BOURNEMOUTH EVENING TRIPLES BOWLING ASSOCIATION

RULES & REGULATIONS

(updated at the AGM - 27th October 2024)

The League shall be known as the Bournemouth Evening Triples Bowling Association.
The object of the league shall be the playing of bowls according to the rules laid down by Bowls England.
The Officers of the Association shall consist of up to four representatives, which include a President, General Secretary, Treasurer and League Secretary. The said Officers shall act as the Management Committee. A Bank account is to be maintained with the Treasurer, Secretary and President being the signatories on the account with a mandate for any two signatories to sign cheques and documents.
The Committee shall meet as required and a quorum shall consist of not less than three members with the President having the casting vote.
The Annual General Meeting will be held not later than the 30th November when reports and audited accounts shall be submitted, and officers elected for the ensuing year.
The Association shall not be dissolved except by an extraordinary general meeting and in the event of any dissolution all funds and assets shall be disposed of as shall be determined.
Each Section shall consist of no more than eight teams.
Each team shall consist of two triples, with no restriction on gender.
Entry fees for each team to be determined at each A.G.M.
Any new team accepted into the league, will be placed in the lowest section.

RULES FOR LEAGUE MATCHES

All matches are to be played on a home and away basis and scheduled to be played on Tuesday evenings (unless a match has to be rearranged and by mutual consent of both teams).
All members playing in the league must be a registered member of the affiliated club they are representing. There is no requirement to register members in the league, and any player can play for another team within the same club.

Matches consist of 18 ends with two trial ends which will be played, except by mutual consent where no trial ends can be played, and all shots scored counting.
If the weather is inclement, the captains can agree before or during the match that 12 ends will constitute a match.
If a minimum of 12 ends have been completed on at least one rink and the match has to be stopped due to the green becoming unplayable or for safety reasons, the match will be considered complete if both captains agree. Failure of agreement, if the game stops then the committee will make a final decision after receiving reports from both teams.
If it is necessary to abandon the match before 5 ends have been completed, the rearranged match will be started from scratch. If 5 or more, but less than 12 ends have been completed, the remaining ends to complete the 18 ends (or 12 ends if agreed before the start of the original match) must be played on a later date. In either case trial ends will be played except by mutual consent, as per rule 13a above.
All outstanding ends must be completed within 3 weeks, except within the last 2 weeks, when all matches must be completed before the last league match. If the last league match cannot be completed on the night, and has ramifications for promotion or relegation, then it must be completed within 7 days or declared tied, with no rink points awarded. i.e. One point each, instead of three points each.
Any decision regarding whether the green is playable before the start of the match is the home club’s decision. (the Home Captain, Club Official or Greenstaff can make this decision on behalf of the home club) it is not the responsibility of the visiting Captain or member of the opposing team. If multiple teams are scheduled to play at the same time, then all games must be postponed, unless photographic evidence can be shared to the League Secretary showing part of a green is playable only. The home club must also take into account the health and safety of all players and spectators. They will be responsible for notifying the opposition at the earliest opportunity if deemed unplayable. Teams may be able to move rinks in order to complete a game. For two-green clubs, it may be possible to transfer a game on to unused rinks on their second green, if that one is deemed playable, in order to start or complete a game. Arrangements made regarding cancellation, postponement or moving rinks, ultimately is the home team's decision. All postponed games will be required to be played within three weeks, as per rule 13e above. If an agreement between captains cannot be made for the game to be played within this timeframe, the game will be declared a tie, with one point awarded to each team.
If a game does not start or is stopped before completion, the League Secretary must be informed, stating reasons, at the earliest opportunity by email.
A player who has already played for another team in the same fixture week cannot play in a rearranged match for another team.

Starting times for matches shall be 18:00 with a maximum no penalty delay of 15 minutes, or at the discretion of the opposition it may be longer. When other unforeseen circumstances or lack of daylight issues may limit playing time, the matches can start earlier by mutual agreement between Captains, or if notified to do so by the League Secretary.
Clubs identified with travel time longer than 30 minutes (see Appendix A), may declare an additional 15 minutes, but must inform the opposition captain with at least 24 hours notice. Start time would therefore be 18:15 with a maximum no penalty delay of 15 minutes, or at the discretion of the opposition it may be longer.

In the event of one team member not turning up, two players will be expected to play against three players as follows:

LEAD A, LEAD B, TWO A, repeated

followed by the SKIP A then SKIP B.

(Likewise if only four players turn up from one team, they will be expected to play 2 rinks of two players against 2 rinks of three players). In all these scenarios. each player will have their three woods each (total 6 woods vs 9 woods) and there will be no percentage reduction.

Scoring shall consist of up to six points: 2 points for the aggregate win or 1 point for an aggregate draw; 2 additional points for each winning rink or 1 point for a drawn rink.
In the event of less than 4 players arriving from one team for an arranged league game, or conceding before the match, the offending team shall be penalised to the extent of 2 points for the first offence, 4 points for the second and further occasions, and the potential of losing their section placing for the following season if more than two offences occur. The non-offending team shall be awarded 6 points.
During the season, if a team is unable to fulfil their remaining fixtures, the team will be removed from the league, with all previous results expunged.
Results of each match must be entered on the online reporting system ‘League Republic’ by the home club, immediately after the match, but no later than 10:00 the following morning. This is both the result and the scorecards / result sheet. Should there be exceptional reasons for the scorecards / result sheet not being uploaded, the League Secretary must be notified by email within the same deadlines. There is an expectation for all results to be entered online and on time. At the beginning of the season, it is the responsibility of all Club Secretaries to ensure a suitable and adequate number of people can administer the results online and upload the result sheet for all teams within the club. Failure to do so will incur an initial warning, followed by a deduction of two penalty points.
For all leagues, the two teams in each section (except Section 1) winning the greatest number of points will be promoted to the next higher section, and the two teams at the bottom of each section (except the lowest section) will be demoted to the next lower section. This may be dependent on the number of entries to the league for the following season, and in the opinion of the Association’s Executive Committee, this rule can be varied. In the event of a tie on points within each section the finishing order will be decided on the basis of the following criteria, listed in order of priority:

Rinks won and lost difference
Shot difference
Total rinks won
Total shots scored
The aggregate results of the matches between the clubs concerned.

