SUMMER SPECIAL : From Nonsmokers to Gamblers, There’s a League for All

Hate watching football? You’re not alone. Come fall, the Football Widows will be settin’ em up and knockin ‘em down at local bowling lanes.

Trying to save for a vacation? Bowlers in the Hawaii Bound and Viva Vegas leagues stash some cash while they compete.

Looking for some understanding? The California Moms or O.C. Auto Dealers try to meet people on common ground.

For the more-than-occasional bowler, playing in a league has become a gathering place for people with similar interests--which doesn’t necessarily mean just bowling.

And the leagues have become more specialized. Leagues now fit your own personal tastes.

Don’t like cigarette smoke? Join the Nonsmokers.

Leagues have become a bowling house’s safety net. During the slow periods of the early 1980s, leagues saved many establishments from extinction. Today, they remain the financial base of the business.

“Leagues are your bread and butter,” said Beverly Dowell, who manages the senior leagues at Kona Lanes Bowling Center in Costa Mesa. “With a league, you know you’ll have people bowling each week, each month. Bowling houses are constantly coming up with new ideas to attract league bowlers.”

And that can include incentive leagues--such as Hawaii Bound and Viva Vegas, which charge a fee in excess of the cost of bowling and put the surplus toward group trips at the end of the season.

Every Thursday afternoon, the Jingle Belles league bowls at Kona Lanes. The league, which is year-round, guarantees a rebate in November, just in time for the Christmas shopping. A different version of “Bowling for Dollars.”

In the Jingle Belles, each player pays $8, $3.50 of which goes for lane fees. At the end of the year, every person receives a refund of the remaining cash, plus any prize money they might have won from the league’s sweeps play.

Kathy Acuna, the league secretary, came away with nearly $1,200 last year, which was put toward Christmas.

“I really have trouble saving money,” said Acuna, who lives in Costa Mesa. “This gives me a chance to do that and bowl at the same time.”

Money is a strong inducement, but it’s not the only monetary gain dangled before a bowler’s eyes. No bowling house would be complete without a few Las Vegas leagues, which are the most popular.

The idea is the same as the Jingle Belles, but instead of cash back, the money goes for your hotel accommodations in Las Vegas.

Dave Smith of Riverside, who at times bowls in four leagues a week, is a member of one that features a trip to Las Vegas at the end of the league season.

“You pay a little more for the league, but part of it goes to for your hotel room in Las Vegas,” said Smith, who has been bowling in leagues for nearly 20 years. “You get 40 teams--maybe 160 people--in Las Vegas at the same time and you can’t help but have a good time. Everybody is out and around.”

Said Dowell: “We have one league that goes to Las Vegas to hold their sweeps. They rent a bus, ride out together and bowl . . . and gamble. With Las Vegas so close, it’s a natural trip.”

But not the only one. You can find a league to fit almost any vacation plan--Puerto Vallarta, Hawaii, Acapulco. Bowlers in paradise.

If there’s a place you want to go and if you can find a few other people who have the same desire, you can form a league.

“Your (entry) fees will be a little higher, depending on where you want to go, but most of that goes to cover air fare,” said Dowell, who started as a junior leagues manager in Garden Grove.

Incentives aside, bowlers are able to meet new people in leagues, develop friendships or just stay active. Senior leagues and women dominate the daytime scene. With them, the competition is usually secondary.

But although leagues are as popular as ever, women’s day leagues have dropped in numbers in the past 15 years, mainly because more women are working.

“A lot of women had to go back to work and support families,” Dowell said.

Acuna has seen the Jingle Belles drop from 20 to 12 teams in the last few years. But those who remain rarely miss a session.

“Sometimes women come just to get out of the house,” Acuna said. “If you have kids, most leagues have a day-care room in the house. The supervisor here (Kona Lanes) has seen four of my children grow up and I bring my youngest now, so that will be five.”

With the drop in day-leaguers, houses are trying to attract women in the evenings.

And Monday night Football Widows are common at most lanes.

“The women come bowl and the men sit in in the bar and watch the game,” Dowell said. “Afterward they may bowl together.

“I would say about three-quarters of the leagues are mixed now. That’s a big change from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Husband and wives used to come to a house together, then the men would bowl together in one lane and the women would bowl in another. It’s a lot more fun having them bowl together.”

But don’t get the idea it’s all fun and games. Bowling is serious business to its participants.

Bowling leagues, after all, are leagues. And leagues are meant to be won.

“You get very upset with yourself if you don’t do well,” said Hop English, who has been bowling in leagues for 40 years and bowls in two leagues during the summer and three in the winter.

“We’re definitely all here to try to win. You can’t sit and visit with your friends during games or you’ll lose your concentration.”

Bowling equipment--ball, shoes, wrist supports--is almost a necessity. Better to rely on your own equipment than that of the houses, which is used by the general public--sometimes for years.

“If you’re in a league, you better at least have your own ball,” Smith said. “Myself, I’ve have about $300 worth of equipment in my bag. Some rent shoes (from the house), I don’t.”

Even in the heat of competition, though, there is fun. Smith bowls in five leagues per week, four in Costa Mesa and one in Riverside. But he leaves his competitive drive on the lane when the frames are done.

“You never meet dull people,” Smith said. “Everybody has a good time and that’s what it’s all about.”