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2025-2026 Rules

TOURNAMENT RULES & REGULATIONS

Dates: August 27, 2025, September 28, 2025, October 5, 2025,  November 9, 2025, December 14, 2025, January 25, 2026, February 22, 2026, March 15, 2026, April 26, 2026, & May 3, 2026.

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Certification: Tournament is certified as a youth singles competition by the USBC and will be governed by USBC rules, Sanction# 04206

Membership:  Entrant must be a 2025-2026 USBC Youth Member and born 8/1/2007 or later. Must be purchased prior to bowling WJBT. Junior Gold entrants must have a 2025-2026 Junior Gold Membership. Must be purchased prior to bowling a Junior Gold Qualifier. 

Entries: Entries are on a first come first serve basis with pre-registration available at https://wjbt307.wixsite.com/website. Registration for each stop will open at 6:00 pm one month prior to each stop date and close at 6:00 pm the day before each stop date. Check-in begins at 8:00 am and walk-ins are welcome as room at each stop allows.

  1. Fees: Entry Fee of $50 ($24 for Lineage, $15 for Scholarship, $5 for WJBT End of Season Points Scholarship & $6 for tournament expenses).An optional $5 to be entered into the Handicap Side Pot for bowlers not in the U12 Handicap Division. An optional Junior Gold Qualifier for $40. All fees must be paid prior to bowling. Checks should be made payable to Wyoming Junior Bowlers Tour (WJBT). Credit and debit card payments require an additional $3.50 processing fee.

  2. Entry Times: Entries will be taken up to 15 minutes prior to the start of the tournament at 9:00 am. Bowlers arriving late will begin play at the time of their arrival. Their score will count beginning with the frame being bowled. Frames missed will be credited with a 0. Bowlers not ready to bowl when it is their turn will be credited with a 0 for that frame.

  3. Junior Gold Qualifier: A Junior Gold Qualifier will be available at stops 1-9, the last stop of the season will not have a Junior Gold Qualifier. One entry per stop. Advancement ratio will be 1:5 for boys and girls in the U14, U16 & U18 age divisions and 1:4 for boys and girls in the U12 age division if enough entries. If there are not enough entries in the U12 to U18 divisions, divisions will be combined with other divisions based on entries. Combining entries will be done first by combining boys and girls in the same age division and if there are still not enough entries, younger divisions will be combined with older divisions. Scratch scores from the first 6 games in ALL divisions will be used to determine Junior Gold Qualifiers. In accordance with the USBC Junior Gold Championship rules an athlete who qualifies for Junior Gold through the Wyoming Junior Bowlers Tour (WJBT) is unable to attend the Junior Gold Championship for which they qualified must notify the WJBT tournament director immediately so the entry may be passed to the next participant in the event. If the athlete fails to alert the tournament director prior to April 30, 2026, he/she risks disqualification from the WJBT Junior Gold Qualifier for the following season.

  4. Junior Gold Divisions: There will be 8 divisions based on participants' date of birth. All divisions will have a boy's and girls' division. U12 (8/1/2013 or later), U14 (8/1/2011-7/31/2013) , U16 (8/1/2009-7/31/2011), U18 (8/1/2007-7/31/2009).

  5. Tournament Divisions: There will be 2 divisions based on age. The first division will be the U12 Division and is for bowlers born 8/1/2013 or later. All others will bowl the Scratch Division. U12 bowlers will have the option to move up to the scratch division but once a bowler moves up to the Scratch Division, they will not be allowed to move back to the U12 Division for the remainder of the 2025-2026 season. 

  6. Oil Patterns: All stops will be bowled on a Sport Shot Oil Pattern with a minimum of a 4:1 ratio that will not be revealed until the conclusion of the tournament.

  7. Practice: Bowlers will received 10 minutes of practice and may do so on any lane being used during the tournament.

  8. Lane Movement: Bowlers who start on an odd number lane will move one pair to the left and bowlers who start on an even number will move one pair to the right at the conclusion of each game for the first 6 games. Bowlers will bowl with the same assigned letter throughout the 6 games. 

  9. Format U12 Handicap Division: Bowlers will bowl a total of 6 games and a champion will be determined based on the total pin fall of the 6 games bowled with handicap.

