Time to Energize

I took a quick look at the Nebraska High School Bowling Coaches website the other day. Normally, there's not much new on the site, but this statement jumped out on my last visit.

More Teams

are need to keep the

NHSBCA Tournaments

Alive & Running

6 & 8 Teams in a division aren't profitable.

Even though our two organizations differ on the direction high school bowling should take, I'm sorry to read that participation numbers are dropping down to these levels. Without knowing the reason for the decline in participation, there's no reason to gloat about this turn of events.

From the beginning, the NHSBF has never wanted the Coaches Association tournaments to go away completely. Did we want them to go away from the Winter sports season? We did, because we thought it would be more beneficial to have this kind of competition, traveling tournaments, during the Spring and Summer. This would bring bowling into line with other sports, where the club teams play off season.

Yes, I know we're all just clubs right now, but since we're the only organization in the state that is working toward NSAA recognition, all we were trying to do was create a plan for bowling that would work once NSAA recognition became a reality.

I still think this plan has merit, and if it works, I also think it will energize our high school bowling programs all across Nebraska. And, judging by the statement I saw on the Coaches Association website, it looks like some energy is needed.

Districts

It looks like I wrote too soon about the District sites and dates. I took the dates off our website before the this year's sites were announced. My apologies for any confusion that comes about because of my error.

I will get the correct dates and sites up as soon as all sites are finalized.

A Return to Regular Writing

It's a new year, and one of my resolutions is to keep the bowling column updated for people who don't see a Nebraska Bowler paper.

I'll do my best to stop by the blog and see if anyone's reading, and to add some of the latest news we're working on.

We're currently looking for a person interested in helping us take high school bowling around the final turn to the finish line, NSAA recognition. Are we really that close? I think we are, although sometimes the progress we make seems to be slow and insignificant.

The schools know we're out there, and I think the administrators see the good in what bowling has to offer their student-athletes. The challenge for many of them is balancing what they know to be good about bowling with the two big issues they face daily. Money and time.

To get us to the finish line, we're hoping to attract a retired AD with enough passion for bowling to get this rock pushed the rest of the way up the hill. The thinking being that someone with knowledge, and some empathy for the demands on the athletic director's time, will be able to make the inroads we have only been able to do slowly and slightly.

If a retired AD can't be identified, we'll need to get someone with the energy and determination to work the schools on a daily basis to make the case for adding the sport we love to the NSAA's roster of activities.

Stay tuned.

January Column

January 2011

One of the cool things about being involved in high school sports is the revolving door aspect that comes with students moving through the program and then graduating. Every year has the potential for brining a new crop of students and parents into the fold.

With that in mind, this seems like a good time to re-introduce the Nebraska High School Bowling Federation to those student-athletes and parents new to high school bowling.

A Quick History

The NHSBF formed eight years ago, after Kris Zahn, then the USBC High School Bowling Director, came to a meeting of coaches to talk about the national movement to get high school bowling into the schools as a sanctioned state-administered sport.

A few of us thought this was an idea worth exploring in Nebraska, so the NHSBF was formed with the primary goal to be getting high school bowling in to the schools as a state sanctioned sport.

What is the NSAA?

The Nebraska School Activities Association administers high school activities, and with the input of the athletic directors from the member schools, determines the fate of sports like bowling that want to become a part of the high school community.

Getting a new sport added to the roster of activities sponsored, or sanctioned, by the NSAA, is a lengthy process.

A proposal to add a sport has to be submitted by a school administrator prior to November District meetings. Ideally, the proposal gets introduced in each of the six legislative districts. Getting statewide support for adding a new sport is the key here.

If the proposal is approved in at least one District meeting, it becomes an agenda item for all the Districts to vote on in their January meetings.

If the proposal is approved in three of Districts at the January meetings, it goes to the annual April meeting to be voted on by all the District delegates.

What’s the Hold Up?

As easy as the process described above sounds, adding a new sport is a bit of an uphill battle.

