by Melissa Gilbert

Created on: August 24, 2009

Bowling leagues can be really fun. I have been bowling in leagues since I was a kid and I have always have enjoyed them. If you are a person whom loves to bowl and would love to bowl on a regular basis, this would be the best way to go about it.

By bowling in a bowling league, you actually meet different people. Some leagues may be all male, female or mixed. I have always bowled on some sort of mixed league which in my eyes may be more fun than bowling on an all female league. By having a mixture, you have a mixture of male and female personalities. No matter what type of league you bowl on, there will be people whom you like and people whom you don't.

A bowling league usually consists of a team of 5 bowlers. Depending on how big the bowling alley is, there will be approximately sixteen teams. Unlike open bowling, you have to switch off between two lanes between frames.

All leagues that I have bowled on, you had to pay the weekly fee for bowling but the first week or so, you also have to pay for the sanction fee which covers the league. During the bowling season, you can also bowl in tournaments if you hear about them. That is usually another reason why the sanction fee is helpful. Most want you to be bowling in a league that has been sanctioned.

So you are bowling with a team now. For each set of lanes, there are two teams bowling. Each team has a captain who fills out the league play sheet for each night they bowl. They also have the sign the sheet at the end of the night saying that it is correct. They also set up the play lineup for the team. For some reason, I always end up being the first bowlers. I don't ask for it but it seems to happen to me often.

In open bowling, the foul line is not always active, but in league play it is active. What I have found sometimes is that the foul line can be touchy at times. You have to make sure that you keep your foot behind the line in addition you have to make sure that you throw the ball over the line otherwise you will foul. If you do foul, what you scored would not count and the pins would have to be reset to the second ball with all the pins set up.

Team work is very important when bowling on the team. When bowling together, if someone on the team picks up a spare and gets a strike, give out high fives. It is really great for team spirit. All of the teams that I have bowled on there are bowling averages and handicaps. Handicaps are easy to figure out as you usually divide your average with two hundred. Bowling on a league is really great as competition can bring the best out of you. Each week we bowl, we always try to improve on what we did the week before. Most of all bowling can be fun.

Learn more about this author, Melissa Gilbert.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.