The 2019-20 bowling season came to a sudden, unexpected halt in the middle of March and opportunities to bowl in a competitive environment have been almost non-existent since then. Today marks a step towards getting back on the lanes for some of us - it’s draft day for the Friday Night All-Stars at St. James Lanes! The league will look different this season (at least at first), but it will still be nice to get back on the lanes competing against other bowlers.
Over the past week, we’ve had a few new bowlers put their names in, so our final draft list has 51 names (plus the 16 captains) - unfortunately, we will be missing the legendary Glen Howarth, an All-Stars staple and one of the best bowlers in Winnipeg, as he's still recovering from an injury. Chelsea Kehler, Mark Goldsworthy, Chloe Fleming, and Cody Ouellette are now in. (a previously published version of this post indicated that Neil Stewart had removed his name; he is now back in!)
Now if you know me you’ll probably know that I am a draft nerd - I love fantasy sports, mock drafts, and if there’s a sports draft of any sort out there that I can watch or follow along with, I will do it. So, as I mentioned in the mock draft I wrote last week, this is one of my favourite times of the bowling season. The draft order changing every round based on team average adds a layer of strategy and as a captain, it's a fun challenge to try to balance drafting a high average vs. drafting for positioning in the next round... trying to keep team chemistry in mind all the while.
A few years ago we started streaming the Friday Night league draft over Facebook for people to follow along, and so far it’s been pretty successful and we’ve had a lot of good feedback. I am really excited for this year’s stream. Amanda and I (well, mostly Amanda) have put a ton of work into getting it ready, taken inspiration from the way some professional sports leagues broadcast their drafts, and refined our presentation. If I may say so myself, it looks really good.
If you’re a bowling fan, Friday Night league member or otherwise, check out the draft stream tonight at 7:15 PM (central) and follow along!
