Important Information for City Championship Qualified Teams 


The following information is provided for those teams that are qualified for the SDAPA City Championships, also know as World Qualifiers (WQ), and formerly known as Local Team Championships (LTC). It outlines team and player eligibility requirements for this prestigious event. We encourage all members of qualified teams to familiarize themselves with this information and to review the Higher Level Tournament section of the APA Official Team Manual and all Local Bylaws pertaining to the City Championship Tournament. A link to this information will be sent to all qualified teams.
 

Maintaining Eligibility

Every eligible team must play the Spring Session to retain eligibility. If your team qualified in the summer, then you must sign up again and play both the Fall and Spring Sessions in the League area in which you qualified. If your team qualified in the fall, then you must continue on and play in the spring in the League area in which you qualified. You are not required to participate in the summer of the following League year even though that session begins before the World Qualifier is conducted. 
 
Summer Session teams that become eligible for the World Qualifer (City Championship) must finish in the top half of their division in the subsequent Fall and Spring Sessions of the current League year. Fall Session teams that become eligible for the WQ must finish in the top half of their division in the subsequent Spring Session of the current League year. Teams that do not finish in the top half of their division in the session(s) following qualification are subject to heavy scrutiny of their handicaps and/or loss of eligibility. 
 
Qualified Team Roster
 
Your Spring Session roster will be the roster you must play with when you enter the City Championship/WQ and if you advance to the World Pool Championship.

Once the fourth week of the Spring Session has passed, the rosters of all eligible teams are frozen. No one may be dropped or added. You cannot go back and re-sign a player who used to play with you in the fall or the previous summer, even if that player was on your team when you gained your eligibility. If the team decides to drop or add a player after the fourth week of the Spring Session has passed, the team will lose its eligibility. There are no exceptions to this rule. 
 
Any player being added to a qualified team within the first four weeks of the Spring Session must have a skill level based on at least twenty (20) scores. If the player has fewer than twenty (20) scores, the League Operators must approve that player before he/she can be added to the roster.
 

A team that gains eligibility in the Summer Session must retain four original members in the Fall and Spring Sessions. A team that gains eligibility in the Fall Session must retain four original members in the Spring Session. If a player quits an eligible team and later rejoins it according to the rules, he/she still has originality. Originality is established by being on a team when it became eligible.

Members of a qualified team must remain current APA members. If any of your teammates are not available at renewal time, the team must pay for them or they will be dropped from the roster and will become ineligible. The spring rosters of qualified teams are frozen after week four (see paragraph four above) and therefore, any member of a qualified team that is dropped by the League Office due to nonpayment of their membership renewal dues (which are due by the end of week four of the Spring Session) may not be added back to the team and that player will become ineligible to participate in the City Championships or World Pool Championships.

Player Skill Level (SL)
 

Players must enter Higher Level Tournaments (City Championships/WQ and up) with their Highest Skill Level. A player's Highest Skill Level is defined in the APA Official Team Manual under Tournament Information for the World Pool Championships. 

During Championship Level Events (WPC in Vegas), ladies may participate at their assigned SL. All other players will participate at a minimum SL of 3. This applies to both 8-Ball and 9-Ball formats. 

In order to participate in Higher Level Tournaments, a player must have a skill level based on at least 10 APA League match scores in the format in which he or she is advancing. The 10 scores must be attained by the end of the Spring Session in the League year corresponding to the Team Championship in which the player is advancing. 

In order to be considered a full-fledged member of a team and eligible to participate in the City Championship and World Pool Championship with that team, a player must have played at least four times with the team in the Spring Session. 

Individual skill levels may be adjusted by standard updating, by tournament committee judgments, or by the APA prior to and during all levels of Higher Level Tournament play. 

The APA has the option to disqualify any team. In order to conduct a fair and equal tournament for all APA players, APA must ensure that all participants are playing at skill levels that are not below their true ability. Handicap manipulation compromises the fairness and integrity of tournament play and cannot be tolerated. Accordingly, APA may disqualify any team if, in APA’s sole judgment and absolute discretion, one (1) or more of its players are deemed by APA to be playing at a skill level below their true ability. The determination of whether a player is playing at a skill level below his or her true ability is necessarily subjective; APA is the sole judge of a player’s ability and may make such a determination in its absolute judgment and discretion. Disqualification will mean forfeiture of all titles, awards, prize money, and a minimum 2-year suspension from the League. 

If you have any questions regarding these rules, please do not hesitate to call/text the league office at 619-303-0183 or email at sandiego@apaleagues.com.