League News
Now that we can finally add the Huddersfield League team numbers for 2021 it looks like this table is almost complete. That last addition providing one of the worst drops in team numbers of any of the 24 leagues covered, with only the Barnsley Saturday League fairing worse and that league has folded. Losing a quarter of your teams in one season doesn't bode well for the future regardless of all the extenuating circumstances that came with the pandemic.
It is not a chart that bowlers can take any comfort from. Pandemic year seems to have accelerated the pace of decline of our sport and anyone that thinks that next year everyone will return and everything will be just fine is in denial. Not one of the 24 leagues covered in this survey has increased their team numbers for the 2021 season. Our sport is in rapid decline and no one appears to be doing anything about it.
To lose 131 teams is a staggering loss. I agree that there’s no way teams and players will return next year. Before this season crown green bowling was declining. This year has simply accelerated the decline.
The game needs a concerted effort to recruit new bowlers of all ages. It is a game that has a lot to offer.
Philip of Lindley