Our leagues provide an experience no other youth bowling league in McHenry County can! We focus on delivering a fun, safe league where the kids can learn the fundamentals of bowling. We have our leagues at Metro Bowl for one reason…it develops better bowlers! Bowling on high tech wood composite lanes, manual scoring and the lack of “flashy” lighting lets the kids focus on bowling. Good bowlers at Metro Bowl are amazing at “Mega” Bowling Centers.
The Junior Bowling Association of McHenry County currently hosts three leagues at Metro Bowl between January and March every year. Each league is split by age and is treated separately for standings and awards.
2026 Winter League Information
Please take a moment to read about our Winter Leagues for 2026. Share our downloadable flyer with your friends and family.
Instructional League details. There will be two Instructional Leagues to choose from in 2026. This year, we have adjusted the Instructional League age ranges. The first session, Instructional League I, is for children aged 5-8 and will play the season with bumpers. The second session, Instructional League II, is for children aged 8-11 and we will play the season without bumpers.
Note that if your feel that your child could bowl in a higher league, let us know and we can move them after registration.
Scoring Assistance Needed in Instructional Leagues - Parents, your help is crucial for assisting the younger children with scoring in Instructional League I, possible in Instructional League II. Knowledge of keeping a bowling score is not required; simply recording the number of pins knocked down will suffice. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Attention: Age and Birthday Information. We have changed the way we calculate "League Age" in all of our leagues. Your child's league age is their age on January 1st. For Youth League, if a participant turns eighteen during the league, they may continue; however, they must complete the SafeSport certification before bowling post-birthday or any tournaments.
League Start Times are the same as last year.
We have kept the start times for our leagues to keep a good flow of parents and youths in and out of Metro Bowl and provide time to prepare for the next shift
Instructional League I - 9:30am
Instructional League II - 11:45am
Youth League - 2:00pm
Make-Up Games: Due to the numerous adult leagues at Metro Bowl, open bowling sessions are unavailable. Consequently, we cannot provide pre or post bowling slots during the week for any games your youth may have missed. A standard absent score will be applied for the weeks your youth is not present. Please note, if an empty lane becomes available during another shift, there may be an opportunity to make up the game or pre-bowl; however, this is not assured at the moment.
An Installment payment plan for all registration fees is available for a small fee. This fee covers the second website and merchant fee to charge your credit card again. We understand that our league starts near the holidays and funds can be tight especially if you have multiple kids registering. The first half of the payment is due on registration, and the second half is due on the last Saturday of January.
Finally, if you have a preferred team your child would like to play with, you and your teammates should register on the same day / time. Send us an email when your teammates have all registered. The expectation is our league will be full this year.
Please Note that you don't need to have a team to register for our leagues! We'll put you on a team with similarly aged kids and balance the teams out evenly.
Questions? Email us at [email protected] or give us a call at 815-526-7950