There are two weeks left of play for the Spring Session, except for Sunday divisions. Sunday divisions finish this Sunday, and get the next week off for Easter. Playoffs will begin the week of April 27th for all Open 8 Ball and 9 Ball divisions. The end of the Spring Session marks the end of the qualifying period for the 2014 APA National Championships. The Summer, Fall and Spring qualified teams will all compete in the City Championships in June for their opportunity to represent San Diego at the APA National Team Championships in August. To compete in the City Championships, players must have a minimum of 10 lifetime matches in the format they are competing in, and have a minimum of 4 matches in the Spring Session with the team. There will be a Blast tournament to qualify the Spring Session teams for the City Championships. The Blast tournament is scheduled to be played on May 17-18 at the Hungry Stick.
The playoffs will be posted to the web site on the following dates for each division…..
Sunday Divisions- Thursday, April 17th
Monday Divisions- Thursday, April 24th
Tuesday Divisions- Friday, April 25th
Wednesday and Thursday Divisions- Monday, April 28th.
The number of teams that will compete in the playoffs are based on division size. The first place teams in divisions with 6 teams or more advance directly to the Blast and do not play in the playoffs. In divisions with 4 teams, the 1st place team will receive a bye for the first week of playoffs while the 2nd place team plays the wild card team to determine who will play the first place team in week 2 of playoffs. Divisions with 5 teams will see 1st place vs. wild card and 2nd vs. 3rd in week 1 and the two winners facing each other in week 2. Divisions with 6 teams will have 2nd place vs. the wild card and 3rd vs. 4th in the first week match up, with the winners meeting up in week 2. Divisions with 12 or more teams will have a double playoff with 2 playoff champions. Playoff #1 is 2nd place vs. Wild Card #1 and 4th place vs. 6th. Playoff #2 is 3rd place vs. Wild Card #2 and 5th place vs. 7th place. The winners in week 1 meet in week 2 to determine the playoff winners.
Wild Card teams are teams that did not earn a playoff spot that are in good standing with the league office, are not past due in fees and have no more than 5 individual match forfeits for the session.
It is important to know that the 10 lifetime matches rule is based on Spring Session participation or previous participation. We will be starting the Summer Session before the City Championships, but those scores absolutely do not count towards the 10 lifetime or the 4 matches with the team needed to compete in the 2014 City Championships. Adding someone to your 2014 Summer team does not make them eligible to compete with the 2014 City Championship team. They must have played 4 matches with your team in the Spring and have 10 lifetime matches by the end of the Spring to compete. Playoff matches and Blast matches DO count towards those requirements. Players with less than 10 matches will not print on City Championship rosters and therefore, their skill levels cannot be counted towards the 23 rule.
Trophies, patches and individual achievement awards will be available at the Blast and City Championship tournaments whether your team is competing or not. Come on by and pick up your awards. We hope to see you there. We will also have City Championship T-shirts available for purchase, but only at the City Championships, and only while supplies last. We will be discussing the City Championships much more before the event, but if you are qualified for the event, feel proud of your team’s accomplishments. It’s the first step in possibly making it to Nationals to compete against teams from all over the USA, Canada and Japan.
If the message “Your team is not registered for the Summer Session” is still printing on your score sheet, please take a moment to inform us of your team’s intentions for the Summer. This is the time we start setting up the Summer Session and we don’t want to leave your team out. For those of you that don’t make it to the playoffs, enjoy your time off and we hope to see you for the Summer Session. The Summer Session begins on the week of May 11th.
This will be the final Captain’s Log for the regular session. We will send out a playoff newsletter in the first week of playoffs for those teams that qualify for playoffs. Good luck the rest of the way. Most of the teams playing are still eligible for playoffs and a chance to make it to Nationals, and it isn’t just skill that can get you there. You need a little bit of luck and the balls to roll your way.