Posted by Richard on January 20, 1998 at 23:47:57:
In Reply to: Re: STORMFORCE BOWLING - ONE BIG CON? posted by Manchester Kurt on January 19, 1998 at 17:55:27:
I have just become aware of the debate concerning the award of the trophys from the bowling night and as I am the dad referred to who complained on the night I feel I ought to put the record straight. Juniors were meant to put Jr and adults Sr before their names. On booking your lane you were given a handout explaining the rules. As a family we complied and in his first game my 14 year old son scored 149, a higher score than the winning junior. I approached Carol after the prize was presented and saw she was under siege from other people complaining that the prizes had not been fairly awarded. She was making the point that if Jr and Sr had not been put before the name they could not be considered.
On hearing her tell one mother this whose son had scored 135, I went to the staff at the bowling alley and requested a printout of our lane, for the evening. Ours was the first game played on that lane and shows Johnathans score as 149 with his name preceded by Jr. Having heard the other lads mothers' complaints being dismissed as they had, I showed Carol my sons score sheet, that did comply with the rules. I put the mistake down to human error, but wanted an aknowledgement that a mistake had been made and an apology given. This was not forthcoming. Instead I was given a lecture about the voluntary nature of the work and the fact that she had not had a game of bowls herself. I appreciate the work done by committee members and of the time they give up. I sit on various committees my self and know what a thankless task it can be. However it has to said that you have to have broad shoulders, admit your mistakes when you make them and appreciate that being on the committee has its benefits as regards contacts within the club.
I do not want the trophy taking away from the boy who was presented with it, but at the same time I have a fourteen year old son who has never won anything in his life and was over the moon at the score he obtained on the bowling night. It may be that someone else who hasn,t complained actually beat him, in which case he would feel that he was fairly beaten. As it is at the moment a great evening, which was well organised with a superb buffet has had the edge taken off it. If I could ask for a printout of my lane and obtain my sons score why wasn,t it done by those awarding the prizes. For it to happen once for the adult section is unfortunate, for it to happen twice in the same event makes you wonder if all the scoresheets for all the lanes were actually checked to see who had the highest score.
Just as an aside Carol showed me the printouts she had examined, there were a small number which did not represent by any stretch of the imagination all the lanes in use that night.