By MICHAEL HILL
Associated Press

ALBANY - Bowlers split all the time, but in New York it has led to a court case.

The U.S. Bowling Congress, the national governing body for amateur bowling, last year revoked the charter of the New York state bowling organization after a state manager was charged with embezzling more than a quarter-million dollars. Now the state group is striking back in court, claiming that the national group is using the scandal as a pretext to strip its authority.

The legal fight playing out in a Bronx court over the fate of the New York State Bowling Association has little direct effect on the more than 80,000 New York members and other bowlers statewide. But it could jeopardize the state championship tournament this year, and it leaves a question mark over who governs bowling in New York.

Trouble started after Stephen Donahue, a former association manager of the NYSBA, was accused last summer of embezzling more than $271,000 from the state organization, much of it from a cash machine at the Turning Stone casino in Central New York. The Weedsport man pleaded guilty this month to a count of second-degree grand larceny and faces three to nine years in state prison when he is sentenced in March.

The USBC revoked the state group's charter Oct. 18, the first time they had ever done that with a state group. The USBC said the state organization's problems went beyond the embezzlement scandal and that an audit showed that NYSBA board members "consistently failed" to safeguard funds.

The NYSBA sued, saying other local bowling associations got to keep their charters after embezzling incidents. They claim they have taken steps to prevent embezzlers.

The real reason behind for the conflict, according to the state group, is political.

Many bowling groups have been merging in recent years around the country. The USBC, with 2.6 million members, dates to Jan. 1, 2005, when the American Bowling Congress merged with the Women's International Bowling Congress, the Young American Bowling Alliance and USA Bowling.

But in 2005, the NYSBA board overwhelmingly voted against merging with the New York State USBC Women's Bowling Association. New York bowling officials claim that the embezzlement incident gave the USBC the pretext to yank the charter of the intransigent state group and replace it with a new, merged group.

USBC officials deny that, saying they are merely looking out for the best interest of their bowlers.

Still, a court order bars the national group from transferring assets or duties from the state group as the case is being argued. Some prize funds from the 2008 championship have yet to be handed out, and the fate of a state championship tournament in April and May is unclear pending the resolution of the court fight.

The parties are due back in court Feb. 23.