Money is a big obstacle to adding a new sport. Financially strapped school districts are reluctant to add more expense to their schools.

Time is another obstacle. The athletic directors in most schools already feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in.

What’s the Answer?

Bowling is a relatively inexpensive sport for schools to add. The NHSBF supports the creation of booster clubs to help offset the expense attached to putting a high school bowling program. The Nebraska State Bowling Proprietors have also done their part by donating the lineage needed for practices and matches.

The financial question is valid, but the foundation is in place to make bowling an inexpensive sport for schools to add.

Bowling would not need to be a huge time drain on athletic directors. Besides being a low maintenance sport, the NHSBF has also offered to handle a good portion of the administrative duties normally performed by the athletic directors.

How You Can Help

If you’re just getting involved with high school bowling, you can help the cause by speaking to the athletic director and/or the principal in your school. Let them know that your son or daughter is involved in high school bowling, and the positive impact it is having on their high school experience.

District Schedule

Class A District competition will take place on January 30 at Maplewood Lanes, Omaha; Kings Lanes, Norfolk; Westside Lanes, Grand Island.

Class B District competition is on the same day at Blair Bowl, Blair; Seward Bowl, Seward; Super Bowl, Grand Island. Valley Bowl in Scottsbluff hosts their Class B District on January 31.

For Class C, District sites are Kings Lanes, Norfolk (January 31); Pastime Lanes, Hastings; Super Bowl, Grand Island (both on January 30).

Hilltop Lanes in Dodge will host the Class D Districts on January 30.

All of this District action means that the State Championships are just around the corner. Opening rounds begin in Lincoln on February 12, with the arena finals scheduled for February 13.

More pre-State Championship information will be in next month’s Nebraska Bowler.

NHSBF Rule Changes

As I wrote in the previous post, the Coaches Summit afternoon session was informative for the coaches and for the NHSBF board members.

A few rule changes for the JV State championships were proposed by the coaches in attendance.

The first proposal was to allow seniors to compete in the JV State Championships. This rule changed passed.

The second proposal was to drop the team size to four players for the JV State Championships. This proposal also passed.

Missed Deadline

It seems like once a year I get busy and miss a deadline. Usually it's later in the season, but this year I've blown my first deadline. I missed October's cutoff for the Nebraska Bowler.

It happens.

Since the last column, we've held our Coaches Summit, which was well-attended and we were able to get close to 40 coaches the technical training they need. Bob Rea was on hand to deliver some of the more critical corrective techniques that coaches can use with their bowlers. Bob's one of the best at delivering this information. Thanks for being with us in Kearney!

In the afternoon session, John brought the coaches up to date on the progress to date with getting a proposal submitted in as many of the six NSAA legislative districts as possible. We've got two districts committed to submitting the proposal, so we'll see how the votes go in November.

I talked a little bit about the ASEP training, and was pleased to hear that many have either finished the course, or are getting started with the material. There will be a more official announcement on this, but I will be able to deliver the Coaching Principles course for ASEP beginning in November.

For coaches who want to take the course in a day, in a classroom setting, this is another option for you. As soon as I have more information on pricing and location of the class, I'll post it here and I expect that John will send out an e-mail blast to all coaches.

The Final Exam

I'm back to writing after getting finished with the Coaching Principles text. I took the final exam last night, and I scored 97%. I was surprised and pleased with the score.

As an adult learner, I get a bit paranoid about tests. In this case, I needed to score at least a 90% to be eligible to become an instructor for ASEP. That created some additional pressure as I made my way through the 100-question exam.

The test is well written and well organized. There are 4-6 questions for each of the 20 units, with half multiple choice and half true/false. I spent about 90 minutes on the test, which might have been too long, but I wanted to make sure I understood each question and the answers I was choosing.

The next step toward becoming an instructor is ordering the teaching materials (lesson plans, text, and DVD) and then going through an orientation. Hopefully, I'll be ready to start teaching the course in November.