Kansas City Open Youth Bowling
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    TOURNAMENT RULES - 2008 / 2009

    Entry/Competition Rules / Fees
              1. Sanctioning
           2. Entering Average -- UPDATED FOR 2008
           3. KCO Average for New Bowler -- UPDATED FOR 2008
           4. KCO Carryover Averages -- UPDATED FOR 2008
           5. Rule 319 -- UPDATED  FOR 2008
           6. KCO Calculated Average
           7. Refusing Entries/Average Re-rating
           8. Divisions By Average
           9. Handicap
         10. Divisions not full

    Competition Rules
          11. Membership Fee
          12. Entry Fee Breakdown
          13. Back to Back Squad Bowling
          14. Ways to Enter
          15. Pre Registered Entries
          16. Prize Fund Returned
          17. Invitational Scholarship
          18. Ties during qualifying or stepladder finals
          19.     Scoring Error Corrections
             20. Dress Code -- UPDATED FOR 2008
          21. Alcohol and Tobacco Products
          22. Bowling area
          23. Food in Bowlers Area
          24. Foul or Abusive Language and Gestures Prohibited
          25. No Abusing Equipment Allowed
          26. Violation of Tournament Rules
          27. Protests and Appeals

    Awards
         28. Individual USBC Honor Awards
         29. Monthly Division Champions
         30. Stepladder Finals
         31. Season Point Leader in Each Division
         32. Perfect Attendance

    Youth/Adult   
       
    Scholarship Policy

     

     

    Entry & Competition Rules / Fees

    1.            The Kansas City Open is a USBC Youth Sanctioned tournament.  All entrants must be a USBC Youth Sanction member.  All bowlers must fill out a sanction card at their first tournament of the current season even if your sanction fees are paid through your league.  USBC Youth sanction membership fees for Kansas or Missouri can be purchased through the KCO.  All tournament rules follow in accordance with and comply with and are governed by USBC Youth rules.  

    a.       Only one entry per bowler per tournament is allowed.

    b.      Falsifying membership will result in disqualification and loss of any scholarship awards and entry fees for all tournaments bowled while found ineligible.

     

    2.            ENTERING AVERAGE for KCO tournaments will be: 

    a.   KCO Carryover average for bowlers who qualified for the 2007-2008 invitational scholarship   tournament.

    b.   New Bowler:  Defined as a first time KCO tournament bowler or bowler that did not qualify for the previous season’s invitational scholarship tournament.  Your entering average will be based on:   

          2008 - 2009 Highest sanctioned league average at time of participation based on a minimum of 9 games (if not, use:)

    2007 - 2008 highest sanctioned league average (if not, use:)

          2008 - summer highest sanctioned league average.

    If none of these apply, the bowler must bowl scratch until a KCO average is established.   

    NOTE:  High School averages are NOT accepted.

    c.       Falsification/Error on an entering average for new bowlers:  Bowlers are responsible for verifying their own average, whether submitted by themselves or others.  If the submitted entering average is lower than required and results in a lower classification or more handicap, the bowler’s score is disqualified.  If the submitted average is higher than required, prize winnings will be based on the submitted average.
     

    3.            KCO Average for New Bowlers: After a bowler’s first point tournament of the current season, your KCO average will be established based on the total scratch scores of those games bowled.  Entry into all subsequent events of the current season you will use your KCO average.  All subsequent averages will be calculated and based solely on the current season’s total pin fall/games.
     

    4.            Bowlers with KCO Carryover Averages:  After a bowler’s first point tournament of the current season, their average for the second point tournament of the current season will be the carryover average X 6 plus the scratch total from the first point tournament bowled divided by 12.  All subsequent averages will be calculated and based solely on the current season’s total pin fall/games.
     

    5.            USBC Rules 319d and 319e are waived.
     

    6.            KCO Calculated Average errors will be corrected immediately upon discovery.  This includes bowler’s average, handicap, and division placement.  Scores of the stepladder finalist game(s) and Youth/Adult tournaments will not be calculated into the KCO average.
     

    7.     Tournament Officials reserve the right to refuse any entry.  Also reserves the right to re-rate an average per USBC Rule 319c prior to the bowler participation/start of the current tournament. 

    8.      KCO Divisions by averages:  
            Division 1 – 200 and Over – Scratch
            Division 2 – 180 – 199 – Handicap
            Division 3 – 160 – 179 – Handicap
            Division 4 – 140 – 159 – Handicap
            Division 5 – 139 and below – Handicap

    9.      Handicap for divisions 2 through 5 will be based on 90% from the
            top of their division’s.

    10.   If Less than 6 Bowlers are in a division, the bowlers will be combined with another division.   Handicap for consolidating division will be 90% of higher division.  If division 1 does not have 6 bowlers, it will be combined with division 2.  The new division 2 handicap will be 90% of 210. 

