From:   Josh Hodney

Date:    November 3, 2010

Re:       Inaugural season of Girls Minnesota High School Bowling (GMHSB)

After months of speculation and partial information, (many of) the details about the new girls high school bowling league are now finalized.

The questions I have been getting the most have to do with conference formation and meet times and dates (i.e. when and where?). Unfortunately, I will not be able to answer any of these questions until we know which and how many teams we (likely) have committed to bowl in the league. Some people may want to wait to try to put together a team until they know when and where competitions will be held, but competitions cannot be determined until conferences are formed. Conferences cannot be formed until I know which schools “think” they can field a team. So I encourage you to put your teams together with the assumption that “we will make it work” – meaning practices and competitions will presumably happen at times and places that will fit your bowlers’ schedules.

Commissioners

Beginning on December 6, 2010 the commissioners of both Minnesota High School Bowling (MHSB) and Girls Minnesota High School Bowling (GMHSB) will be Mike Warring of Isanti, Theresa Schroeder of Blaine, and Scott Koecheler of Mendota Heights. Dean Torvick of New Ulm, who was one the original members of the MHSB Triad, will be retiring at the conclusion of the 2010 MHSB season.

Eligibility

This new league will be for girls who are currently in grades 7 – 12.  Girls will be able to bowl in both MHSB and GMHSB.

Competition Format

Competition format will remain the same as MHSB: all baker system bowling. There has been a lot of talk about having some singles competition mixed in with Baker System bowling, but to begin with the commissioners have decided to keep GMHSB competition solely baker system.

Season Length and Post Season Competition

The season can start as early as January 3, 2011, but my guess is that many conferences won’t get competition off the ground until early February. To begin with, there will only be a varsity state tournament. We have no plans for any JV post season tournaments, MQTs, or All-Conference Tournaments in 2011. The State Tournament will take place on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at a location to be determined. Conference tournaments will need to be completed no later than Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

Bowling Center Sponsorship Fees

Sponsorship fees will remain the same as MHSB. It will cost $225 to sponsor one varsity team and $190 each to sponsor any more varsity teams. Sponsoring bowling centers agree to donate at least one team practice per week. In many cases, bowling centers will loan team jerseys out to players – if the bowling center plans to maintain ownership of the jerseys. Sponsoring bowling centers will be encouraged to donate lineage for at least one conference meet during the season.

Athlete Fees

Athlete fees will remain the same as MHSB: A sponsoring center can charge a once a “season” activity fee of up to $75 to any player participating in GMHSB. For this fee, a bowler will receive practice time throughout the season (minimum of one per week). Some teams will decide to buy their own jerseys that will be owned and kept by the players, however player-owned jerseys will likely be a bowler expense in addition to the $75.00 that a sponsoring bowling center is able to charge. Please note that some schools will make girls high school bowling a club activity and some of these schools will have their own school activity fees. I have no control over what any school charges for making bowling a school club. So in some rare instances it is possible that players will have to pay: a school activity fee, a bowling center activity fee, and for a player-owned jersey.

Proprietors Expectations / Limitations

Before you put your GMHSB bowling team together be sure to find a bowling center (or centers) that is willing to sponsor your team. Some bowling center operators are excited about GMHSB. Others have stated that they cannot afford to donate any time/space for practice or conference meets. Players, parents, coaches, and coordinators will all have to be extra sensitive to the needs, requirements, expectations, and limitations of bowling centers when it comes to GMHSB. The economy has been very tough on Minnesota bowling centers. All bowling center operators want to support girls’, women’s, and youth bowling. But November – March are the busiest and most profitable months of the year for almost all Minnesota bowling centers and very few will be willing to sacrifice income from paying customers (open bowling and parties) for GMHSB practices and meets. So please be prepared for your sponsoring bowling center to have a different “strategy” when it comes to sponsoring a girls’ high school bowling team, compared to how it may have sponsored a MHSB team in the fall. Most centers will offer less practice time, fewer meets, and many bowling centers will only be able to donate practice lineage and meet lineage at “unusual times.” Some bowling centers are really hurting for customers and will welcome the hosting of GMHSB competitions if the center can generate some revenue from F&B sales.

Junior Varsity

We are relatively certain that there will not be a GMHSB 2011 JV State Tournament. We do not know if there will be JV conference tournaments or even JV conference competition. This will depend on 1) How many schools can field JV teams and 2) the lane availability of host/sponsoring bowling centers. I would recommend getting as many girls on your team as you can, assuming that we will find some kind of competition for JV teams (official or unofficial).   

