A.B.B.A. POLICY STATEMENTS


ADOPTED AFTER AUGUST 1, 1985

A-1 Area Association Membership Applications
Adopted November 16, 1991
League sanction applications which are sent to the area associations must be forwarded to the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer no later than seven days after receipt. Copies of eye reports sent to ABBA must also be sent to the appropriate area association secretary-treasurer.


A-2 “Awards Limitation”
Adopted May 28, 1999 The committee ruled that ABBA awards may be earned only in leagues in which the league sanctioned application for the current season is on file with the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer. Bowlers, who compete in one or more blind bowling leagues and in one or more leagues not sanctioned by ABBA composed of a majority of sighted bowlers, may win ABBA awards only in the blind bowling league or leagues.


A-3 Area Association Invite Bowlers Outside Area
Adopted November 2005
The Area Associations may invite bowlers outside of their area however these bowlers shall have no vote outside of their own association. To be an associate member you need to pay the entry fee, but have no vote.


B-1 “Blind Bowler” Information about Tournaments
Adopted May 26, 1991
Information concerning all ABBA sanctioned tournaments must be published in “The Blind Bowler.” Information concerning non-sanctioned tournaments, including prize lists, must not be published; however, dates and place of non-sanctioned tournaments may be published in “The Blind Bowler in the Calendar of Events to promote blind bowling.


B-2 “Blind Bowler” Survey
Adopted May 29, 1993
Only one print copy of “The Blind Bowler” will be mailed to those ABBA leagues that do not return “The Blind Bowler” survey to the Editor.


B-3 “Blind Bowler” Minutes
Adopted May 24, 1998
The minutes of the ABBA Board of Directors and the Annual Convention shall not be published in the Blind Bowler.


