United States Bowling Congress

There are over 3 million bowlers in the United States. The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) is the governing body for bowling in the United States. It was launched Jan.

1, 2005 and fully adopted in the 2005-2006 winter bowling season. It has combined the organizations that oversaw bowling in the United States before its inception: the American Bowling Congress (ABC), the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC), the Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA), and USA Bowling.The ABC was considered the men's bowling association (although women could join) and was the sanctioning (see below) body for "men's" bowling, the WIBC was the women's bowling association (men could not join) and sanctioning body and YABA was the youth's sanctioning body. USA Bowling was the world-wide representative of the United States in international competition. Now there is just one governing body and international representative: USBC.The USBC Mission statement states that they will ensure the integrity and protect the future of bowling by providing programs and services for the bowling industry and enhancing the bowling experience.

Basically, they oversee and continue to improve the bowling industry as a whole in the United States.What is sanctioning?.While it is not a requirement that any bowling league is sanctioned, it is highly recommended.

Every league that is sanctioned does so through the USBC. Basically this is membership in the USBC; it includes a lot of benefits, a few of which are listed here:.

• Awards (plaques, rings, watches, patches, etc?) for certain achievements based on your average (more on averages later)
• An Adult and a Youth magazine (included with your membership)
• A membership card
• Consistent game play
• League bowling ? providing a certified average for each bowler
• Bonding protection ? league money is protected in sanctioned leagues
• Tournaments
• Testing of Bowling Pins, Balls, and Products
• Rulebook and enforcement thereof

This is so that USBC awards can be presented to those achieving them, and averages are listed in your association's (see chapter 8) book (usually called your "book average"). If a league is not sanctioned by the USBC, the average that you obtain in that league will not be recognized by most tournaments. It is very unusual for a league to not be sanctioned.For a league to be sanctioned, every bowler in the league must pay a fee to the USBC at the beginning of the year. This is the "sanctioning fee" and usually can be paid in with your regular league dues during the first week of bowling.

The league secretary usually takes care of sending the sanctioning fee to the USBC for sanctioning of the league.USBC Rules.The USBC has created a rulebook to govern the game of bowling. This rulebook is very extensive (over 120 pages) and can not be covered in this book. For the complete rulebook, visit your local bowling center, or the USBC website (www.bowl.

com).As examples, the rules below are sited in average calculations for tournaments a lot:.319a-2
When the previous season's average is used, and at the time of bowling an entrant has a current average for 21 or more games that is 10 pins or more higher than the prior season's average, the current average must be used.

319c
The average of a bowler may be adjusted upward before participation in any event. If the assigned average is not accepted by the bowler, the entry fee shall be refunded.The rulebook is very complete, covering everything from the approaches and equipment, to scoring and bowler's etiquette. I highly recommend reviewing the rulebook before starting to bowl, but most bowlers are familiar with the necessary rules, and if there is a dispute, every team captain on a league should have a copy of the rulebook, and at the very least the secretary will have one.

It is important to note that the rules in the rulebook are not absolute. A league may have its own set of rules and completely ignore the rulebook (few, if any, do) or a league may override some of the rules in the rulebook and use the rulebook as the default for any rules not overridden by the league rules (this is much more common).Awards/Trophies.The USBC offers many awards for bowlers. Some of the awards are based on current league average and some are based on score alone. For example, the 300, 299, 298, and the 11 in a row awards are all based on game score and 800 and 900 awards are both based on actual series (3 games).

There is also an award for a game of 250 to 297 with a 170 average or below, 200 to 249 with a 160 average or below, 180 to 199 with a 140 average or below, etc?. There are awards for 75 and 100 pins over average in a game as well. Only one of these awards is allowed per year, and if a higher award is earned, it will be recognized, however the gift that goes with it will not be given.

There are many other awards that are given for league play, but they vary from league to league (see Awards in Chapter 6). To get a full list of the awards available from the USBC and the conditions around them, go to the rulebook (Rule 50, Chapter 3).As you can see the USBC does its part to reward bowlers for bowling well.

This all makes for the game to be more exciting and rewarding to the bowler. Improving your game is exciting and rewarding!.Keep bowling and having fun!.

com/mkolar99.My Website: http://www.BowlersEverything.com.

By: Mike Kolar