Pairing (the combining of two or more schools to make up a single team)

Many people have expressed concern that their school will not be able to field a girls’ team on its own. I believe with GMHSB, just as I believe with MHSB, that there are teenagers “out there” that will bowl on a high school bowling team if they are simply asked. Moreover, there are dozens of girls in 7^th – 12^th grade bowling in junior leagues around the state that are not bowling in MHSB. I am going to do my best to get an invitation into the hands of each of these girls letting them know about GMHSB and encourage them to join a girls’ high school team. I do think many teams will have an easier time fielding a team than they anticipate IF someone(s) makes an effort to spread the word about the new and league and invite some (new) girls to join in.

All that being said, for this first year of GMHSB, the commissioners will be demonstrating a great deal of flexibility and leniency in terms of pairing. ALL PAIRINGS must be approved by the commissioners and all girls from the same school must bowl on the same team. There will be absolutely no exceptions to this rule and teams may be made to forfeit games or matches if they have an unapproved pairing in place. But before any team submits a pairing request form, which they will be able to get from myself or their conference coordinator, I want teams to put some effort into fielding a complete team on their own. The commissioners will begin approving pairing requests on December 15, 2010 – none before this date.

Jerseys

Jerseys and uniforms will remain the same as MHSB. Jerseys can be polo shirts or “jerseys” like those that Gemini Sports Marketing sells (http://www.g2gemini.com/bowling-apparel).

Coaches

Coaching requirements will remain the same as MHSB. All GMHSB coaches must be 18 years or older and be out of high school. The owner or GM at a sponsoring bowling center has final say over who will coach his/her sponsored teams.

Coordinators & Competition Requirements

We will not know who our conference coordinators are until we can determine how many teams we (think we) have and how many conferences we have, as well as the location of those conferences. A few of the MHSB conference coordinators have already volunteered to be coordinators for GMHSB. I will get these individuals identified as soon as possible and get them in touch with their coaches and bowling centers as quickly as I can.

Teams that do not have a conference to bowl in

Every school (or group of schools) that can field a team is welcome and encouraged to bowl in GMHSB this first season. Some teams will be out on an island and have just one team or no other teams to bowl with. I will do my best to get every team into a conference. I already know that some teams will not logically fit into any conference. Teams that have no conference to bowl in will be called “independents.”  The commissioners do not yet know which teams these independents will bowl against, or when and where. The commissioners want to first see how many independents we have before making any final decisions. Independents will have a chance to advance to the state tournament. To get regular season competition in I anticipate that 1) there will be several invitational tournaments throughout the season that these independents can compete in and/or 2) that it will be the obligation of the independents to arrange 4 – 8 out of conference matches with teams closest to them.  

Practice

Teams can begin practicing (with coaches) on Monday, December 13, 2010. But again, it is important to be mindful of your sponsoring bowling center’s willingness to donate lanes for practice.

Reserving the right to update or change rules

This is the first season of Girls Minnesota High School Bowling and no one is quite sure what to expect. There could be anywhere from 15 – 50 varsity teams in this first season of GMHSB. There could be 0 JV teams or there could be 25. If there are a lot more teams and bowlers than we are anticipating, and that number of teams affects the way centers, coaches, and players are feeling about post season competition then some events (though unlikely) could be added at a later date.

Final thoughts

There will surely be some bumps in the road during this first season. People will have to have some patience to see how conferences come together, and then wait to find out when bowling centers are willing to host practices and meets. Teams deemed as independents will be in an unusual position, with no conference to bowl in. Some teams may get frustrated by the lack of near-by competition. I encourage these teams to stick it out and stay together – fight through the growing pains. We may only have 30 varsity teams in the league this first year, but I can easily imagine that number doubling to 60 in the second year. The more teams we have around the state to begin with easier it will be to grow the league the following year. I am working on typing up the official league rules and will publish that document ASAP.

What to do now

Spread the word about the new league and if you believe you have 1 or more girls interested in being part of the league then make sure I know about it. Best case scenario is if I am notified that a school has its own team in place. But I want to know about interest at any level in any numbers. Even if just one girl from a school wants to be in the league I want to help that girl field a team or find an existing team for her to bowl with. Any individuals that want to bowl GMHSB should email me at josh@mhsb.org. Any school that knows or thinks it has a team put together should fill out the attached form and get it back to me ASAP. My goal is start putting conferences together by December 8, 2010. I will get in touch with every team/person that indicates interest in coaching, coordinating, or bowling in GMHSB.