C-1 Checks Returned for Insufficient Funds Adopted May 29, 1993 Any sanction fees which are sent to the Secretary-Treasurer from an area association, a league, or an individual which result in insufficient funds the individual or organization who submitted these sanction fees shall be assessed the cost of processing these documents as well as a $20.00 fee. C-2 Complimentary Hotel Rooms Adopted May 25, 1986: Amended May 29, 1994; May 26, 2002 The complimentary hotel rooms during the National Tournament shall be provided for the President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, Tournament Director and each of the three assistants to the Tournament Director. The President shall also be entitled to a parlor. If any of the above people do not use their room for any reason, the comp room thus freed up shall be assigned at the discretion of the host committee, along with any additional complimentary rooms granted by the hotel. C-3 Credentials for Board Meetings Adopted November 20, 1993 Leagues must be sanctioned by November 10 to have their director’s vote at the midyear board meeting. All Directors must have proper credentials. D-1 Debate on Motions Adopted: Nov. 22, 1997 For all meetings of the Board of Directors and for the Annual Convention of the American Blind Bowling Association, unless extended by unanimous consent or by two-thirds vote of all persons present and voting, debate on all motions shall be limited to a twenty minutes divided equally between those for and those against adoption, and no person may speak in debate more than a total of three minutes. E-1 Eye Reports Required Adopted May 25, 1986: Amended May 29, 1994 The Rules Interpretation and Enforcement Committee shall evaluate visual status only after the league has made a decision and a written request for change in visual status has been received by the Committee. ABBA requires a recent eye report for any person claiming a change in visual status during the bowling season from sighted to legally blind or from partially sighted to totally blind. F-1 Free Matter Mailing Adopted May 26, 1991 All award applications, sanction applications, Mail-O-Graphic Tournament and National Tournament applications and year-end reports must be sent by first class mail. No free matter will be accepted. F-2 Fund-raising Activities Adopted November 20, 1993 Only current and future host committees may offer items for sale at the midyear meeting or National Tournament. L-1 League Average Reports Adopted May 29, 1993: Amended November 19, 1994 The final league average reports and gold medal applications must be post marked no later than June 15 or they will not be accepted. Each area association secretary shall contact the National Secretary-Treasurer between June 1 and June 7 to determine which leagues did not send a final league average report. L-2 Leagues called Associations Adopted November 16, 1991 ABBA will not call a league an association even though locally the bowlers use the term “association.” L-3 League Prizes Adopted December 7, 1985 The league treasurer must distribute all prizes within 21 days after completion of the season unless the league has set a banquet date for prize distribution. L-4 Local Tournament Financial Reports Adopted November 16, 1991 The ABBA By-laws require that ABBA sanctioned tournaments must furnish to the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer a financial report no later than 45 days after the tournament. This report must show that all money collected for prizes is returned 100% to the prize winners. The expenditures from the tournament expense fees must be itemized. The amount designated as miscellaneous must not exceed $50.00. Funds not collected from tournament entrants need not be reported. Any profit from entry fees must be held in reserve for future tournaments. If the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer finds the report unsatisfactory, the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer within 15 days after receipt of the report must request in detail what corrections need to be made. The sanctioned tournament manager must respond within 15 days after receipt of the letter from the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer. ABBA shall assist the managers of sanctioned tournaments in preparing satisfactory financial reports. M-1 Mail-O-Graphic Tournament Entry Checks Adopted May 29, 1994 Leagues that send checks for the Mail-O-Graphic Tournament that are returned because of insufficient funds must pay to ABBA the bank fees plus $20.00 and make payment no later than December 6 to be eligible to compete in the Mail-O-Graphic Tournament. M-2 Midyear Meeting Attendance Adopted November 19, 1988 The chairperson of each committee shall take a roll call at the end of the committee report to determine who is present. Committee members who are not present shall not be paid travel expenses. M-3 Minutes on Cassette Tape Adopted November 20, 1993 Minutes of ABBA meetings on cassette tape are available upon request, limited to one copy per league. M-4 “Masters Tournament Management” Adopted November 23, 1996 The Tournament Director or a person selected by the Tournament Director with the consent of the National Tournament Committee shall be in charge of the Masters Tournament. This person must be at the lanes at least thirty (30) minutes prior to the scheduled starting time for bowling, must be available throughout the tournament and must remain at the bowling center at least ten (10) minutes after all bowling is completed. The person in charge shall be responsible for determining all substitutions and any changes in lane assignments. This person may not bowl in the Masters Tournament. The squad shall begin on time except in case of an emergency. Any delays in starting times must be announced on the public address system at the lanes no later the five (5) minutes after the scheduled starting time. N-1 National Tournament Arrangements Adopted November 18, 1989 Effective August 1 of the year prior to the next scheduled American Blind Bowling Association Championship Tournament the ABBA Secretary-Treasurer shall be the primary ABBA officer who shall make arrangements with hotel management for the November Board of Directors meeting and for the time of the Annual Convention and the ABBA Championship Tournament: The Tournament Director shall be responsible for making arrangements with the management of the bowling center or centers which shall be used for the Tournament. The Chairman of the National Tournament Committee shall be the official person representing ABBA dealing with the host committee. These three persons shall keep the ABBA President and each other informed as to the progress in planning. N-2 National Tournament Entry Checks Adopted November 20, 1993 Checks returned for non-sufficient funds must be made good by April 15 for the bowlers to compete in the National Tournament. In addition, there will be assessed a penalty of $20.00 plus the cost of processing. N-3 National Tournament Rail Inventory Adopted November 19, 1994 Each year prior to the host group receiving cases and guide rails an inventory is to be written and sent to the host group. Keys to all rail cases are to be sent to the host group prior to the shipping of the rails. The Tournament Director or one of the Tournament Director’s assistants is responsible for these duties. This shall continue without a time limit. P-1 Payment Outside the United States Adopted May 29, 1993 Any league or individual who is submitting fees for either sanctioning or tournaments to the ABBA which is outside the United States must submit these fees in the form