    11.   Membership Fee of $5.00 per bowler - payable at first season tournament bowled (this money is used to pay for season program and mailing costs). 

    12.    Entry Fee Breakdown:  Bowling Fee $12.00, Award Fee $14.00, Expense Fee $2.00 = $28.   

    13.    “Back to Back” squad bowling will not be permitted as well as pacers will not be allowed. 

    14.    Entries: Bowlers may enter the KCO via: 

    a.      Website Entries: Bowlers may enter by using the entry form on the Internet at 

    www.kansascityopen.com.  This entry method is available until midnight of the Monday 

          prior to the current tournament.

    b.      Entry @KCO Tournament:  As always bowlers may register for the next KCO during the KCO Tournament.

    The $28 tournament entry fee is due and payable at tournament check in.  In case a tournament is canceled for any reason(s), all entries meeting KCO Rule 14a or 14b will count towards invitational scholarship tournament qualification.  Only entries not meeting KCO Rule 14a or 14b deadlines will be deemed late registration and assessed the late registration fee the day of the tournament of $5 plus tournament entry fee.

    Late Registration:  If the bowler does not meet the deadlines of either method 14a or 14b, their entry will be considered late registration and assessed the late registration fee.  All additional fees collected as a result of late registration will be added to the awards for the current tournament season.  Late registration will be permitted only if lanes are available.  If no spots are available a waiting list will be established.  If spots become available prior to squad time they will be filled in the order bowlers are placed on the list.  Spots will be considered available based on KCO Rule 15.

    Please note: Telephone registrations will not be accepted and In addition, please do not ask a tournament official to take your entry at any function other than the KCO tournament.

     

    15.    Pre-registered Entries will hold you a spot in monthly tournaments up to 15 minutes prior to squad time. If you have reserved a spot and you have not checked in 15 minutes prior to squad time you will be considered a “no show”.  Officials may then fill your spot with bowlers from the waiting list established per KCO Rule 14.  If you are not going to bowl and you have reserved a spot, you must call 45 minutes before your reserved squad start time or you will be charged a $5 “no show” fee.  This fee must be paid prior to your participation in future Kansas City Open Tournaments.  If you have prepaid, and you do not meet the 45-minute notification requirement, all but $5 of your $28 fee will be returned.  All “no show” fees collected will be added to the awards for the current tournament season.

     

    16.    All Prize Funds that count toward the invitational scholarship tournament will be returned 100% in awards and scholarships at a ratio of at least one prize for each ten entries.

    a.       The Kansas City Open directors reserve the right to run optional handicap brackets at any or all tournaments except the Youth/Adult tournaments.  Handicap will be based on 90% of 220.  When brackets are run, the Bracket Prize Fund will be returned 100% in scholarship awards to SMART at the end of each tournament.  There will be a first and second place winner in each bracket.  Brackets will be comprised of eight bowlers.  The cost will be $3.00 per bracket.  A bowler can bowl in as many brackets as they like.  First place in each bracket will be an $18.00 scholarship and second place will be a $6.00 dollar scholarship.
     

    17.   The Invitational Scholarship Tournament in June will be by invitation only. To qualify for an invitation, you must have participated in at least five point tournaments or four point tournaments and one youth/adult tournament.  If more than one youth/adult tournament is held during a season, only one tournament can be counted toward qualifying for that year’s invitational scholarship tournament.
     

    18.        All ties for “stepladder finalists” including stepladder games will be decided by a 9th and 10th frame roll-off to include two-tenths of the bowler’s total game handicap if applicable.
            

    19.    Scoring or tournament procedure issues-Scoring errors or obvious pin errors must be corrected by a KCO director, tournament staff or designated scorekeeper immediately upon discovery.  If any questionable errors occur, play needs to stop immediately and tournament management must be notified to resolve the problem before bowling continues.     

    20.    Dress Code:  The KCO dress code policy is consistent with the USBC National Junior Gold Rules.  Competitors shall provide their own bowling shirts with butterfly collar or mock collar.  Mock collar must be one inch up on the neck.  All will be required to wear full-length slacks/pants.  No skirts, skorts, walking shorts, Capri pants or culottes will be allowed.  Shirts with sleeves cut off, torn, or ripped may not be worn.  All apparel worn by competitors shall be loose fitting and not made of denim, fleece or spandex-like material.  Jeans of any color, bib overalls, scooters, warm-up suits or clothes with drawstrings at the waist or elastic at the ankles are not allowed.  Also no cargo type slacks/pants are allowed.  No writing on or defacing of the bowling shirt will be permitted at any time.  Advertisements on apparel or bowling equipment depicting alcohol, tobacco, and/or gambling will not be allowed and may result in disqualification from the tournament.  Hats and/or any type of headgear including electronic devices cannot be worn while competing.  Tournament officials will rule on questionable attire. 

