Bowls Lancashire Competitions 2008

Champion of Champions	Champion of Champions
2 Wood Singles	2 Wood Singles
4 Wood Singles	4 Wood Singles
Pairs	Pairs
Triples	Triples
Fours	Fours
Benevolent Triples	Under 25's

For the information of all competitors the full competition rules for Bowls Lancashire are shown below

1. The Competitions shall be controlled by the Bowls Lancashire Competition Sub- Committee (the Committee). An Emergency Committee shall consist of any 3 members of the Committee.

Any player wishing to appeal against a decision of the Committee shall do so in accordance with the Bowls Lancashire Grievance Procedure.

2. Competitions shall be open to all members of Clubs affiliated to Bowls Lancashire. They shall be played under the Laws of the Game published by World Bowls (including the domestic regulations for Bowls England).

3. Before entering any competitions players must ensure they are available to play on County Finals dates and County Finals Reserve date as set in the calendar. All County Finals will be played on the dates specified in the yearly calendar. If after entering a National Competition, a competitor finds he/she is unable to play on the aforementioned days, he/she should withdraw at the earliest opportunity and definitely before the semi finals to enable:

b) to enable a substitute to take his/her place in the team provided the substitute is a member of the same Club and has not previously played in previous rounds of the said competition.

All competitors are expected to play in any finals for which they qualify (in the case of Men this also includes Northern Counties Championships). Failure to do so may result in exclusion from ALL COMPETITIONS the following year.

5. A player may only enter competitions which qualify for National Competitions from one Club and provided he/she is a fully paid up member of that Club by 1^st May in the year of the competition.

6. A named player entering a team competition cannot be a member or substitute of any other team in the same competition. For National Competitions the named player is defined as the player in whose name the entry is made and whose name appears in the draw.

7. Players taking part in the first game shall constitute the original team and they should normally play together throughout the competition. One additional and the same player may be used as a substitute at any time providing he/she has not already played in the competition. The substitute may play in any position.

8. Entry shall be on completion of the official entry form and on payment of the fee. Closing date for entries shall be 3oth November of the previous year.

10. The draw and competition dates shall be made by the Committee. Dates for Fixed Day events will be available before the closing date for submission of entries. The draw and dates will be published in the Bowls Lancashire Year Book which will be available to all competitors by 15^th April each year.

11. Where preliminary rounds are required before any Fixed Date event, the first named shall be the Challenger. The challenger must offer his/her opponents, at least 11 days prior to the closing date of the round, 2 dates free of International Competition, County Fixed Day events and free of International commitments of bona fide selectors and officials of Bowls England.

The times must not be before 6.15pm on a week day or 10am on a weekend unless by mutual arrangement.

The challenger must offer his/her opponent a green approved by Bowls Lancashire and secure a rink booking through the host club and in a singles game is responsible for providing a competent marker.

Players are responsible for paying their own rink fees at this stage of the competition.

The challenged must reply to the challenger within 48 hours to confirm acceptance of a date.

12. No alteration of an accepted date shall be made unless mutually agreed upon. Failing such agreement, the Player/Team desiring the alteration must play on the accepted date or concede the game to the opponent(s).

13. If a player or team fails to appear and be ready to play within 15 minutes of the agreed time for a tie, the opponent(s) may claim the game.

14. In the event of non completion of a match owing to exceptional weather conditions or closure of the green and the parties are unable to re arrange the tie before the closing date; the tie will be decided as follows:

15. In the case of Fixed Date events where scheduled rounds are not completed due to exceptional weather conditions or green closure these rounds MUST be played on the original green unless played elsewhere by mutual agreement.

No competitor shall be expected to play more than three rounds of 4 wood singles or two rounds of pairs/triples/fours on any one fixed day unless mutually agreed by those taking part.

16. Competitors in preliminary or further rounds MUST notify the relevant Competitions Secretary of results either by e mail or phone as soon as possible after the game and in any case within 24 hours of completion. Players are responsible for paying their own rink fees at the preliminary or further round stages of the competition. (Rink fees for fixed day events are included in the cost of the Competition Entry Fee and are the responsibility of Bowls Lancashire.) Scorecards should be signed by both skips/players and retained for reference in the event of a dispute excepting for the games played in the Ladies Benevolent Triples when all scorecards MUST be sent to the Competitions Secretary.

17. County finalists of both genders in 4 wood Singles, Pairs Triples, Fours and, in the case of the Ladies only, 2 wood, and in the case of the Men only U 25s Singles shall represent Bowls Lancashire at the respective National Championships.

The male winners of 2 wood singles, 4 wood singles, Pairs, Triples and Fours shall represent Bowls Lancashire at the Northern Counties Championships. In the event of Lancashire not being represented in such events the offending player(s) may be excluded from playing in any County Championships or matches the following year. In the case of Pairs, triples and fours the offending players shall include the original player and any substitute who has played in the county Championships leading to national championships and Northern counties Championships and who elects not to play in these events. Substitutes and A.N.Other entries should be made aware of this rule. Infringements of this rule shall be brought to the attention of the Bowls Lancashire Executive Committee in order for the Executive to take appropriate action.

18. Smoking or consuming alcohol is not permitted on the green whilst the game is in progress.

Dress for County Competitions which qualify for National Championships up to and including the semi final stage is:

Grey skirts/culottes/tailored trousers/tailored cropped trousers, with white/cream or approved Club coloured top. Club blazer optional. Hats are optional at all times. If worn, hats and sun visors must be of an approved type. Baseball caps in plain white or Club Colours are permissible. White/brown/grey bowling shoes. Sandals are not allowed.

Grey trousers with white/approved club coloured Top. White/brown/grey bowling shoes.

White or cream skirt/culottes/tailored trousers/tailored cropped trousers with white/cream or approved Club coloured top providing all members of the team wear the same coloured top. Patterned jumpers/cardigans should not be worn. Club blazer/hats optional. Hats if worn must be of an approved type and baseball caps are allowed provided they are plain white or Club coloured. White bowling shoes only. Sandals are not allowed.

White/cream trousers, belt, pullover/cardigan. Braces (if worn) not to be visible. White/brown or grey bowling shoes. Club coloured tops may be worn provided all members of the team wear the same colour.

20. The following Fixed Day events are also the responsibility of the Committee. Additional rules to those set out below may be determined by the Committee as and when necessary to ensure the successful running of the event.

a) Mixed Pairs and Mixed Fours. These events will be played on a round robin basis, number of ends dependant on number of entries and played to a conclusion on the fixed date as set out in the yearly calendar. Dress for these events shall be as for County Finals .

County Cup . Played over a weekend on a round robin basis. 14 ends of play each game. Format of play will be published at the start of the event. Dress for this event is as for County Finals

Challenge Shield. Round robin event played to a conclusion on the day. Ends played dependant on entries. Dress as for Cou nty Finals

Benevolent Triples. 2 wood 15 ends, straight knock out. (Consolation Plate for first round losers) Drawn by Competitions Committee and published before the start of the event. Dress is Greys with white or club colours.

Ivy Martin Balloted Pairs. Round robin event, ends dependant on entries, played to a conclusion on the day. Dress as for County Finals .

President’s Trophy. Clubs may enter one or more Double Fours teams. Dress as for County Finals .

Super Nines. Clubs may enter one or more teams to play as a Pair, a Triple and a Four. Grey trousers with white/approved club coloured Top. White/brown/grey bowling shoes.