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.
2025 Winter League Information
Please take a moment to read about our Winter Leagues for 2025. Share our downloadable flyer with your friends and family.
Celebrating the Ten-Year Anniversary. In honor of the Junior Bowling's decade milestone, every participant, including those in the youth league, will be provided a commemorative t-shirt. Our legacy began in 1963 as a youth bowling league within the Crystal Lake Community. That year, the Crystal Lake Jaycees and Metro Bowl partnered to establish a winter youth bowling league. Over fifty years, they had welcomed thousands of young bowlers. Junior Bowling, established as a non-profit organization for the 2015 season, proudly upholds this heritage and has grown to become McHenry County's premier youth bowling program.
Instructional League details. There will be two Instructional Leagues to choose from in 2025. Both Instructional Leagues are available for children ages 5 -10 and will have the same benefits. The first session, Instructional League I, is recommended for children aged 5-8 and will play the season with bumpers. The second session, Instructional League II, is recommended for children aged 8-10 and we will play the season without bumpers.
Scoring Assistance Needed - 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: Youth League Age Adjustment. We have reduced the maximum age limit to seventeen for the Youth League. Participants must be seventeen or younger as of January 1, 2025, in compliance with SafeSport regulations for individuals eighteen and above mingling with younger participants. If a participant turns eighteen during the league, they may continue; however, they must complete the SafeSport certification before bowling post-birthday. For any inquiries, feel free to reach out to us.
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 Friday 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