FEATURE
OPEN-DOOR POLICY The grass-roots fight to open bowling centers in four states By Fred Groh
FRUSTRATION... “Certainly, I got phone calls where people were just downright pissed—and I get that—but all in all they really did say, ‘This is the hand that was dealt to us, let’s play it in the best way possible.’ I think they did a great job,” said Ohio executive director Jenny Martin-Clarke. It was the middle of June when we chatted, following almost ten weeks of bowling center closure in Ohio, March 18-May 26. A “frustrating,” “maddening” time for MartinClarke and for BPAA executive directors across the industry. As in some other states, bowling in Ohio was misclassified under COVID-19 operating and reopening restrictions, Martin-Clarke said. It was grouped with travel and tourism, which included major attractions like zoos. “We were adamant that is not where we belong.” At one point, state authorities announced that noncontact sports could resume. “We thought, well, what’s bowling if not a non-contact sport?” remembered MartinClarke. “We thought that was good news, only to find out we were not included. So we decided to start a grassroots campaign.” On May 15, a complaint number was posted on the association’s Facebook page urging calls to the governor’s office and reaching out to legislators to reopen bowling centers. The week that bowling was given its reopening date, Martin-Clarke said, she spoke with a member of the statelevel committee overseeing the lockdown of sports “because he was a cousin to one of our proprietors. I don’t know if that 22
IBI
July 2020
Jenny Martin-Clarke, Ohio’s ED
helped. I believe that our grassroots, our bowlers, our employees— I saw so many who said that they emailed and called—I really believe that’s what did it.”
...AND TUSSLE The story was much the same in Iowa, where bowling was grouped with amusement parks, and fitness centers were allowed to reopen while recreational venues were not. “I helped write a letter to the governor, once we got into May,”
