Tenpin Bowling League Rewarding Skill but also Attendance/Loyalty

Question

I run a bowling league at work which is currently teams of two people bowling once a month against another team. Teams organise a match with their opponent so generally there are matches throughout the month.

I am looking to make it more social to try and get more people involved. My initial thought is to remove teams altogether and make it an individual league. On a set day each month everyone who can make it comes along and bowls (so there will be a larger group i.e. more social). Points are allocated based on each individual's final position on the night (over two or three games).

I am trying to think of a points distribution so that skilled players are rewarded but also people who turn up every month are rewarded as well. I also want to keep it relatively simple to avoid putting people off.

I'm just posting here looking for peoples thoughts on a league like this. I realise I can't please everyone but open to suggestions on how to shorten the gap between competitive and casual players.

Any ideas welcome, many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Give points based on relative position to the last place team, not the first place. Then players can score more only if more people play - the result is that those in contention for overall places will encourage people to come so they can try to catch up faster.

Give a multiplier for points based on consecutive weeks played. You might step it at every K weeks and have a maximum multiplier of X. There is also possibility of only reducing the multiplier by one step each missed week, or even just the count by one week each missed week, so that having one night off doesn't destroy the reward for otherwise being very committed.

Build teams each week based on current ranking. Divide the ranks into e.g. four even grades. A team is randomly formed so that the grades of players add to five. Then a game is randomly formed so that the grades of players add to ten. That way teams are sure to be balanced, and it isn't just good players teaming up against everyone else.

In addition to points from games, each set of four players each week votes for a bonus to the best attitude or fairest player in that group. This can be a single lump of points added afterwards, or B points added to their weekly score before the multiplier.

Answer 2

How about multiplying a players score by the number of times he/she has attended?

Think of 5 players.

Player 1 attends 10 matches and scores 100 per match. Player 2 attends 4 matches and scores 250 per match. Player 3 attends 25 matches and scores 100 per match. Player 4 attends 15 matches and scores 150 per match. Player 5 attends 50 matches and scores 80 per match.

Player 1 has (10 x 100) 1000 points. Player 2 has (4 x 250) 1000 points. Player 3 has (25 x 100) 2500 points. Player 4 has (15 x 150) 2250 points. Player 5 has (50 x 80) 4000 points.

This rewards players for both their skill and their attendance.