  10. Format Scratch Division: Scratch Division bowlers will bowl 6 games of qualifying; please note the side handicap pot is for the first 6 games only and handicap scores WILL NOT be used to advance to match play. Based on the number of entries, but no less than the top 12 will move on to bowl a one game elimination, standard, match play bracket with the top 5 receiving a bye the first round of match play. The top 4 will have a lane where they can stay warmed up during the first round. Match play will continue until one bowler remains. Ties will be broken by bowling an additional 9th and 10th frame. If a tie remains after an additional 9th and 10th frame the tie will be broken by each bowler bowling a one ball best ball until tie is broke. 

  11. Handicap: A handicap of 70% of 220 will be used for both the U12 Handicap Division and the Handicap Side Pot.

  12. Average: Will be based on:

    1. 2024-2025 WJBT Sport Shot Average with a minimum of 12 games.​

    2. 2024-2025 Highest Standard League Average with a minimum of 12 games, converted to a sport shot average.

    3. The Current Season WJBT average with a minimum of 12 games.

    4. Current Highest Standard League Average with a Minimum of 12 games.

  13. Tournament Scholarship: Scholarship will be given with at least a ratio of 1:6 in each division.​

  14. Tour Format U12 Handicap Division: The WJBT Tournament consists of 10 Tournaments. All points awarded for the U12 Handicap Division are based on handicap scores. 5 points for each tournament bowled. 1 point for high game for each round of the 6 games bowled. 3 points for the first-place finisher of each tournament, 2 points for each second-place finisher of each tournament, and 1 point for each third-place finisher of each tournament. Any bowler who participates in all 10 stops will be awarded an additional 5 points for perfect attendance.

  15. Tour Formant Scratch Division: The WJBT will consist of 10 Tournaments. All points awarded are for the Scratch Division are based on scratch scores. 5 points will be awarded for each tournament bowled 1 point for high game for each round of the six-game qualifying round. 4 points to the 1st place qualifier, 3 points to the 2nd place qualifier, 2 points to the 3rd place qualifier and 1 point to the 4th place qualifier. Each tournament winner will be awarded 3 points, 3 points for second place and 1 point for third. Any bowler who participates in all 10 stops will be awarded an additional 5 points for perfect attendance. 

  16. Point Scholarship: Additional scholarships will be awarded to point leaders with a ration of at least 1:10 as per USBC rule 308C. Point ties will be broken using the seasons handicap total pin count for the Handicap Division and scratch total pin count for the Scratch Division. 

  17. Dress Code: Bowlers must wear appropriate attire. No hats. No torn, ripped, or frayed clothing, even by design. No gym shorts, yoga pants or sweatpants. No short shorts. Skirts/skorts and Bermuda type shorts are allowed but may not be any shorter than the length of your fingertips with your arms at your side. No hoodies, muscle shirts, tank tops, T-shirts, midriff, or low-cut shirts. No attire with any depiction of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or sexual content. Jeans are allowed. Bowling jerseys are strongly encouraged as are skorts and slacks for girls and slacks for boys. Any bowler wearing inappropriate attire will not be allowed to bowl. The dress code will be strongly enforced!

  18. No alcohol or tobacco will be allowed in the center by anyone during the youth competition.

  19. Only bowlers, tournament officials and center staff will be allowed in the settee area.

  20. Claims for errors in scoring or general playing rules must be made to the Tournament Director no later than 30 minutes after completion of the tournament. The Tournament Director will decide upon questionable errors. All other protest must be confirmed in writing to the Tournament Director within 72 hours or before the awards are given. Each protest under this rule must be specific.

  21. Junior Gold qualifiers in all divisions, both boys and girls, can, at their own expense advance to the 2026 Junior Gold Championships in Minneapolis, MN July 11-18, 2026. Each athlete will be required to bring a parent, guardian, or coach to the event as his or her supervisor.

  22. Scholarships awarded will be governed by the National SMART Fund. www.bowl.com/SMART

  23. Failure to abide by any rules and regulations may lead to disqualification from the event. All matters not covered by these rules and regulations will be determined by the Tournament Director. All decisions are final. By entering a WJBT event you agree to any photos/videos of you at the event to be posted on the WJBT website, Facebook page, or other WJBT social media sites.

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