VP, Mike Barrett, Hoping To Reach New Goals With East Valley USBC Board.
Mesa - - - Did you ever stop and take a minute to think about this.
Stop and take a minute to think that if you were an individual entering the business world for the first time, what fortune 500 company would you like to resemble the most? For Mesa Metropolitan Association (MMA) Vice President, Mike Barrett, this is an easy one.
Because:
When the MMA needs a bowling center to be inspected and certified, he is there. When the MMA needs an extra person to work an association event, he is there. And when the MMA needs someone to deliver honor score awards to a center, he is there.
Even just like State Farm Insurance at 3:00 am. Because like a good neighbor, he is there to do his part for the MMA. After 11 years as a board member, what would be different about this picture, is if he wasn't there to lend his support to the East Valley USBC Association.
"I was a league officer at the time, and their were openings coming up on the board. This was something where I thought I could help out with," he said, on a recent Monday afternoon at AMF McRay Lanes in Chandler. "I came on the board during a time, when we merged with the USBC (2005). I also thought I could help make the transition smoother.
"My first impression was, the merger was not going to be as tough to push it through here, like it was in other associations," he added. "It took the women a little longer to get used to the merger, than the men."
The former resident of Lubbock, Texas., has been living in the Valley for 43 years, and he is employed as a Master Plumber with Maricopa County. When he joined the board, some of the centers in the MMA, still had wooden playing surfaces.
"I took the CLIP course at the USBC convention one year, and that is how I became involved with lane certification," he said, on how he got involved in certifying lanes. "There has not been any change on how a center is inspected. I personally have never inspected a wooden lane center."
"When a 300 is rolled, there is no longer an inspection done afterwards. The person who rolled the honor score, fills out a form," he continued. "Periodically, a tape inspection is done. Tape is put across the lanes, and oil gets on the tape. We then run the tape through a computer, and the computer prints a lane graph."
The way a center is inspected and certified, is based on the number of points it earns during the inspection. Among some of the items that are looked at during the inspection are: the level of the lane bed, the depth of the gutters, and the depth of the pit area. A center can also fail a lane inspection, if repairs have to be made. Lane inspection certificates are good for one year.
His highest average on wooden lanes is 160. On synthetic its 205.
"Its easy to say yes, that synthetic lanes have been where my truer average has been," he says, of his playing surface preference. "That's because: the movement of the ball is better. The oil pattern stays longer. And the approaches are much better. For some it did not make any difference, because they still used plastic balls, and threw it down the middle of the lane."
Mike will be running for president of the MMA at its membership meeting in May. That's because current president Marcia Dault's term is ending this year.
"This will be a position that will require more of my time than it does now. I debated on whether or not I should run the last couple of years or not," he said, on his decision to do it this time. "I am ready to take the next step. I would like to improve the communication process between the board and our bowlers. And, make our presence known much better at different houses."
Mike is married to board member Julie Barrett.
"It means a lot to have Julie on the board with me," he said, of his better half. "I value her opinion and judgement. She helps keep me straight also."
Mesa Bowling News - February 22, 2016