2021 League numbers up or down?

Bowling News

Last year I did an exercise to look at team numbers in most of the local leagues which showed an overall decline in the take-up of our sport. That table is reproduced below and I have added two new columns to it ready for the 2021 season so that we can judge the impact of a barren year and of COVID-19 on the popularity of league bowling in the town.

At present the number of teams in each league for 2021 remains blank but I will provide regular updates over the coming weeks as leagues firm up on the number of member teams for the coming season. With a year of recruiting new bowlers lost and the COVID-19 impact to factor in should we expect the general reduction in team numbers to continue?

Is anyone concerned about these numbers? Does anyone think we should be doing anything about it? What are our leagues doing to attract new, and retain existing, teams? What are Yorkshire CCGBA and the BCGBA doing about this decline in our sport - anything? Does anyone think that these membership fees will be reduced accordingly or will these organisations expect the same level of income year on year from fewer and fewer clubs?

Click on table to enlarge