    21.   Alcohol and Tobacco Products.  The KCO tobacco and alcohol policy is consistent with the National Junior Gold policy.  Competitors are not allowed to use tobacco products during competition or related events or while in there bowling attire.  Failure to comply with this rule will result in a verbal warning.  A second offense will result in disqualification from the tournament and related events.  Consumption of alcoholic beverages and/or use of illegal drugs by any participant at any time will result in disqualification from the tournament and related events.  All youth bowlers under the age of 21 may not enter the bar area without a parent or guardian present.  Tobacco & Alcoholic Consumption by spectators will be restricted to DESIGNATED AREAS ONLY. 

     

    22.    Bowling area will be limited to bowlers competing in current qualifying squad or active match play, scorekeepers, and tournament officials.  Tournament officials will define the bowling area.

     

    23.    No Food will be permitted in bowling area.

     

    24.   No Foul, Abusive Language, Gestures and/or Threatening Behavior at anytime.  Violation is subject to KCO Rule 26 enforcement.
     

    25.        No Abusing the Equipment at anytime.  Violation is subject to KCO Rule 26 enforcement.
     

     26.     Competitors who violate tournament rules and/or participate in conduct derogatory to USBC YOUTH rules are subject to immediate ejection and disqualification, disqualification from one or all-remaining tournaments for the current season and/or permanent suspension from the KCO and/or USBC.. 

    27.   Protests and Appeals:  All decisions of the tournament officials are final unless an appeal is made in accordance with USBC Rule 329. 

    AWARDS

    28.        Individual USBC Honor Score Awards The KCO will provide appropriate documentation of the award that can be taken back to the bowler’s regular youth center.  If a bowler does not bowl in a regular league, they can send the documentation in to USBC themselves.

    29.        Monthly Division Champions will have the option to purchase a bowling shirt selected by the Kansas City Open directors at the fair market value of the cost of the shirt, the cost of the lettering and any applicable sales tax.  Payment for these shirts must be made in full before the shirt can be ordered.  The KCO will always have a least one-shirt choice available and try to have several shirt choices if possible. Larger shirts may cost a few dollars more than the smaller ones.  The lettering will include the KCO logo, champion, and the year of the current tournament season and the name of the bowler.  Only one shirt purchase is allowed for each monthly division winner but a bowler will be allowed to purchase a shirt each time they are a monthly division champion.  If a bowler does not purchase a shirt at the time they win a division, they will also be allowed to purchase a shirt until the end of the current season.  The KCO directors will make every effort to have the shirts available at the next point tournament. 

    30.        All Stepladder finalists (1 - 5) will be awarded a scholarship prize that will be deposited in to their SMART accounts after each tournament.  The monthly breakdown will be based on a minimum of 59 bowlers.  With 59 bowlers, the breakdown for each division will be $50 dollars for first place, $40 dollars for second place, $30 dollars for third place, $20 dollars for fourth place and $10 dollars for fifth place.  If fewer than 59 bowlers participate, these amounts per division will be adjusted down based on the total number of bowlers for that tournament.  All monthly stepladder finalists will receive a plate indicating the place and division they finished in for that tournament.  Each stepladder finalist will have the option to purchase a plaque with their name on it for the fair market value of the plaque, engraving and applicable sales tax.  Only one style plaque will be offered.  The KCO will make every effort to have the plaque at the next point tournament. 

    31.   The Season Point leader in each division will receive a scholarship award.  All participants will receive 10 points per point tournament bowled, plus stepladder points if in stepladder finals.  Participants in 4 or more point tournaments will receive 10 additional points per tournament for all tournaments beyond and including #4.  If a bowler participates in 7 or more point tournaments, they will receive 20 additional points per tournament for all tournaments beyond and including #7.

    Example: 

    Susan bowls in 7-point tournaments.  She receives 70 (10 for tournaments #1 – 10) + 40 (10 points for tournaments #4 – 7) + 20 (for tournament #7) = 130 points.

    John bowls in 4-point tournaments.  He receives 40 (1 –4) + 10 (for tournament #4) = 50 points. Points will be awarded in stepladder finals as follows:

                1st = 40, 2nd = 31, 3rd = 22, 4th = 13 & 5th = 9.
                  

    a.       If a bowler bowls a majority of his/her point tournaments in a division, the bowler will compete for season point awards in that division.  If he/she bowls an equal number of point tournaments in more than one division, bowler will compete for season point awards in the division where he/she accumulated the most points.

    b.  The amount of scholarship money awarded at the annual scholarship invitational tournament could vary from year to year.

    c.   All tournaments are Point Tournaments with the exception of Youth/Adult and Invitational Scholarship tournaments.

