Source Spotlight: USBC's Rule Masters

USBC's Rule Masters

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In charge of the rules: Mike Spridco

 

One of the major benefits of becoming a member of USBC is having the chance to participate under the same set of standard rules as every single member. But who determines the rules? How are rules changed? 

To help answer some of those questions is USBC Managing Director of Association and Membership Services, Mike Spridco. Mike recently sat down with us to talk about some of the things the Rules Department handles on a day-to-day basis.


What does the Rules Department handle at USBC?

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Maintaining the sport's integrity: The USBC Rules Department


Our day-to-day responsibilities include responding to questions from members concerning league and tournament rules, from simple ones like is a pen falling on the lane a foul to the more complicated issues on when should a forfeit be declared. We also will make final decisions on protests and appeals stemming from decisions made by either the league board of directors or a tournament manager.  

We also process requests for disciplinary action, ranging from individuals not paying league fees or getting into fights, all the way to league and association officers misusing funds. Some of these misuse cases can be bonded, which is our insurance policy for league prize funds and association funds. All bond claims start out in our area. We also are responsible for reinstating memberships after the individual has complied with the terms of their suspension and made a request to be reinstated.

Other responsibilities that are not as common include processing requests for an individual’s average to be adjusted in accordance with Rule 4e, rerating a bowler’s average when the average does not appear to be conducive to the player’s ability and having final determination on if a member is eligible for award recognition.

During the year, we our responsible for handling all legislation that comes to USBC through the field, staff or committee and for getting the rule book printed.

How many disputed cases do you average per year? Around 200 – 250 league or tournament appeals a year. For suspension cases, we see upwards of 800 with approximately 25 of them escalating to the Legal and Legislative Committee.

 

How many rule changes are there each year?

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Working away: USBC Rules Counselor Ben Brose


To the USBC Playing Rules book, we get around six requests a year and about half of them are adopted.

For Bylaws, we average around 18 requests with around six that get approved.

 

And how are those decisions made? 

Requests for changes are made by members, USBC staff, USBC Committees or the USBC Board of Directors. The USBC Legal and Legislative Committee review the requests and make a recommendation to the USBC Board. The USBC Board reviews the proposal and makes a recommendation to the USBC delegates who ultimately make the decision. 

Changes to the General Playing Rules, Youth rules, awards and Athletes are approved by the Board and do not go forward for a vote of the delegation.

 

How have the rules adapted to the changes in bowling as the sport has evolved?

Changes to the playing rules have evolved more due to changes in bowlers' lifestyles and technology. These changes have prompted a change to allow teams to bowl unopposed and without a league officer present to verify the scores. 

I have a rulebook from the early 1900s and with the exception of some minor word changes, some of the same rules that were in place back then are still in existence today. 

The sport has evolved more on the equipment side which has prompted changes for the Equipment Specifications Committee.

The Rules team is using technology to help educate the league officers and bowlers. Our rules page on BOWL.com has answers to commonly asked questions we receive, an area called MythBusters were we bust or confirm some of the popular myths out there about bowling, a one-stop booklet for tournament managers they can use to start and execute a successful tournament and a whole lot more. Be sure to visit us at BOWL.com/Rules to learn more.