What’s wrong with bowling?
by Leonard Harris

This is a question that I discuss with other men during league play at our local bowling center.  The view shared by those in our group is that something is not right with our favorite pastime.  Phrases like “there used to be leagues all the way across the house at 6 and 8:30 p.m.” and “all those bowling centers around here have closed down” come up in our conversations.  These things cause us to share the idea that bowling is dying and make us wonder where it will be in the future.

For those that have been around the bowling scene in Fort Worth for the last 30 years, times have changed.  GSL Bowlanes moved down the street and became Forest Park Lanes and was wrecked and replaced by a restaurant.  Race Bowl changed names to Fort Worth Bowl and burned down.  Richland Bowl closed.  Bowlerland became a retail store.  Wedgewood Bowl sits unoccupied still.  Berry Bowl’s sign still stands next to the empty lot.  Meadowbrook Lanes was purchased by Texas Wesleyan University and was bulldozed to host a soccer field.  Ridglea Bowl now holds an ice rink.  Don Carter’s first center in Fort Worth now houses a church.  Even First United Methodist Church has shut down the four lanes that were in their basement.  The only older neighborhood centers left are Cowtown and Hurst Bowl.  All these centers have gone away since 1977, leaving memories behind for those that once frequented them.

But wait, hold the phone!  Bowling is not dead.  League bowling has declined over those same years, but bowling is still the largest participatory sport in the country.  More people bowl each year than play golf, fish, play tennis, pool, go bicycling, ice or roller skating, running, or hunting.  Open bowlers are now the usual customer at the bowling center rather than the league bowler.  Senior bowlers are the fastest growing segment of the bowling population as the average age of the United States increases each year.  Perhaps the best news of all is that young people have begun to rediscover bowling via bumper bowling and birthday parties.  High schools are organizing bowling teams with the creation of the Texas High School Bowling Council.  Bowling in the year 2007 is a $4 billion business nationwide.

Our sport is evolving as we speak.  As an avid league bowler and being somewhat old-fashioned, I look back at the past and long for the “good old days”.  However, maybe these are the good old days.  The fact that younger people are bowling with greater frequency means that our centers will have enough business to stay open.  Two new “entertainment centers” with bowling lanes have been built in Tarrant County in the last few years.  Let’s hold off on writing bowling’s obituary and wait to see if some of those young open play bowlers move on to become competitive league bowlers.  We may be on the brink of a whole new era where the popularity of the sport we love explodes to a higher level of visibility and enjoyment.  In the meantime, take some time to visit those centers around and bowl a game or two with your family.  You never know when your nearby lanes will close for good.