so you'll miss a week this season. Well, you have 2 options. You can miss and your team uses your blind score or you can pre-bowl.

- A blind score is simply a player's average minus 10 pins. So if your average is 120, your score for all 3 games that night will be 110.  

- Players may prebowl before Sunday's games start.

AMF allows prebowling (and practice games) Any time Sunday through Thursday, Friday until 6pm and Saturday until 5pm.  There is no guarantee that the lights will be up or that you'll bowl on 2 lanes, tournament style. There are no reserved lanes, so show up and if they can fit you in, they will. Make sure when you sign in that you tell the staff you are PREBOWLING, they'll give you a score card.Bowl your 3 games and write your scores on the card. Keep a copy or take a photo of your scores for your record (and to send to me)Turn in the card. The card MUST have your LEAGUE NAME, YOUR NAME, TEAM NAME and DATE YOU ARE BOWLING FOR (not the date you bowled).I will not accept pre-bowl scores that do not have the date they are making up for on them. Read that again. I mean it.Email the scores to me (either photo or via an email that just lists them).Let your teammates know that you're not going to be there so that they know to look for your pre-bowling scores. 

There is no post bowling. I repeat, there is NO post bowling. So bowl in advance if you're going to miss. There is also no refund or partial payment if you miss a week, you've paid for the season, not for individual games. 

You still with me? Really?  It's a miracle.

Other perks of being a league bowler:

 Discount card at the snack bar. If you have an old card, it will probably already be activated for you when we start. If not, then you should get one this season (your phone number is used to activate your card, so I need your phone number if I don't have it). Cards SHOULD be avaliable week 2. If you already have a league card, you will not get a new card, use the one you got in previous seasons. 2 free games per week. The hours for practice games are the same as those for pre-bowling. Make sure that you let them know that you are PRACTICING, not pre-bowling. You should not get a score card, and you'll have 2 games, not 3 set up for you. Discounts on additional bowling during the week, if you want to bowl more than 3 games. Automatic coolness when you say, in casual conversation, "yeah, I'm in a bowling league." 

A few more odds and ends:

- Go here: https://www.pindependentbowling.com/bowling-etiquette (if the link doesn't work, just copy/paste into your browser window) and learn about bowling etiquette. 

I mean it, go refresh your knowledge about not being the jerk at the bowling alley.

- We are NOT a sanctioned league. This means that your league scores/average can't be used for some of the money tournaments that the USBC sometimes puts on at AMF. But it also means we have more freedom to play the way we want to (and we don't have to pay an extra annual fee for our bowlers).

- We ARE a social league. This means we're just here to have fun. So get to know your fellow bowlers, make some friends, and have a great time. Cheer for each other, talk a little good natured trash if you want. Just don't be jerks and remember we're here to have fun, not just to win those sweet sweet trophies. 

- AMF lanes has added lane servers. So don't be sad that we're further away from the bar this season, since we'll have people serving at the lanes. You still have to clean up your trash, though, don't be gross. 

As always, if you have questions, please email me directly.