We are at the halfway point of the Fall Session. Players can still be added to teams, but membership fees must be paid before they can play or be added to the roster. Ladies divisions are getting ready to start their end of session playoffs in a few weeks and then we will be starting up the Ladies Spring Session divisions on December 7th. If you are interested in starting a Ladies Division team or finding a team (LADIES ONLY PLEASE J), please contact the league office. We currently have Ladies Divisions competing in the Oceanside/Vista area and in Central/East County. Ladies teams consist of 3 to 5 players with 3 playing in each match. The handicap limit is 13 for the 3 players on each team. It’s a fun Friday night league that doesn’t play every Friday, so get your teams together and become a part of the excitement!
We are just back from the annual APA 9 Ball Southwest Challenge in Las Vegas, and San Diego completed the sweep of 1st place finishes at Southwest Challenge Tournaments for 2014. Both of the big traveling trophies are in San Diego until at least March. If you recall, all four of the final remaining teams in March were San Diego teams, and while we only had 2 teams in the final 16 in 9 Ball, they ended up finishing in 1st and 2nd place. The 2014 APA 9 Ball Southwest Challenge Champions are: Marakai Fellows, Jamie Vermillion and Aaron Moreno. They fought their way through a record tournament of 126 teams from all over the Southwest to claim the 3rd San Diego 9 Ball Championship in the Southwest Challenge since we started the tournament in 2003. The previous champions were Jesse Pamintuan, Angela Takanashi and Jon Smith in 2006 and Scott Thurber, Frank Vachlin and Karina Mena in 2007. Marakai, Jamie and Aaron won the first place prize of $2400 for their outstanding efforts. Finishing in 2nd place were Frankie Ruiz, Vito Strimaitis and Pete Gonzalez from Escondido. Frankie, Vito and Pete won $1500 for their finish. In all, 126 teams (26 San Diego teams) participated and the total purse for the event was $18,180.00. Several other San Diego teams finished in the money and the results for all San Diego teams will be posted to our web site and the SDAPA Facebook page.
Scores from the Blast, Regionals and the Southwest Challenge have recently been entered into each player’s records, so if a skill level changes without playing, it’s quite possible that one of these tournaments is the reason.
November 1st is the annual 9 Ball Halloween tournament. This event is open to all active SDAPA 9 Ball players with a minimum of 7 lifetime 9 Ball matches. There will not be a costume contest this year for a few reasons, but we will be bringing the costume contest back next year. The 2 main reasons that there won’t be a costume contest is that it’s November 1st (after Halloween) and Larry Carr, Clint Palaci and Paul Langley are the tournament directors for this event and they will have their hands full just keeping the tournament flowing. Doors open at 9am at the Hungry Stick and play will begin immediately after the draw at 10:30am. The flyer for this tournament can be found on our web site.
Time is running out to get qualified for the 2015 APA Singles Nationals. 5 players got qualified last weekend and this Saturday, October 25th (assuming you got your score sheet and are reading this before Saturday, October 25th), they will be qualifying several more players for the Spring Regional. Check the message board for dates and times of qualifiers (Singles Boards). The only way to qualify for the APA Singles Championships in Las Vegas is to win a local Singles Board and then win the Regional Tournament. Your MVP vouchers are good for participation in any San Diego Singles Board qualifiers. We also accept cash or checks for participation. November 30th is the deadline to get qualified for the Spring Regional.
When keeping score in 8 Ball or 9 Ball, defensive shots must be marked on each occasion that someone plays a safety. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell if someone was playing a safety, but if you ask yourself the question of whether or not the player was attempting to make the shot, you can usually make the determination yourself. Everyone that keeps score should be able to recognize a defensive shot and mark it accordingly. It is also acceptable to ask the shooter if they were playing a safety when you aren’t sure. Marking defense helps ensure the accuracy of skill levels for every player and team competing in our league.