League News
We have started updating our annual chart of League team numbers as local leagues look forward to a recovery in membership after the inevitable drop in numbers for the COVID-affected 2021 season.
Only three local leagues have already uploaded their 2022 fixture programmes onto the Bowlsnet system and they all show a small increase in numbers. The Huddersfield Veterans League has a 2022 total of 94 teams which takes it back to its 2019 level and apart from pandemic year (2021) they have never had fewer teams in their flagship 10-Man League. Whilst the North Kirklees Veterans League also has a small increase on last year but is otherwise their lowest total membership ever recorded on Bowlsnet.
Not all leagues set up Bowlsnet for the 2020 season so there are no records of their numbers but where they did we have listed them below although no bowling took place that summer season at all.
The colour key indicates the year on year increase or decrease in total numbers, red is bad, green is good, blue is no change. We will keep updating and sharing membership numbers as leagues start to post their fixtures on Bowlsnet in the run-up to the start of the season.
A new column on the right compares the pre-pandemic (2019) totals with this year's (2022) totals. This eliminates the pandemic year (2020) and the varied format leagues of the first post-pandemic year (2021) to give a truer percentage indication of each league's battle against the general decline in numbers.
Last season was a reduction of 36 teams involving 10 Leagues.
So far there’s an increase of 7 teams involving only 3 Leagues.
Whilst this is an encouraging increase , I doubt if the Leagues collectively will get back to the numbers of 2020
Philip of Lindley