The sponsor money was there. The league wasn't.

So Tom Fry and Wayne Giesler Jr. decided to form one - and the Butler County Men's Traveling League was born.

"I was working at Family Bowlaway and Goettler Distributing wanted to sponsor a league," Fry said. "They gave me $2,000 to start a league, so I began a triples league.

"Teams weren't committing to it, people were dropping out … I was getting a little frustrated, so I decided to start a traveling league instead."

That was in 1986. The league began with eight teams, ballooned as high as 16 teams in 1996-97, and has dwindled to an all-time low of six teams this season.

The league has two teams based out of Sherwood Lanes, two out of Family Bowlaway, one each out of Mars Lanes and Bruin Lanes.

"We don't start bowling until 9 p.m. because we have to wait for open lanes," Fry said. "Since our league play consists of four games, guys don't get home until after midnight at times.

"The lateness of the league has cost us bowlers and it's cost us teams. Next year, we're looking to start play earlier and add a few more teams."

Each team usually carries a seven-bowler roster. The bowling house each team comes from using that facility for its "home" games. Each team bowls the other five at home and on the road.

Scoring is based on points and no handicaps are used. The visiting team pencils its lineup in first and the home team follows suit.

The lead-off bowler bowls against the opposing lead-off man, etc. Each winning bowler scores a point for his team each game. Teams also score points for overall team scores and total pins.

"It's the best scratch series league in the county," secretary-treasurer Perry Chepelsky said. "This format brings out the best of the best."

Of the 50 bowlers in the league last year, 40 carried averages above 190. Nineteen of those had averages above 200.

Chepelsky led the league with a 216.37 average over 120 games. He was far from being alone, however.

Fry carried a 214.7, Brian Marcellus a 214.18, Dean Kemper a 213.35 and Mike Hilliard a 213.35.

Of bowlers who rolled 100 games or more in the league last year, Chad Shriver II had the lowest average - at 197.86.

Giesler Jr. was president of the league for its first seven years. Ed Kellerman has been president the past 11 years.

"Because the league is scratch, teams can substitute a bowler during a game if someone is struggling that night," Fry said. "That's all part of the strategy."

The traveling league bowls on Wednesday nights because it's an off-night for most other leagues. Virtually all of the bowlers in the league bowl in other leagues.

While everyone is free to form his own team and enter the league, there is a cap of a 630 team average for every three-man lineup. That figure recently rose from 615.

"We have that cap so nobody forms one powerhouse team," Chepelsky said. "It keeps things more competitive and guys can still bowl with their buddies."

"It's still the best league out there," Fry said. "I'd put this league's bowlers up against anybody's."

Fry made certain that records of the traveling league were kept from its inception.

"Accurate and up to date bowling records haven't been kept in this county very well," Fry said. "I wanted to make sure this league kept good records.

"From the first season on, we've done that."

Here are a few facts along those lines:

There have been 48 300-games rolled in Butler County Traveling League play - including eight by Fry.

Fry and Dwight Crowe are the only two bowlers to average at least 220 for an entire traveling league season.

Fry and Shawn Reges are the only two bowlers to put together a four game series of over 1,100. Fry rolled a 298, 258, 289 and 278 during the 1999-00 season and Reges rolled a 240-287-287-289 that same year.

"This league will build back up again," Chepelsky said. "It's too good a league not to."