If your league needs social distancing with only one team per pair of lanes, you have two options: Extended Pair Mode or Extended Pair, Single Lane Mode, depending on whether teams will bowl on both lanes in traditional alternating fashion or only on one lane.
1. Extended Pair Mode (One Team Per Pair with Alternating Lanes)
In Extended Pair Mode, each team bowls on a pair of lanes in the traditional alternating fashion. This means each pair is used by a single team, with no other teams on adjacent lanes.
Example Setup:
- Team 1 bowls on lanes 1-2
- Team 2 bowls on lanes 3-4
- Team 3 bowls on lanes 5-6, and so on.
Advantages:
- Teams bowl in traditional alternating lanes.
Disadvantages:
- Smaller centers may need to split the league into multiple shifts to accommodate fewer people per lane.
Configuration Instructions:
- Open BLS-2025 and then Open the League.
- From the main menu, go to Setup > League > Lane Assignments.
- On the right side of the Lane Assignments grid, click the Social Distancing tab.
- Select Extended Pair:
- If you choose to Add Lanes, the league will be spread across all available lanes.
- If you choose to Add Shifts, the league will be split into shifts.
- Close the Lane Assignments to save the configuration.
The lane assignment screen will keep the normal lane numbers, while automatic scoring export and recaps will correctly display the pairings.
2. Extended Pair, Single Lane Mode (One Team Per Lane, Dark Lane in Between)
In Extended Pair, Single Lane Mode, each team bowls on only one lane, with a dark lane between teams.
Example Setup:
- Team 1 bowls on lane 1.
- Team 2 bowls on lane 3.
- Team 3 bowls on lane 5, and so on.
- Teams could also be on all even lanes instead of all odd lanes.
Advantages:
- This option complies with the USBC emergency rule for sanctioned leagues.
- BLS-2025 currently supports this setup.
Disadvantages:
- Requires a larger center to accommodate the number of teams.
- BLS-2025 does not support extending teams across just odd or even lanes for recaps, lane assignments, standings, and automatic scoring purposes, so you may need to manually update lane numbers on printouts.
- For Automatic Scoring Systems, while BLS-2025 can handle the instruction to not alternate lanes, some scoring systems may require manual adjustments if lanes are broken down or reassigned.
Configuration Instructions:
- Open BLS-2025 and then Open the League.
- From the main menu, go to Setup > League > Lane Assignments.
- On the right side of the Lane Assignments grid, click the Social Distancing tab.
- Select Extended Pair, Single Lane:
- Choose Add Lanes to spread teams across all lanes.
- Choose Add Shifts to split the league into shifts if needed.
- Close the Lane Assignments to save the configuration.
The lane assignment screen will use the regular lane numbers, but automatic scoring export and recaps will display the correct lane pairings for each shift.
General Tips:
- Extended Pair Mode allows for alternating lanes with social distancing by assigning one team per pair.
- Extended Pair, Single Lane is for stricter distancing, assigning one team per lane with a dark lane in between.
- Adjust settings based on your center’s size and the local/state requirements.
- For automatic scoring systems, it's important to test the setup, as additional manual adjustments may be required based on how your specific system handles lane assignments.