Questions from the Bowling
Centres.
The BTBA
at Local and National Level need to be more effective.
You are quite right in saying this, I believe the Centres have a huge role to play in this, by advertising the BTBA as the Governing Body of the Sport in the UK and the benefits of Membership to the BTBA, also encouraging their leagues, to become sanctioned, in order to enhance our Chosen Sport.
My
Bowlers don’t know anything about the BTBA.
The information is readily available and has been for as long as I can recall, on the BTBA website, and in the Sports National Magazine ‘Go-Tenpin’. However this is a point which has been addressed by the Committee of the Local Association, in that there will hopefully, with co-operation from the Bowling centre Management Teams, be a BTBA notice board erected in every Centre within the County, and thus giving the Knowledge to all Bowlers.
They need
to make people more aware of what the BTBA has to offer.
I would refer you to the last answer, concerning the placement of Local Association Notice boards throughout the County.
Why is
the BTBA so secretive?
To answer this in full, I would need to know the questioners definition of secretive. The BTBA website is full of information, rules, tournament, links etc very much like the Local Association one but on a grander scale, as well as this, the BTBA Pages of Go-tenpin are also packed with information, the information is all there but you have to read it.
What are
the Aims of the BTBA?
The aims today, are what they have always been, to give benefits for its members, and to enhance the Sport in General on a Local, National & Worldwide basis.
Should
the BTBA not ‘police’ the rules of the Game?
The BTBA indeed DO police the rules of the Game, however this can only be done in BTBA Sanctioned Leagues, it has no jurisdiction in Un-sanctioned leagues and tournaments, run in the Bowling centres throughout the County & Country.
How can
my Centre get more involved with the BTBA?
The answer to this is a simple one, by actively encouraging membership of the BTBA, and the running of Sanction leagues and tournaments within their centres.
How can
my Centre help the BTBA and vice versa?
By the previous answer, and letting the BTBA help run the Sanctioned Leagues and tournaments within their Centres.
Could the
BTBA help and advise us about new tournaments?
Yes, of course, as long as those new tournaments are BTBA Sanctioned Tournaments.
Do the
BTBA really want to help bowlers, as they seem to be losing a lot of members?
The fact is that over the last years, membership of all organisations is down, including the BTBA, there are a lot of contributing factors to this, including the non-encouraging of Sanctioned leagues by the Centres, this of course has a long term effect of ‘why should I join, when the Centres offer me as much as a non-member’. May I ask you to read the Document ‘Benefits of Membership’ which is attached and you will see that the BTBA do want to help the bowlers of this Country, but it needs active support from all sections of the industry & Sport
Will the
Lancashire BTBA be publishing their end of year accounts?
Yes would the simple answer to this, just as the National Organisation does. The accounts of the Local Association, will be published and issued to every Sanctioned League Representative, in attendance at the Local Association AGM, further copies of the accounts can be obtained, by including a self-addressed pre-paid envelope to the Local Association Secretary.
Will they
be talking to people more and explaining what they are doing?
This has always been available, but people have to ask us questions in order to get an answer, it is no good just saying ‘I never hear anything’.
In the past, the Local Association, do not seem to have been very helpful and were somewhat unapproachable, is this likely to change with the new team?
As a member of the old team, as well as the new, I personally would talk to as many people as possible, however it was extremely rare to be approached by a Manager of a Bowling Establishment, in the past 5 years at least, NO Management from the Centres, has officially approached the Local Association for help of any kind, so in saying we as a Local Association were unhelpful & unapproachable is somewhat vague, I would need to know In what way, how, why & when they officially contacted the Local Association, to fully answer this question.
Many thanks,
Lancashire
Association Chairman.