Section 3 Team Tournament Rules

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**The rules presented below are to be considered Unofficial and for discussion purposes only**

Tournament Rules    (as of February 2022)

The Section 3 Tournament rules are as follows.  Rules may be amended annually as needed. Rule changes require a majority vote of whole section 3 bowling committee.   

  1. Only Coaches, Section III Committee Members, and ‘Selected Helpers’ will be allowed in scorer’s room.  Name tags may be issued at the discretion of the tournament director.
  2. Check-in begins 1 hour prior to the scheduled start time.  A coaches meeting will take place approx. 30 mins prior to the start time.  [2022] Optionally, this may be replaced with a suitable virtual format.
  3. For scoring purposes, each competing team will be allowed five bowlers and three substitutes.   A School Competing for team awards must begin each game with five bowlers.
  4. A substitute may enter prior to the first ball being thrown of any frame, prior to the 3rd ball in the 10th frame, or in the middle of a frame in case of an emergency for injury or illness.  The substitute bowler entering the game shall assume the existing score and the combined score will count for that team game.
    1. A bowler, having been removed for illness or injury, may not re-enter at any point during the remainder of the competition.
    2. A bowler, having been removed for a substitute, may not re-enter for the remainder of the game.
    3. If a substitution is made, the score for that game is credited to the athlete who began the game. However, that game score AND six-game series is ineligible to be used toward individual awards.
    4. When a substitution is made, the head coach must indicate the change on the team scoresheet. The game score (for the bowler who began the game) should be circled. For the substitute, the coach should enter an asterisk (*) along with the frame number that bowler entered the game.
    5. Penalty: If an illegal substitution is made, an individual score of 0 will be given for every illegal frame. Once a scoresheet is verified (signed) by the opposing coach, scores will NOT be adjusted.
  5. Team coaches will draw for a lane assignment upon check-in at the tournament.
  6. Lane assignments will be grouped by “Class” for the games 1-3.
  7. The tournament will consist of 6 standard team games.  The team with the highest total pinfall for the tournament within their enrollment Class or Enrollment Division, will be declared the winner.
  8. The practice session will be 15 minutes.  Teams will be granted 7 1/2 minutes of practice on their non-starting lane.  At the conclusion of 7 1/2 minutes, an announcement will be made for teams to “switch lanes”.   The remaining 7 1/2 minutes of practice will be completed on the teams starting lane.   Coaches may allow any of their roster players to participate in the practice session.
  9. Only one coach and five bowlers per team may be in the settee area during competition.
  10. At ALL TIMES teams will behave in a sportsmanlike manner, according to their school’s athletic code and Section III Rules.  Profanity and hitting equipment will not be tolerated.  At the discretion of both coaches, the first violation will result in a warning.  A second violation by the same student will result in removal of that student from the tournament.  Once a player has been removed for violation, they may not be allowed back into the tournament.  Further disciplinary procedures will be followed as necessary in accordance with the established Disciplinary Procedures in the school’s athletic code.  A sub may be used so as not to punish the rest of the team.  Scoring will be handled the same as a substitution for injury.  House Rules are to be followed and respected at all times. The Proprietor will have the responsibility for issues like taking off shoes etc. for spectators.
  11. Coaches or representatives are responsible for reporting individual and team scores.  In the event a manual scorecard must be kept, Coaches are not permitted to act as the scorekeeper.   All scoring errors or corrections must be brought to the attention of the official scorer before the start of the next game.  Your team scorecard must be initialed by the head coach and the coach of the other team competing on your pair of lanes.   The official scorer may not accept your scorecard if it does not have the opposing coach’s initials.  Results are official after being recorded by the tournament offices.
  12. No hats or headgear may be worn by the bowlers during matches unless there is a medical or religious requirement that has been approved by their school.
  13. Awards will be presented as soon as all scores are tabulated.
  14. At the completion of the first three games, there will be a short 30-45 minute lunch break.  Seeding for the second three-game set will be power-paired from the center lanes based on positions from the first three games. Bowlers will get 15 min of Warm-ups before the 2nd session begins.
  15. The winning team from Division #1 and Division #2 will represent Section III in the NYSPHSAA State tournament.  If a tie occurs at the end of the six games, a seventh game will be bowled using the Baker system. The first bowler will bowl frames 1 and 6, the second bowler frames 2 and 7, etc., with the higher score declared the tournament champion. If a tie exists after the first Baker system game, subsequent games will be bowled until a champion is declared. State rules allow additional games to be bowled in a tiebreaker situation provided that it meets certain criteria.  Our rules comply with the state rules.
  16. Loud and unnecessary noise is a distraction to the bowlers that are near you.  Please refrain from overreacting while on the approach or in the bowling area.  No artificial noisemakers and/or boom boxes of any kind are allowed for the duration of the tournament.  No electronic devices allowed in settee area, they are to remain on the concourse.  Coaches are allowed to have cell phones in the settee area for emergency use only, and all cell phones must be set to silent mode or turned off.  No playing of any video games during match play. If there is a valid reason for a cell call, it must be approved by the coach and done away from the bowling area and must not interfere with bowlers. No flash photography during a match is allowed.  All necessary ruling will be decided in order by NYSPHAA and USBC procedures.
  17. Rules of the tournament will be those of the USBC and NYSPHSAA, which will not conflict with any portion of those of Rule USBC #400.
  18. There is no entry fee for this tournament.  Section III of New York State will pay the costs.  Teams will only enter one team.
  19. All Section 3 Bowling Tournament bowlers may be sanctioned by the USBC website bowl.com at no cost to the individual bowler or school.
  20. Information regarding the state tournament will be given to the winning school team and the Section Team immediately following the awards presentation.
  21. All entries must be into the tournament director by the due date on the entry form.
  22. Teams that are incomplete (less than five bowlers) will be assigned by the Tournament Committee as a Pace Team if such team is needed to maintain an even number of teams.. However this means that they will not be able to win as a team in the tournament.
  23. The tournament must be bowled on the approved weekend.  In the event of inclement weather or disaster where fewer than 25% of teams are unable to compete, the tournament proceeds as scheduled.  If 25% or more teams can not compete then the tournament may be rescheduled at a later date to be determined by the section 3 bowling committee.  If this is not possible, there will be no Section III tournament and Section III will not be represented at the NYSPHSAA tournament.
  24. Spectator Admission tickets will be sold by Section 3 Athletics.  Ticket prices will be established by Section 3.