San Mateo County Employee
BOWLING TOURNAMENT RULES
2015
(Proposed 2016 – Team Captain Comment Period is January 11 – 15, 2016)
TOURNAMENT COMPETITION
1. ELIGIBILITY All County employees, their spouses or partners are eligible to participate. No players under the age of 18 years old may play. Team membership will be restricted according to department.
1a. For the purposes of this tournament only, a “partner” is defined as a spouse, domestic partner, or friend of an employee. Only one partner may be designated per employee and that individual must be an adult.
1b. For the purposes of this tournament only, a “County employee” is considered to be any active County employee of any type (regular, extra help, etc) or a County retiree. An employee from an affiliated public agency or any individual under current contract with the County to provide goods or services can also be considered a “County employee” in this tournament if that individual possesses a County photo ID card key and submits a photocopy of it as part of the registration process. If no direct affiliation with the County can easily be determined for such an individual, however, then s/he will be considered as a “non-employee’’ and subject to any roster limitations as written in the tournament rules.
2a) TEAM DETERMINATION -- A maximum of 50 co-ed teams will play in the tournament. To assure an equal opportunity for all County employees to participate, team composition will be determined by Department or Division.
2b) The event must have at least six registered teams or it is cancelled.
2c) Individual(s) may petition to join another department. This matter is handled solely by the departments and the teams involved. Whenever possible, individuals are encouraged to remain within their department.
3. It is the responsibility of the Department(s) to coordinate the roster. At least one person from the Department(s) should be designated as a team captain.
This person (or persons) will represent the Department in all pretournament functions. S/he will be responsible for soliciting interest within the Department by contacting all work units, determining Department representation on the team, collecting required fees and paperwork, and in some cases, coordinating with other Department coordinators within the TEAM structure.
4. TEAM ROSTER (5 player Co-ed team). A minimum of two females and two males shall be on the five-player co-ed team. No more than two players on any five-player team shall be non- employees. A team may play with one vacancy (either male or female).
5. PLAYING ON MORE THAN ONE TEAM -- No player registered for a co-ed team event will be allowed to play on more than one co-ed team.
6. Prior to the posted deadline, each team shall submit to the Tournament Coordinator a roster of team players delineated according to the various categories (employee/non-employee, department). Each team will be given copies of the roster of the other teams at the beginning of the Tournament.
7a) Team Captains may submit changes to their team roster to the Tournament Coordinator according to posted deadlines. The Tournament Coordinator will not accept any changes to the roster after 12 noon on the Wednesday before the tournament. Final Rosters are distributed to the Team Captains on Thursday prior to the event.
7b) During the tournament, if it’s determined that a team is fielding players who are not on the final roster or the team is not co-ed (at least two women and two men) or the team is playing with less than four players, that team and its players will be deemed ineligible for tournament awards.
8. TEAM REPRESENTATIVE ("Coordinator") -- At the start of the tournament day, each team shall designate one player to represent the team. This representative will act as the liaison in all matters involving the team and the other teams in the Tournament.
TOURNAMENT RULES
1. TEAM EVENT - The tournament shall consist of a three-game team competition.
2. RULES – United State Bowling Congress (USBC) rules apply, except for handicapping. Foul lines lights will be on and enforced for safety reasons.
3. PLAYER AVERAGE and HANDICAP – Each participants shall report his/her current USBC (United States Bowling Congress) average on the registration form. If an individual does not have a current USBC average, his/her average will be determined on the day of the event.
4. A Five player team must have five players on its roster OR four players plus one vacancy, which will be assigned a score of 140. A team cannot play with more than one vacancy.
4a. No substitutions are permitted on tournament day, except those individuals who have previously submitted paperwork as an alternate/substitute.
5. SCOREKEEPING & RANKING -- All team scores will be inputted, compiled and ranked by a computerized scorekeeping system operated by the bowling alley.
6. Basic rules regarding courtesy on the lanes shall be enforced for safety reasons. They include (but are not limited to):
- One bowler on the approach at a time. If a bowler is already on the approach to either side of you, wait until s/he has released the ball before taking your place on your approach.
- Body language is to be restricted to your own approach. If you step onto the approach to either side, you (or the neighboring bowler) may not be unable to stop and avoid a collision.
- Cheering is acceptable and encouraged, however organized chants can become extremely distracting and are not acceptable.
TOURNAMENT OPERATIONS
1. PRE-TOURNAMENT GAMES -- Teams may informally arrange games prior to the tournament. No official record will be kept of these games.
2. SCORING and HANDICAPPING METHOD - The method for handicapping will be determined by input of the team captains prior to the event.
Handicap shall be 90% of the difference of the bowler's average and 200 and 0 if the bowler’s average is over 200.
Scoring shall be as follows: The game scores from each player will be tallied and handicapped to create a Final Individual Player Score. The Final Individual Player Scores for the five team players will be added together to come up with a Final Team Score. Tournament rankings, top team, top female player and top male player will be determined using this method.
5. TOURNAMENT AWARDS -- Medallions will be awarded to players of the top team, as well as top female player and top male player.
There will be a “best dressed” award given to the team and to the individual male and female who best represents the tournament theme. (Be advised that this is a County- sponsored event and we abide by all County policies. Take extra consideration of this when choosing what you will wear)
5. HOLD HARMLESS -- A team member must sign a hold harmless clause in order to participate in the bowling tournament.
"Your employer or its insurance carrier may not be liable for the payment of Workers' Compensation benefits for any injury which arises out of an employee's voluntary participation in any off-duty recreational, social, or athletic activity which is not a part of an employee's work-related duties."
6. MEDICAL ADVISORY --
Bowling is a sport requiring good muscular strength and coordinated motion in the upper body, back, legs and arm to carry, swing and release a heavy ball of greater than 10 pounds down a narrow alley. A slight forward tilting of the back is required when playing.
Players should be in good physical condition, free of injury and/or musculo-skeletal problems which may limit their ability to play. If a player is currently under the medical care of a doctor, it is strongly advised that s/he obtain written medical clearance prior to participating in this event. Further, it is advised that the player bring this document with him/her to the tournament in case there are any questions
7. FEE -- A fee will be collected from each participant. These monies will be used to offset the direct costs of the tournament. No County monies are used to pay for this event.
8. TOURNAMENT DESK -- Central operations for the tournament will be coordinated at a Tournament Desk and may be staffed throughout the tournament.
9. FIRST-AID KITS -- First aid kits will be available at the Tournament Desk.