Regulation dress for all league matches to be:

Above the waist: White shirts, approved bowls shirts, or club shirts. All members of the same team must wear the same colour/design.
Below the waist: Players have the freedom to choose to wear trousers, culottes, cropped trousers, skirts, skirts or shorts on an individual basis, with no requirement to wear the same item as other players in their team, as long as all members of the team/side wear the same colour/design.
Any additional items such as fleeces, jackets, wet weather clothing, headgear. long-sleeved base layers, leggings or similar items do not need to match their club colours.
Bowling shoes must conform to the appropriate requirements in the laws of the sport.

RULES FOR THE KNOCKOUT CUP COMPETITION

In general, the Knockout Cup rules are the same as those in the League except:

Challenging opponents

Challengers (the first named team in the draw, the home team) must offer three dates, (two of which must be different weekday evenings *but not Tuesday’s, Thursday’s or Saturday’s except by mutual agreement). Failure to agree on a date is down to the Challengers discretion to offer additional dates. If no agreement can be reached, then it shall be a walkover for the challengers.

1st Round only - Failure to contact the opposition within Seven Days from the start of the league season will mean that the Opposition becomes the challenger and has the choice of green and dates to offer. The League Secretary needs to be made aware of the fixture date. If neither team contacts each other within 2 weeks of the start of the league season, both teams will be eliminated.

If a team has a bye to the second round, then that team may make the challenge before completion of the first round.

If appropriate a challenge can be made before the end of the previous round once the two winning teams have each been notified by the League secretary.

2nd Round onwards - Failure to contact the opposition within Four Days from the end of the previous round (i.e. play by date), will mean that the Opposition becomes the challenger and has the choice of green and dates to offer. The League Secretary needs to be made aware of the fixture date. If neither team contacts each other within 2 weeks of the end of the previous round (i.e. play by date), both teams will be eliminated.

The League Secretary must be made aware of any issues around fixture arrangement.

Players may only play for one team.
18 ends are to be played (or 12 if agreed before or during the match because of inclement weather), as referred to in Rule 13. The rink to play an extra end in the event of a drawn match, is to be decided before the start of the match.
If an arranged game is postponed, the captains of both teams must agree on a new date for the match to go ahead, which can be no later than 7 days after the play-by date. If no new date can be agreed or a further postponement occurs and the game cannot be played within this time guide, the match will be cancelled with both teams eliminated.
At the end of the match the winning team must enter the result on the online reporting system ‘League Republic’ immediately after the match, but no later than 10:00 the following morning, as referred to in Rule 19.
During the season, if a team has been removed from the league, but were still in the Knockout Cup at time of removal, their opponents will automatically receive a bye.

KNOCKOUT FINALS DAY

If the match is abandoned after 12 ends have been played on at least one rink (as agreed by the Umpire) the result will stand. Incomplete matches (less than 12 ends) will be played on a reserve date and not necessarily at the original venue. Scores will carry on from the original match. Substitutes will be allowed for the replay, providing they have not played for another team in the knockout competition.
Regulation dress for Finals Day - see rule 21
The Finals Day venue for each current season will be decided at the Spring Meeting, with all clubs to have the opportunity to submit their application to host that year's Finals Day. Where there is more than one submission and the venue cannot be decided by discussion, then each club represented at the Spring Meeting shall have a vote to decide the outcome. Every BETBA member club will have the opportunity to host the Finals Day on a rolling basis, and no club shall host the Finals Day in consecutive years.

REGULATIONS

These regulations are subject to alteration temporarily, as necessary, by the Executive to deal with any unforeseen circumstances which may occur during the season. This includes changes in league play format and arrangements necessary to be implemented due to any reason. Any alterations will be communicated to member clubs as soon as possible and will cease to have effect after the completion of the League season, unless made permanent at an AGM.
The above rules may be amended in writing by application to the Secretary a minimum of two weeks prior to the A.G.M. or at a specially convened Extraordinary General Meeting called for the specific purpose of such change.

Appendix A

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IyzuqDu9KX9tEuBb7rHsdtx9ABJ-6ZOqm7i0RfhtKzU/edit?usp=sharing

Clubs with more than 30 minutes or more travel time:

Argyll (2) - traveling to Broadstone Wessex, Wimborne.

Boscombe (2) - traveling to Broadstone Wessex, Wimborne.

Bournemouth - (& Branksome Park when playing at Bournemouth) (2) - traveling to Broadstone Wessex, Wimborne.

Broadstone Wessex (7) - Argyll, Boscombe Cliff, Bournemouth (and BPBC), Kings Park, Southbourne (and P&S Ex-Serv).

Electric (0)

Ferndown (1) - Poole Park.

Kings Park (1) - Broadstone Wessex.

Knyveton (1) - Wimborne.

Moordown (0)

Pelhams (0)

Poole Park (2) - Ferndown, West Moors.

Richmond Park (0)

Southbourne - (P&S Ex-Serv) (2) - Broadstone Wessex, Wimborne.

West Moors (2) - Poole Park, Wimborne.

Wimborne (7) - Argyll, Boscombe, Bournemouth (and BPBC), Knyveton, Southbourne (and P&S Ex-Serv)