Looking for some opinions for this scenario.

Had a league just end on Sunday March 16th.  The previous final date for positioning to determine the league winner was on March 2nd.

The winning team was told on March 16th that all of their wins were forfeited because it came to light that one of the members on that team that bowled each week was not a member of a 3rd party organization that they say the league requires.

It turns out that members across other teams were not members of that 3rd party organization.  So as such all prizes have been halted pending further review of rules.

Is this allowed by USBC rules to have a team forfeit wins that happened weeks ago?  Is there not a statute of limitations?

The closest thing I can see is rule 119 which suggests there is at the very least a 15 day statute:

Written protests are filed with a league officer and shall be filed within 15 days of the series being bowled.


I can't see anywhere in the USBC rules does it say that a league can make up their own statute of limitations.  Let me know your thoughts.

Yeah no doubt about that, but aren't there some rules that simply can't be changed if they want to be USBC?

Obviously the rule book leaves some options for league discretion for some items, but there must be some limits.  It doesn't seem that rule 119 allows for any "options".

Just like rules regarding "illegal pinfall" can't be changed.

Although NOT in a bowling league, how many times have we heard in high school sports or college sports that the team used an illegal player had to forfeit any wins that the player participated in the game, regardless for how long the participation was for. I know of several and I am sure some quick Google searches can also bring up the same results. Many of the times this is not found until late in the year, or years down the road and the wins are still stripped from the team.

Although I agree that the timing is peculiar, rules are rules and are there for reasons like this.

Yeah it is quite a fallout.  It is quite a scandal since now it is known that people have been in it for years without the 3rd party membership and it appears that it was only enforced this year as a team won that had an ineligible bowler. 

In this case the league rules would be needed to really decide anything further as rule 119 does state that league rules can forfeit all games if power to do so is allowed in the league rules. 

Not saying it is right on what happened, but want to make sure everything is done properly to the rules.  That way nothing can be said as all the logic being used isn't opinion, but follows the rules set forth.

So, if this team finished last would it matter? Or better yet, why wasn't this addressed during the season by league officials. Bad league management and sore losers maybe?

Based on Aloarjr810's write up, it seems like only scores bowled within the last 15 days can be subjected to forfeiture.  This should apply to all teams in the league that are found to have an ineligible player.

I disagree with Aloarjr810 and spmcgivern on this one. Yes that is the rule(s) in the USBC Rulebook, but the league can supercede those rules with ones of it's own. If their rules state you must belong to this organization in order to be a member in good standing and it doesn't state there is a time limit on when this can be enforced then they can go back over the entire season and forfeit games of teams with illegal bowlers. It would all depend on what the league rule specifically states.
 
Now, I would tend to agree with Aloarjr810's second point. If they knowingly left people bowl in the league without being members of this organization in the past, then they can't enforce it just this year, even if they do so to every team that was illegal. My guess is they overlooked one or two people in the past in order to fill the league and over time these one or two grew into more. Or they just decided it was too much work to verify that everyone was a member and took the team captains' word that their bowlers were members. Either way, as I said, this is gonna be a mess and one I am glad I am not a part of. The best answer, to me anyway, sound like to just let it go for this year and start next year off with a clean slate and make sure all league members meet the eligibility requirements.

Simple solution to this problem. Pass out the league rules (2 copies) to every team at the beginning of the year. Have everyone on the team place their signature on the rules. Return one of the signed copies back to the secretary.