Rocky Mountain Junior Bowlers Tour – Tournament Rules and Information (Season# 3)

Participation Requirements

 Entrant must be a current Youth USBC Member. Junior gold entrants must have an active Junior Gold Membership Prior to participating in a Junior Gold Qualifier.

Junior Gold memberships for the 2026/2027 season are available at the following rates:

U12 $25.00 | U14 $40 | U16 $50 | U18 $50

Tournament Entries

 Entries are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis, with pre-registration available at Tournamentbowl.com. Check-in begins at 8:00 AM for all tournaments unless otherwise stated, and bowling starts at 9:00 AM. Walk-in participants are welcome if space allows and should arrive one hour before the tournament starts.

Tournament Divisions

 There will be 3 Tournament divisions:

                Rising Stars (Handicap Division): Average 130 and under. Handicap is calculated at 70% of 220, and the same applies to the Optional Handicap side pot.

                Classic (Scratch Division): Average between 131-163.

                Masters (Scratch Division): Average 164 and above.

Any bowler may choose to compete in a higher division; however, once a bowler moves up, they cannot revert to their previous division for the remainder of the season.

Entry Fees

 Entry fee is $55. Allocation: $18.50 for lineage, $25 for scholarships (returned 100%), $9 for RMJBT end-of-season points, and $2.50 for tournament expenses. An optional $5 can be paid to enter the handicap side pot. Brackets are available at $3 each. All fees must be paid prior to bowling.  A $ 3.00 credit/debit card service fee applies per transaction.

Entry Times

 Participants may submit entries up to 15 minutes before the tournament starts at 9:00 AM. pre-registered bowlers arriving late can still compete if they arrive before the third frame is complete.

Junior Gold Qualifier

 Every tournament Unless otherwise stated will be a Junior Gold qualifying event with an additional fee. Fees: U12 $40 | U14 $50 | U16 $65 | U18 $65 The advancement ratio is 1:4 Separate qualifiers for boys and girls in each age division if entry numbers permit. If there are insufficient entries, divisions may be combined first by gender and age, then by combining younger with older divisions according to entry counts.

                Junior Gold Divisions: 8 divisions based on date of birth, each with separate boys’ and girls’ divisions. U12: Born August 1, 2014, or later. U14: Born August 1, 2012–July 31, 2014. U16: Born August 1, 2010–July 31, 2012. U18: Born August 1, 2008–July 31, 2010.

Tournament Format

 All tournaments will be bowled on Junior Gold or SYC oil patterns. All bowlers will receive 10 minutes of practice. Participants will bowl 4 games of qualifying and will switch lanes after each game. The handicap Side pot and Junior Gold qualifier will be determined by using the 4-game qualifying scores. Scratch scores for all 4 games determine Junior Gold Qualifiers in each division. After qualifying, each division holds a Stepladder final with the top 4 bowlers. Divisions with more than 15 entries will have a 5-person stepladder. All Stepladder finalists receive payouts; additional payouts will be at the director’s discretion. All Ties that need to be broken are resolved by a 9th and 10th frame roll off. If this results in a tie a 1-ball best ball format is used until the tie is broken.

Handicap Side Pot

 The handicap pot is an optional side pot and is available for $5.00

  All divisions will be combined

  Handicap is based on 70% of 220

  Ties for the last spot will be broken by using the bowlers high scratch scores

  Based on 4 games

  The top 4 bowlers will be awarded Scholarships

 

Brackets

 Forward and Reverse Handicap brackets are available for $3 each. Three games are used for each bracket. Prizes are paid to 1st and 2nd place in each bracket.

Handicap will be based on 70% of220

Average Calculation

 Average is determined by:

1. Current RMJBT average (minimum of 8 games, using the 20 most recent games.)

2. 2025–2026 highest standard league average (minimum of 12 games).

3. Current highest standard league average (minimum of 10 games). If no verifiable average is available, the bowler will enter the Classic division (130–163), and their average for the optional handicap side pot will be established during the first 4-game block (Handicap based on 70% of 220).

4. Use the highest average for the past three years. If a league average is used it will be converted to a challenge average using the USBC conversion chart. https://bowl.com/sport-bowling/average-conversion-chart

******************** Anytime a league average is used. We will use the USBC average conversion chart and the league average will be converted to a Challenge average*****

Scholarships

 Scholarships are awarded to all Stepladder finalists.