of a postal money order in US funds. P-2 Personal Checks Adopted November 15, 1986 All league sanction checks to ABBA must be from a league account or from an account of a sponsoring organization, or payment may be made by a money order or certified check. ABBA will no longer accept personal checks for league sanctioning. R-1 Refunds of Team Event Prize Fee Adopted May 26, 1991 Any person who wishes to be placed on a four-person team in the National Tournament who cannot be placed on a team and who bowls the nine games for all events will receive a refund of the team event prize fee. R-2 Renewal of League Membership Adopted May 29, 1994 In the absence of a league rule, regarding renewal of league membership, the league board of directors by a two-thirds vote taken at least thirty (30) days prior to the start of the league bowling schedule may deny a bowler renewal of league membership. R-3 Resolution Deadline Adopted November 21, 1992 For both the Annual Convention and all meetings of the Board of Directors, all resolutions to be considered under new business must be presented in writing to the President or to the Secretary-Treasurer prior to the scheduled starting time of the meeting. R-4 Resolution for Peace Adopted November 21, 1992 Past experiences are forgotten and bygone. There will be a new harmony in ABBA. (For complete text refer to the minutes). R-5 Rail Rental for Local Tournaments Adopted May 26, 2001 The area association tournaments shall be given preference in securing the rental guide rails in the possession of the American Blind Bowling Association. After the area associations have obtained the number of rails needed for their tournaments, preference shall be given to the tournaments that received the rental rails the previous bowling season. Should there be a conflict; preference shall be given to the tournaments with the most number of previous tournaments sanctioned by ABBA. Next the rails may be rented by ABBA sanctioned tournaments that did not rent the rails during the previous bowling season. Finally, the rails may be rented to unsanctioned tournaments that did not rent the rails during the previous bowling season in the order the requests for renting the rails have been received by the ABBA Secretary/Treasurer. Local tournaments have the option to sanction or not sanction with ABBA. R-6 Rail Prices Adopted November 2003;Amended November 2007 When new rails are sold to a person or organization that does not belong to ABBA, the full cost of shipping will be passed on to the buyers,a discount of $10.00 shall be given to the ABBA league for the 12 foot rail and a $5.00 discount for an extension depending upon the price of the rail at the time. R-7 Rail Rental Sanctioned Tournament - Charge Security Deposit Adopted November 2008 Charge a security deposit of $252 when renting rails for an Area Association tournament. Non-Area Associations Tournaments must pay a $280 security deposit plus shipping to and from the tournament . Checks will be held in escrow until the rails are returned to the person in charge. If there is no damage to the rail the check is returned. A member of the association should be responsible for the rails when they are sent and when they are returned. This will begin August 1, 2008. S-1 Smoking at Meetings Adopted November 20, 1993 No smoking is permitted in the meeting room for all Board of Directors meetings and for the Annual Convention. S-2 Suspended Bowlers Adopted May 28, 1989 The names of all persons suspended from ABBA will appear in the back of the ABBA Average Book. S-3 Secretary-Treasurer Adopted May 25, 2008 The Secretary-Treasurer shall not be compensated at the end of his/her term until all the accounts are closed and transferred to the newly elected/incoming Secretary-Treasurer. In order to receive his/her last stipend, all assets must be turned over to the new/incoming Secretary-Treasurer within 30 thirty days in order to receive his/her last stipend. The amount of stipend reduction will be determined by the RIEC effective 8/01/2007. The last stipend must be issued and signed by the new/incoming Secretary-Treasurer and the President. T-1 Time limit for Standing Reports Adopted November 15, 1986 For all meetings of the ABBA and the Board of Directors, the report of the Tournament Committee shall be limited to Fifteen (15) minutes, and all other committee reports shall be limited to ten (10) minutes each. This time limit may be extended by unanimous consent or by a two-thirds vote of all persons present and voting. T-2 Time Limit of Host Committee Reports Adopted December 7, 1985 For the midyear meeting of the ABBA Board of Directors, the presentation of the current host committee shall be limited to one-half hour and fifteen (15) minutes for discussion. The host committee for the next year shall be limited to ten (10) minutes and five (5) minutes for discussion. T-3 Tournament Rule Changes Adopted May 24, 1987 All tournament rule changes must be presented in the exact wording that will appear in the printed set of tournament rules. T-4 Travel Expenses Adopted May 24, 1987; Amended November 21, 1992; May 29, 1994; November 19. 1994 ; Amended May 27, 2001; and Amended November 19, 2005, May 23 2009 Allowable travel expenses for a trip authorized by the ABBA by-laws or by the ABBA Board of Directors are defined as follows: Airfare is limited to the amount equal to the lowest available fare thirty (30) days prior to the start of the trip. Amtrak coach fare is allowed for those who travel by rail. Bus fare is limited to the amount charged by Greyhound. Taxi or limousine fare is limited to $60.00 for each round trip. Automobile expense for each car used is 25 cents a mile as determined by the American Automobile Association. Toll road charges and parking fees limited to $60.00 for each round trip. The ABBA officers and the Chairman of the National Tournament Committee attending the autumn Board of Directors meeting are entitled to full allowable travel expenses plus $35.00 for each night spent in the hotel, up to a maximum of $105.00. If a complimentary hotel room is not provided for any of these persons, compensation is limited to the convention double room rate including tax up to three nights. (Maximum reimbursement of expenses shall not exceed $150.00, effective , August 1,2009) The immediate past presidents of ABBA and the appointed members of the following committees, except for the Chairman of the National Tournament Committee, are entitled to one-half allowable travel expenses plus $35.00 for attending the autumn ABBA Board of Directors meeting: National Tournament Committee, Rules Interpretation and Enforcement Committee, Public Relations Committee, Finance Committee and Legislative Committee. If a complimentary hotel room is not provided for any person covered under this paragraph, compensation will be limited to the convention double room rate including tax for one night with the following exception: If the National Tournament Committee meets the morning of the day prior to the ABBA Board of Directors meeting, the members of the National Tournament Committee shall be entitled to compensation for 2 nights. These expenses shall be drawn from the Tournament Committee budget. (Maximum reimbursement of expenses shall not exceed $150.00, effective , August 1,2009) The ABBA Secretary-Treasurer and the ABBA Tournament Director are to be compensated for full allowable travel expenses plus $200.00 and the Assistant Secretary is to be paid full allowable travel expenses plus $150.00 for attending the ABBA National Tournament and Annual Convention.
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