Make no mistake, bowling needs a boost.

As we enter 2016, Butler County area sanction bowler numbers are on the decline.

The Butler County Bowling Association’s most recent figures show 30 sanctioned leagues and 904 sanctioned bowlers this season. Those numbers at this time last year were 34 and 1,020.

Go back a few years ago and those figures were much higher than that.

Of the leagues that do exist, few turn in honor scores or significant achievements to the county association. Only a handful of leagues submit their scores to this newspaper anymore.

The county association has its next Hall of Fame dinner in October and has been trying to get nominees for induction. None have been forthcoming.

Butler County has five high school teams — Butler, Knoch, Seneca Valley, Mars and Karns City — in the WPIBL. Add Armstrong to the mix and those teams comprise an entire section in the league.

Butler submits its high school scores to the newspaper on a regular basis. The others? Not so much, if at all.

Junior bowling on Saturday mornings, youth tournaments, you don’t hear much about them.

Adult tournament participation had been falling off at a drastic pace, though some improvement was evident at the BCBA singles tournament in November. That “improvement” was in the form of 81 bowlers when the BCBA membership is over 900.

The doubles tournament is Jan. 10 and 17 at Bruin Lanes. Hopefully, the participation numbers will continue to spike.

But the apathy toward this sport around here is overwhelming.

The question is why.

Butler County has nice variety in bowling houses. Some are big, some are small. There is a nice variety of leagues as well. Some are men’s, some are women’s, some are mixed. Some are serious, others not so much.

So what is the deal? Something seems to be missing here.

This area has been home to true bowling greats. Clearly, there is young bowling talent that continues to emerge that will extend that tradition.

Community pride in bowling needs to return. Maybe that will be jump-started this year as the Butler County Women’s Bowling Association will host the 78th Pa. State Championship Tournament at Family Bowlaway and Sherwood Lanes.

The event runs each weekend from April 8 through June 5 — with the exception of of Mother’s Day and Memorial Day weekends — and will bring plenty of women bowlers to Butler.

How big has bowling been?

Local associations of the United States Bowling Congress hold more than 10,000 tournaments a year nationwide, has raised more than $10 million for Bowl For The Cure since 2000 and more than $45 million for Bowlers to Veterans Link since 1942.

Let’s join, promote and be proud of bowling.

It’s worth it.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle