I have known Robin for many years now.  She is one of the many people here in Bozeman that has had an enormous hand in keeping the Bowling Association in Bozeman going.  She is the Secretary of the Gallatin Association of the USBC here in Bozeman, MT.  She is also the Tournament Manager as well.  I spent a few minutes talking with her about what she (as well as the rest of the association) must complete before a tournament can be held.  The association meets to discuss and approve:

• Tournament Dates
• Approval of the Entry Form
• Entry Fees
• Entry Deadlines
• Rules and Regulations following Local and National Guidelines
• What events will be included:  team, doubles, singles

As she is the Tournament Manager she will then collect all the entry forms and fees.  She must make sure that all fees are correct and that they do not owe fees on their own leagues.  She then likes to assign lanes by hand over using a computer program.  This is because they like to make sure that they do not have conflicting personalities on the same lanes, and to help keep individuals of like ability together.

We arranged to meet at 11am on Saturday the 23rd of January for the second week-end of the two-week City Tournament.  There were three shifts of games, the first starting at 12:00 pm.  Once there, we first set up two tables side by side.  On one table we set up her computer and printer.  This is the area in which she would be inputting all of the scores and printing the standing sheets after each shift.  The second table was then set up with all of the check-in items.  The individual must show their USBC member cards upon check-in as well as sign-in on the check-in list.  They are then given their lane assignments.  Before the tournament had started Robin had individuals from the Association sign-up for helping out during the shifts.  There are 18 lanes, and she has between 4 and 5 individuals helping her during each shift.  These individuals will roam up and down the lanes to observe rules and regulations are being followed.  Occasionally when a machine is having problem, they will be assigned to that set of lanes to help keep things moving along.  Once everyone is checked-in and it is time to get going Robin then heads to the front desk.

At the front desk Robin then gets on the microphone and makes her announcement of all the rules that the participants must follow during their three games.  The most important of this is the fact that the participants are not allowed to make score corrections or write down their own scores.  Robin or her volunteers will perform that duty.  Once the announcement has finished the lanes are then turned on for 10 minutes of practice.  Once the practice time is over, the games start immediately.  Individuals are must be ready when it is their turn, but also be courteous to those they are bowling against.

At the end of the shift, when all individuals and/or teams have finished their three games Robin gets ready to input the scores into the computer.  To do this she makes sure all scores are written down and totaled before the machines are cleared (the new program the bowling alley is using has everything added for you on the last screen before being cleared).  She inputs the cores into the WinLab program developed by the USBC for League Secretaries and Tournaments.  Once all scores have been entered, she then double checks the handwritten scores to the computer scores to make sure they match.  After all of this is completed she then prints off the ‘current’ standings for the tournament. 

The whole process for one shift takes about 2 ½ hours (including the three games bowled).  Each game lasts about 40-45 minutes, entering the scores and printing the standing sheets off takes about 10-15 minutes.   There is only about 10-15 minutes between the first and second shift.  When it was time for the second shift and the whole process started all over again. 

Between the 2nd and 3rd shifts there is a break of about 45 minutes.  This break allows for the lanes to be re-oiled.  Once the lanes have been finished and any oil ‘spills’ have been properly cleaned up the 3rd shift starts, following the same format as the two before.

Then end of the last shift is between 10:00 and 10:30 pm.  After inputting the scores and printing the newest standings sheet.  We took down her computer and printer and moved it into the pro-shop.  This move is done because the Bowling Alley stays open for Open-Bowling after the last shift has completed.  Robin is afraid that someone may mess or steal her computer if it is left out in the main room.  After about ½ an hour she was ready to go home for the night. 

The whole process would be starting again Sunday morning.  The first shift starts at 9:00 am, so she planned to be back at 8:00 am.

As we were finishing up the night Robin explained the ‘end of tournament’ process.  She would print out a final standings sheet.  Then she would take all of the written score-sheets and put them into divisions and win order.  She will then compare the computer results with the results that she came up with by hand.  When they have matched and there are issues, she will then create a prize list.  To do this she uses a payout chart created by Harvey Pierce (another member of the local association).  Her last step of this is to make sure that the prizes are divisible by 4 (due to dividing prizes among team members).  She has 30 days before the prize checks must be mailed out.

I was exhausted just following her around.  She is a bundle of energy when she gets going.  It may not seem like a lot of work to make sure that individuals are following the rules and getting scores put into a computer, but it really is.