 Additional scholarships will be given to point leaders at seasons end at a ratio of at least 1:10, per USBC rule 308C. Ties for points will be broken using scratch pin count totals from all stops.

 Scholarships are governed by the National SMART Fund. For more information, visit www.bowl.com/SMART.

Awards

The 1st place winner from all three divisions will receive a custom-made champions Jersey presented by H5G brands.  Only one jersey per person per season will be awarded. The jersey will be ordered immediately after the tournament in which it was won and will be given out at the next stop

Tour Points Format

 RMJBT Tour points will be awarded as follows.

Handicap division points will be awarded based on handicap scores

Scratch division points will be awarded based on Scratch (no handicap) scores.

End of season scholarships will be awarded to the top 10 bowlers as determined by total points from all stops. Points ties will be broken by Scratch pinfall from all stops bowled.

Points values can be found on the RMJBT Website under the points tab.

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Tournament of champions(TOC)

Bowlers must have won at least one RMJBT singles step ladders or 1st place in The blind doubles event to compete in the TOC . There will be no entry fee for the tournament. Those who qualify will bowl immediately after the conclusion of the last stop of the season. Each bowler will bowl 2 games with RMJBT average and handicap. The top 3 with total pinfall will advance to stepladder with handicap. The oil pattern will be different from any of the previous stops, difficult, and not announced. The winner will receive the RMJBT Tournament of Champions trophy, Storm bowling ball certificate, and $600 SMART scholarship. Second place will receive $100 scholarship.

 

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Blind Doubles event

The RMJBT blind doubles event is an optional event and is open to bowlers from all divisions

Cost will be $5.00/person $10.00/team. Pairings will be randomly assigned using tournamentbowl and all 3 divisions will be combined.

The event will be handicapped, and handicap will be based on 70% of 220

Ties for the last spot will be broken by using the bowlers  high scratch team total

Event will take place during the 4-game qualifying block.

The top 4 teams will be awarded Scholarships

 

 

 

 

 

Dress Code

 Bowlers must wear appropriate attire. Hats, torn, ripped, or frayed clothing (even by design), gym shorts, yoga pants, sweatpants, short shorts, hoodies, muscle shirts, tank tops, and non-RMJBT T-shirts (midriff, low-cut) are not permitted. Skirts, skorts, and Bermuda shorts must be at least as long as your fingertips with arms at your side. Clothing with depictions of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or sexual content is not allowed. Jeans without holes are permitted. Bowling jerseys are strongly encouraged, as are skorts and slacks for girls and slacks for boys. Bowlers wearing inappropriate attire will not be allowed to bowl. The dress code is strictly enforced. Electronic devices may be used in the setee area, but if they cause distractions or slow play, their use will be prohibited without warning.

Equipment Rules (Urethane Bowling Balls)

The Rocky Mountain Junior Bowlers Tour (RMJBT) permits the use of urethane and urethane-like bowling balls during both qualifying rounds and stepladder play. All urethane balls must meet a minimum hardness requirement of 78D.

Equipment Adjustments

Beginning with season 3, bowlers will be permitted to make adjustments to their equipment between qualifying rounds and the stepladder finals. Altering the surface of the bowling ball at any other time during competition is strictly prohibited unless a tournament director authorizes such adjustments due to ball damage resulting from pinsetters or ball return equipment.

 

 

Claims and Protests

 Any errors in scoring or general playing rules must be reported to the Tournament Director within 30 minutes after the tournament concludes. The Tournament Director will make decisions on questionable errors. Other protests must be submitted in writing within 72 hours or before awards are given. Each protest must be specific.

Junior Gold Qualifiers

All divisions, boys and girls, may advance to the 2027 Junior Gold Championships. Each athlete must bring a parent, guardian, or coach to the event as a supervisor.

General Rules

Failure to follow any rules and regulations may result in disqualification from the event. All issues not addressed by these rules will be determined by the Tournament Director, and all decisions are final. By entering an RMJBT event, participants consent to photos and videos being posted on the RMJBT website, Facebook page, or other RMJBT social media outlets.

Contact Information

Rocky Mountain Junior Bowlers Tour • (801) 391-6110 • djspruill@comcast.net