legal lineup and forfeitures

My league is an all-women league.  We have six teams with three bowlers on each team.  What is the appropriate legal lineup for such a small team?  Last year we had five bowlers on each team, but several of our members quit to form a coed team, so we had to form smaller teams this year.  When we had five bowlers on each team, our legal lineup was three, since there are only three members per team, we can't use that as our legal lineup.  Can we use one team member as a legal lineup, and still abide by USBC rules?

 

There was some discussion last week, with members wanting to not have a forfeiture rule if an opposing team was not available for any particular night of bowling.  However, I do know, per the USBC Handbook of Players Rules, that all sanctioned teams must have a forfeiture rule.  I have found no information regarding what a legal lineup is.  Can anyone advise me on this?  Can we use one as our legal lineup on a three bowler per team league?

 

 

You may want to send your inquiry to rules@bowl.com to see what their official ruling on this would be.

 

Thanks! 

Scott Scriver
scott@nabso.com

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Scott does make a good point about contacting Rules at USBC but remember that any league can make reasonable rules to their league. Every 3 person team league that I've bowled in has been 1 person constituted a legal line-up. Also remember that last year the USBC gave teams UP TO the time of bowling to request a postponement; so if something happened last minute a team wouldn't have to forfeit just because they couldn't fill a team for that night.

 

Good Luck,

John

One bowler on the team's roster constitutes a legal lineup for a three bowler team provided your rules cover the situation.  Two for four place teams & three for five.  You can also find an explanation of this in the BLS software under rules definition.

 

Bill