Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is this Better Off Bowling?
A1: Better Off Bowling is a non-competitive bowling organization that focuses on having fun and meeting new people over bowling a perfect game. Many of us play kickball, softball, or other social sports during the Summer/Fall, but in the winter like to hang out, bowl, and maybe have a few drinks with friends.

Q2: How does the bowling league work?
A2: Each bowling session is made up of 6 weeks (we usually skip holidays, super bowl, etc). You will have approx. an hour and half to bowl (usually 1-3 games) each week, then everyone heads to our after-bowling bar for a little bit. Because we're a large group, we negotiate discount rates with the bowling alley, so bowling with us is a great deal, plus we get free shoe rentals, and have fun events like bar crawls and/or end of season parties.

Q3: How do I register for a bowling league?
A3: It’s simple! Go to the "Bowling Leagues" menu and pick the city you’re interested in. If registration is open, you should see a registration button on the upper left, otherwise it will say when next registration opens. If registration is open, just click “Register” and follow the prompts! All the info (price, location, dates) is on the right-hand sidebar of the league page. Once you’ve signed up, you can start a team, join a team, or join as a free agent.

Q4: I want to join, but I don't have a team.
A4: Lots of people join without having enough people for a team (you need 6-10 people for a team). One option is to join the “Free Agent” team, made up of other individuals. Another is to create a team with one or two other friends, and invite free agents to join you. However, you are not guaranteed a spot until you have a team of at least 6.

Q5: I want to sign-up, but it says that registration isn’t open. What should I do?
A5: Our sessions run in 6 weeks, taking weeks off for holidays, etc.. Check out the league page to see if it says anything about when the session ends, a new session will probably open for registration around that time. In the meantime, add yourself to the league mailing list (lower right part of league page), and/or follow us on twitter or facebook (links on upper left of league).

Q6: How do I get people on my team?
A6: Only captains can invite players to the team, but the original captain may specify other co-captains. First, go to the team page by clicking on “My Teams” from the Home page, or by clicking on your team on the upper left corner of the league page. You can then invite users via email or facebook, browse free agents/past teammates on site, or search through existing BoB users and invite them.

Q7: I am a terrible bowler, is that a problem?
A7: Absolutely not. Most of us aren’t too skilled when it comes to bowling, but as long as you’re fun and social, nobody cares!

Q8: Am I guaranteed a spot? What happens if I don’t find a team, or my team doesn’t get enough people to join?
A8: Teams are guaranteed a spot when they have the necessary 6 members on their team. All users must be paid and have accepted the invite/request. Users who do not have the full six team members may be combined with other bowlers to make a full team when registration ends, or the users may be fully refunded.

Q9: How does all this work?
A9: First you signup on the website, then you can register for the league, and start a team, join a team, or be a free agent. Eventually registration will end and the season starts. You’ll get emails from the president about bowling and the bar, and automated emails from the website on when you bowl. You’ll meet your team at the bowling alley, get your shoes from the front desk and look at the schedule there to see what lane you’re on if you forgot. Then you’ll bowl for half an hour, your captain will record your scores (can usually get printout from front desk at alley), then everyone heads to the bar to hang out, maybe have a few drinks, and socialize with fellow bowlers.

Q10: I’m worried about privacy – I don’t want my boss to find out I’m in a super awesome bowling league, should I worry?
A10: Nope. Google cannot cache pages with full names, so everything is private. You have the option of going into your profile or privacy settings to make it so only your first name, last initial appears if you’re super worried. Or, you could just use a different last name, that’s fine with us. If you need to change your name, email us at .

Q11: How does scoring work?
A11: Teams can be 6-10 people, and everyone bowls. However, only the top 4 bowlers from any one game count for your teams score that week. If you get in more than one game, you cannot combine scores, say George’s score from game 1, and Sarah’s score from game 2. All scores need to be from one game. However, we record the best scores from each individual as well, so we can keep individual statistics. Even if George’s team doesn’t use his awesome game 2 score (they use game 1), as an individual, he still gets to use his game 2 score. The captain of the team is responsible for entering in all the scores into the website after bowling. Note: It is a courtesy that scores are printed by bowling alley, captains should always record scores just in case.

Q12: What’s up with the profiles and friends thing?
A12: Basically it all comes down to us being a social league. If you’re hanging out at the bar, meet some cool people from the Pin Ninjas, you can then find the people you hung out with and get in touch with them, add them on facebook, etc. Also, we have a “Friend” standings, that compares your individual ranking to people you are friends with on the website. Great way to compete with your friends who you aren’t necessarily bowling against.

Q13: How do the standings work, and what are “awards” all about?
A13: The most important standings, which determines the eventual team playoffs and championship team are the overall team rankings. These are determined first by win-loss-tie ratio, then by team average. However, we also have weekly team rankings, overall and weekly individual rankings, and even friend rankings (how you rank among the people you are “Friends with” on the bowling site, within your session). There are a number of awards you can get, both for being social (e.g., the Flipcup All-star award) given out by the commissioners, and other awards such as the 150 club (bowling a 150 or above), etc. You’ll have to discover most of the awards yourself, but when you get them, you have them forever on your profile, and you can publish them to facebook if you feel like reminding your friends that you dominated them in the alley/bar.

Q14: I found a bug in the website, what should I do?
A14: Our website is relatively new, so thanks for spotting a bug! Email us at with as detailed description as you can, we’d really appreciate it.

Q15: I just moved/got a new job/etc, but the season has already started, can I get a refund?
A15: Unfortunately we can’t offer refunds once the session has started, but you can get a friend to replace you if you like, just email us the friends name/email, team name, and your name/email, and we’ll switch you two out.

Q16: I forgot my password, what should I do?!
A16: Go to the “More” menu and select the “Forgot Password” option. If you’re still having problems, email us at

Q17: How do I add/remove personal info?
A17: Click on “Home” under the home menu, then click on “Edit Profile” on the lefthand side.

Q18: Can I pay for friends?
A18: We intend to implement this soon, but right now it is not functional. The best option is to create an account for your friend and sign them up with your credit card, or get your friend to sign-in to their internet account and then pay with your credit card.

Q19: Do you support company teams?
A19: Users can sign-up using their company’s credit card right now, however, we intend to implement a more sophisticated company-friendly system soon.