Bowlers Journal International - February 2008 - (Page 72) UPCLOSE A MAN, A PLAN, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, IT'S A SECRET COLOR JOHN AMEND BOWLING'S BIGGEST 'MAN OF MYSTERY,' WHOSE PLANS INCLUDE GETTING INTO THE BUSINESS IN AN ENTIRELY NEW — BUT, SO FAR, UNREVEALED — WAY. WHEN DALLAS REAL-ESTATE mogul John Amend rediscovered bowling a few years ago, it was an epiphany. He built a $1.5 million, 5,000-sq.-ft. bowling alley with four lanes next to his home, a 10-acre replica of George Washington's Mt. Vernon estate that once belonged to legendary oilman H.L. Hunt. The center, appropriately named BowlVern, includes a brick pizza oven and an 82inch high-definition TV. He also brought in a full-time coach — Randy Little — and began inviting the sport's top players for exhibitions. Amend is President of The Amend Group, and his reputation has attracted such guests as Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks to compete in his Wednesday-night CEO league that is now in its fifth season. Amend says he would like to branch out and get involved in the bowling business in an as yet unspecified way. BJI's Jim Dressel was unsuccessful in getting him to reveal his plan(s), but he enjoyed an otherwise revealing chat with the Texas entrepreneur. You enjoy bowling and have said you'd like to get involved in the industry. How do you view bowling as a business opportunity? Bowling has not yet achieved the type of participation — the philosophy, if you will — that it is destined to achieve. Hopefully, that will be achieved in the not-too-distant future. The increase in open play and party bowling, etc., is not really where I think bowling needs to go. 72 bowlers journal international Can you be more specific? My focus has been on the development of what I call the lifetime bowlers. It’s no secret that league play continues to diminish, so the million dollar question is how do you stop that? I’ve had a great opportunity over the last three years in my little center in a bit more than 200 different events to witness a demographic excitement in bowling that most people aren't able to see. I thought your Bowl Vern center stressed parties and such, not the competitive atmosphere. Well, I guess you're going to have to define 'competitive.' I’ve had two ex- ecutive bowling leagues with CEOs and such, I’ve had two couples leagues, I’ve had an infinite number of corporate parties and charitable events, and while some of those are social gatherings, the other ones are quasi-competitive. But we haven’t had a tournament where the pros or the amateurs come out; it’s not like that. Then what is the atmosphere or aura that you think bowling should develop if it wants to move forward? What bowling brings to people — which isn't a secret to those involved in it, but is to those who are not — is that it is the greatest relationship-building activity that I know of, spanning couples, families and groups. One reason is that bowling has the widest age demographic of any participation sport — you can do it when you are 3, you can do it when you are 103. And people do. It’s gender indifferent; you can do this whether you are a man or a woman. It’s a sport at which you can improve and it's a sport for people who want to feel good about themselves. And when I go to the golf course, I don’t necessarily feel good about myself. Why is that? Because it’s very difficult to play golf without spending an inordinate amount of time practicing it, then going to do it. Consequently, I don’t play golf anymore. Yet I’ve seen the self-esteem of men and women who are not athletically inclined enough to do baseball, or basketball, even tennis, and they come into bowling and really enjoy the physiTHE AMEND GROUP FEBRUARY 2008
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.