Captain’s Log, January 11th, 2015 

2015 starts our 20^th year running the San Diego APA in San Diego. When I moved to San Diego in 1996 to start up this league, I had no clue whether this was something I could really do or not, but I had to at least give it a try. I packed up a UHaul in blizzard conditions on January 20^th in Champaign, Illinois and drove west to San Diego. I originally went into this with a partner that didn’t really seem to have the vision or dedication I had to make this work, and it wasn’t until I met Jill in 1998 that we could turn this league into something really special. We bought out the partner and quickly turned 120 teams into 200 teams and then 300 and eventually more than 400. We grew to be the 12^th biggest APA league in the world at one point, and that’s a pretty impressive number when you consider the limited amount of locations with pool tables throughout our league area. We still maintain top 15 status among all APA leagues, and we are the second biggest league west of the Mississippi River, APA or otherwise. The addition of Lindsay Miller to our office 10 years ago was another great moment for our league. We couldn’t have found someone better to do what we do in this office. A big thank you to Lindsay for her awesome service and dedication over the years. A big thank you to Jill for putting aside her previous aspirations to dedicate her time and efforts to the league, and an even bigger thank you to the thousands and thousands of people who have been a part of our league at one time or another, past or present, that helped shape our league to what it is today. It’s been a great 20 years and we hope we can give you another great 20 years going forward. 

Next week we will send out the 8 Ball Southwest Challenge flyer for March. We are now taking sign ups for this event. The date for the SWC is March 19-21 at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The SWC is 3 person teams in handicap races with a handicap limit of 14. It’s a really fun weekend getaway tournament for you and two of your friends. We hope you can join us this year. Please see the flyer posted on the web site for all of the details and eligibility requirements. 

The Blast schedule is posted on the web site. We had to get a little creative this time to prevent teams or players from having to be at 2 locations at the same time, so while the draw to see who plays who was blind as usual, we did schedule the matches so that people don’t have to play at more than one location. What’s important to know here is that teams playing matches at the Break Room will receive their team trophies, MVP trophies and patches at the Break Room. Teams scheduled at the Library will receive theirs at the Library. The league office will be set up at The Library to issue patches, MVP trophies and Perfect Session trophies to teams/players that aren’t competing in the Blast. In a nutshell, if you are not scheduled to compete at the Break Room, your stuff can be picked up at The Library on Mission Gorge Rd. on Saturday and Sunday of January 24-25. Several teams advanced to the Blast by having the highest playoff finish that finished behind an already qualified team. We will be notifying each of these teams so that they can prepare for the event. 

End of session prize money checks will be mailed out the week of January 18^th. Prize money checks will be $1000.00 for each APA 8 Ball and 9 Ball team that won the division standings (in divisions of more than 5 teams) or won the playoffs. If you want the check to be made out to someone other than the captain, please notify the league office to whom that check is to be made out to. Teams that qualified for the Blast but don’t have to play can pick up their prize money check and team trophies on Saturday, Jan 24 or Sunday, Jan 25. 

Please have your new players fill out an application if they are submitting the membership fees in your weekly envelope. This information is needed to ensure timely delivery of their membership card. If you have moved, you should fill out an application or update your information online, also.  

The Bonnie and Clyde Valentine’s Day Massacre Tournament is being rescheduled for a time later this year. Our hope is to find a location that will allow us to continue running this as a 64 team event. If that isn’t possible, then we will consider reducing the field or reducing the race to something that will work for everyone. The main objective is to make sure this tournament stays fun and benefits as many of our members as possible. We are looking at a late July time frame for this event this year. We are also happy to listen to any suggestions you may have. This is everyone’s favorite tournament each year and we want to keep it that way.