     

    32.   Bowlers with Perfect Attendance will receive a scholarship award.  Perfect attendance is defined as participating in all point tournaments in a season.   
     

    Youth/Adult Rules

    33.  In additional to all rules for the individual point tournaments applying to the youths and adults in the Youth/Adult Tournaments, the following will also apply. 

    34.   Sanctioning: The Kansas City Open Youth/Adult tournament is an USBC/USBC YOUTH Sanctioned Tournament.  Youth sanctioning will be based on KCO Rule #1.  Adult bowlers must be USBC members and show a membership card before each tournament.  Adult sanction cards for Kansas or Missouri  must be purchased through the KCO if you are not in a sanctioned USBC League.  Tournaments will be governed by USBC/USBC Youth rules.

    35.     Format: Each Youth/Adult team will bowl one 5-game qualifying block.  There will be two 5-game qualifying squads.  Each qualifying block will be bowled across five different lane pairs in a sweeper format.  At the end of each game, bowlers will move right one pair as soon as it’s available and immediately begin their next game.  Position standings will be posted after the completion of each squad.

    36.     Tournament Entry: Only one entry per bowler is allowed.  This means a youth bowler can only bowl with one adult and an adult bowler can only bowl with one youth per tournament. 

    37.  Entry Fee Breakdown:  Bowling Fee $20.00, Award Fee $32.00, Expense Fee $4.00 = $56 

    38.  Division Placement: The division the Youth/Adult team bowls in will be determined by the youth’s average just like any individual point tournament. 

    39.     Handicap: Youth handicap will be based on KCO rule 9.  Adult handicap will be based on 90% of 220.

    40.     All Youth Stepladder finalists (1 - 4) will be awarded a scholarship prize that will be deposited in to their SMART accounts after each tournament.  The monthly breakdown will be based on a minimum of 18 bowler teams or a total of 36 bowlers.  With 36 bowlers, the breakdown for each division will be $40 dollars for first place, $30 dollars for second place, $20 dollars for third place and $10 dollars for fourth place.  If fewer than 36 bowlers participate, these amounts per division will be adjusted down based on the total number of bowlers-teams for that tournament.  All youth stepladder finalists will receive a plate indicating the place and division they finished in for that tournament.  Each youth stepladder finalist will have the option to purchase a plaque with their name on it for the fair market value of the plaque, engraving and applicable sales tax.  Only one style plaque will be offered.  The KCO will make every effort to have the plaque available at the next tournament.  No champion shirts will be awarded.  At least one prize will be given for each ten entries. 

    41.  Stepladder finals: After both 5-game qualifying blocks are completed, the field will be cut to the top four youth/adult teams for each division.  Youth bowlers will bowl all ties.  The higher seeded youth bowler will select whether his/her team finishes first or last.  The team finishing last will start first on the left lane with the adult bowler for each team bowling first and the youth bowler bowling last.  Each bowler will get two shadow rolls on each lane before their first game.  The team that advances will not receive any additional shadow rolls.  Check-in time for the finals will be immediately following the posting of final qualifying scores.  The stair step finals will begin immediately following check-in. 

    42.  Squad times will be at 9am and 12:00 pm.  Check in time for each squad will be at 8:00am for A-squad and 11:15am for B-squad.  There will be 10 minutes of practice before the start of each squad.  No practice or shadow rolls will be allowed after the start of the block. 

    43.     All participants will be governed by the rules in Chapters II, VI, and VII of the current season’s USBC/USBC Youth Family Rulebook.  A copy of the current season’s rulebook is on file with the tournament directors and is available for inspection upon request or you can visit bowl.com 

    44.     All youth and adult participants must abide by USBC YOUTH Rule 400 of the current season’s USBC/USBC Youth Family Rulebook in regard to USBC YOUTH Membership Eligibility.  A copy of the current season’s rulebook is on file with the tournament directors and is available for inspection upon request or you can visit bowl.com.
     

    SCHOLARSHIP POLICY

    Scholarship Policy

    All Scholarship funds will be deposited with the SMART Program which is administered by the USBC. This feature streamlines the process which allows scholarship winners to access their funds. It also gives bowlers up to six years from the date they graduated high school to use the funds. Bowlers will receive verification from the SMART fund administration regarding the status of their funds. All funds will now fall under the SMART program policies and procedures. For more information regarding this program:

    Bowling Headquarters

    SMART
    5301 S. 76th Street
    Glendale, WI 53129

    Phone: 800-514-BOWL, ext 3307

    Contact Smart
    e-mail smart@bowl.com

    Smart Webpage
    http://members.bows.com/smart