It is week #2 of the Summer Session. Sunday and Monday teams are off next week as we observe Memorial Day weekend. City Championships will take place the next two weekends at The Locker Room in Kearny Mesa. The first weekend is the Ladies 8 Ball City Championships and the 9 Ball Team Championships. Schedules for City Championships should be posted before Memorial Day weekend.
We will be qualifying four 9 Ball teams, five 8 Ball teams to send to the APA National Team Championships at the Westgate Resort in Las Vegas this August. Teams that earn the privilege of representing the SDAPA in Las Vegas for the National Team Championships receive travel assistance, hotel stay for the entirety of their event, entry fee paid into the tournament, host location and individual City Championship trophies, invitation to our yearly Vegas Pre-Tournament banquet and will be in the money when they register their team at Nationals. We wish all of our teams the best of luck at City Championships!
We will also be qualifying up to 6 Ladies 8 Ball teams for the Ladies 8 Ball National Championships. 2 teams will earn hotel stay and entry fee paid and 4 more teams will be invited to buy in, based on the order of finish for 2 spots, and a random draw of the remaining City Championship qualified teams for the final two spots.
We also have one Jack n Jill Scotch Doubles slot that we will issue via blind draw during the 8 Ball City Championship weekend. To enter, you must provide your Scotch Doubles team, which requires a minimum of 20 APA 8 Ball scores for each player, currently active on an APA 8 Ball team and a handicap limit of 10 by the entry deadline date. Team entry is $100.
We will have City Championship t-shirts available again this year. Jill came up with another cool design, and we can’t wait to see the final product. They sold out last year and will probably sell out again this year, so get your shirt before they are gone. We will have t’s and tanks available for ladies and gentlemen.
We will have MVP trophies and patches available for pick up during the City Championships. Please come by and pick up these items for your teammates, as they earned and deserve to receive their awards. The location is still under construction as I write this newsletter. We are asking that you refrain from visiting while they are trying to get everything in order. The location will have 12 bar tables that were freshly provided with new cloth and rails and should be in fantastic playing condition.
More City Championship Info- City Championship teams should check our web site City Championship page, message board and/or San Diego APA Facebook page for announcements on rules/policies regarding the City Championships. We talk about sudden death rules, match schedule times, who is eligible on your team, and many other important tidbits, which knowing in advance and sharing with your teammates could make your experience much more enjoyable. This is the most exciting time of the year for our teams, so be prepared and have your team be early for your scheduled match times. Having a full roster at your disposal is very important to the success of your team. Understanding Sudden Death and how to avoid it is also very important. Losing a single game race because your teams played too slow is not the way you want to end your City Championship experience.
Speaking of slow play, the best way to combat late nights is to practice playing more quickly every single week you play your league matches. By limiting wasted time putting up players and staring at balls that aren’t moving, you can put your team in a position to be home by a reasonable hour. Everyone on your team needs to know and try to improve their speed of play. Watching paint dry is not fun, and neither is watching a pool player that is staring at the pool table instead of actually shooting. Nothing is more frustrating than someone taking a long time to shoot, and then misses the shot. Don’t be that guy! The team putting up first in each match should already know who they are putting up and should announce that to the other team before the previous match finishes. Then inform the player so they can get their potty and smoke breaks done beforehand. Keep timeouts under a minute. Timeouts are not the time to be giving lessons!