2026 Sussex Area Trials

 1.            The County Championship teams will be made up of the following divisions; Under 13, Under 16, Under 22, Open, Seniors and Super Seniors both Male and Female.  Bowlers may enter multiple divisions upon payment of the additional entry fee (see below). No re-entries will be permitted. 

2.             Each respective division (both male and female) will include those bowlers who fall within the following age qualification groups;

Junior – Under 13, Under 16 and Under 22 at any point during the year of the tournament
Open – Any age
Senior – 50 on or before the 31st December in the year of the Championship.  
Super Senior – 65+ (born in or before 1961)

3.             The roll-offs will be sanctioned by the BTBA (Sanction No. 26/00687) and run in accordance with the Inter-County Championships Rules and General Playing Rules of the BTBA, available to view on the BTBA website.           

4.         The County trials are open to current members in good standing with the BTBA or Affiliated Association. If selected for the County squad, BTBA Members will need a Competitive Membership to play in the Open Senior and Super Senior ICC 2026 qualifiers and finals. Youth Bowlers can play in the Youth Inter County Championships with a League BTBA membership.

To be eligible to represent the County you must…

• be a current member in good standing with the BTBA or Affiliated Association; and,

• be eligible to hold a British Passport or have lived continuously in the UK for at least 2 years;

and either…

·         have been born within the County boundaries; or, 

·         have resided within the County boundaries for not less than 1 year at the time of registration (6 months for members of the Armed Forces); or,

·         be an “orphan bowler” (where neither the County you were born in or reside within has a local association, but you bowl in a league within our County) 

All county eligibility, including determination of county boundaries and definition of orphan bowlers can be found in the most recent BTBA ICC county rules at https://btba.org.uk/resources/

5.            Any Team England squad member listed as a current member of the squad with TE (at the date of the trials) will be exempt from trialling for Sussex - for their own category only - providing an entry form is completed and entry fee minus lineage is received. To be considered for any other category, the participant must complete the trials and pay all relevant fees. This allowance does not guarantee the participant an automatic place or specific number of games within the Sussex squad as this decision will ultimately lie with the team manager.

6.            The Tournament Manager will be Kirstie Western, whose decision on all matters shall be final, subject to appeal to the BTBA. In the tournament managers absence, a nominated Deputy will be named.

7.             Registration will begin at 08:00 on Saturday squads, 15 minutes prior to the start time of 08:15. On Sundays, registration will begin at 19:00, 15 minutes prior to the start time of 19:15.

8.             The trials shall consist of 5 games with players changing lanes after every 1 game with the selection being made from the top 15 final positions achieved by all entrants in their respective eligible Championship teams. In all cases, the top two players will be guaranteed at least two games during the qualifying rounds.

9.             Summary of Formats with team selection be based upon the following criteria:
Under 13                               Mixed – 3 persons                               One team being entered.
Under 16                               Mixed – 4 persons                               One team being entered.
Under 22                               Mixed – 4 persons                               One team being entered.
Open                                      Male – 5 persons                                   Female – 4 persons.
Seniors                                   Male – 5 persons                                    Female – 4 persons.
Super Seniors                       Mixed – 4 persons                               One Team being entered.

Teams will be selected by the team manager after discussion with the Sussex Tenpin Bowling Association committee. It is not guaranteed that the team selected for the qualifier will be the same for the final (where the qualifiers & finals are held over separate weekends).

10.          Sussex Tenpin Bowling Association will only submit a team for their respective Inter County Championship if the minimum numbers of bowlers have participated in the trials for that division. If this is not the case, bowlers (or parents in the case of juniors) will be informed of the situation & will be offered a full refund (if the bowler does not participate in the trials) or partial refund for the cost incurred to participate in this division (if the bowler does participate in this division in the trials). If between the trials & the relevant Inter County Championship Qualifying/Final Round a team cannot be selected from the squad (possibly due to illness, injury, personal circumstances, etc.), Sussex Tenpin Bowling Association will request for dispensation to select a player outside of the trials. If after this a team cannot be selected from the squad the bowlers will be offered entry fee back (minus the cost of lineage for the event). A full refund will be provided if the participant HAS NOT participated at a trials date. A partial refund (not including lineage) will be made if a participant HAS participated at a trials date.

In the Open and Senior categories, if a Female team is unable to be formed from bowlers that have participated in the trials, females may be considered for selection as part of the male team forming a mixed team. Selection will still be at the team manager’s discretion.        

11.          Appropriate bowling attire must be worn for the duration of the trials. This is at the discretion of the Tournament Manager. Non-religious headwear, vest tops and jeans will not be permitted.  

12.          All protests must be lodged with the Tournament Manager within 30 minutes of the game in which the infringement took place, and subsequently confirmed within 72 hours.

13.          Only registered entrants and Instructors displaying a valid licence are allowed in the players area during the event. All entrants are reminded that food and drink is not allowed in the playing area and there will be no smoking or consumption of alcoholic beverages for the duration of the trials by any competitor. Failure to maintain these rules may result in disqualification without refund. 

14.          All entrants agree to abide by the Sussex Tenpin Bowling Association Code of Conduct should they qualify to represent Sussex.  A copy is available upon request from the Tournament Manager.

15.          Before, during, and after the event there could be photography, filming or video taken of participants and winners by anyone attending the event, either as an official, spectator, parent or guardian. If you (as a participant, parent or guardian) object to this, you must make your objections known to the tournament manager prior to the event starting and reasonable adjustments will be made.

16.          All entry forms/ online entries must be received prior to the closing date of Wednesday 28th January 2026. Any entries received after this date will be accepted at the Tournament Manager’s discretion