Non-distribution of prize money

[Frank Goebel]

A group of five bowled in a tournament in a neighboring state. They're all friends of mine. Three are husband, wife, and daughter, with the other two being unrelated men.

They bowled really well, and were certain to cash. The two non-relatives started speaking about how they never received any share of the prize from the captain (the husband). All five bowl in the league of which I am not secretary, and that secretary (himself a licensed BLS user that doesn't visit these forums) contacted the center, even managing to talk to that tournament director. He confirmed that the team was the champion, had cashed $1000, and that a check was sent out weeks ago. He did send that information to the secretary, so the unrelated men have that on their hands.

The only thing I suggested to the bowlers is that they contact the center and see if they can find out the tournament certification number and then contact USBC's website. Now that I'm home and can look at a rule book, it looks like the captain violated rule 304(a)(2) requiring distribution within 30 days.

I'm wondering if anyone has seen anything like this happen within their sphere of influence and how it was addressed and concluded.

[Lance Rasmussen]

Frank,

thats the right rule.

Generally, the best way to handle this... is for tournaments to pay individuals. It should be done that way for IRS purposes as well. If a check was made out to Joe Bowler for $1000, that is over $600 and the IRS could get involved. Possible even when that prize chek was suppose to be divied up.

With the USBC rule, it could end up potentially a delay of 60 days, but that would be based on the tournament taking 30 days to send checks after last squad bowled and then 30 days from when the person received the check to disperse.