This is the last week of regular session play for the Fall Session. Next week is the start of playoffs and we do play back to back weeks during the playoffs. We will provide a playoff log for the first week of playoffs for all of the teams participating. The following is how the SDAPA determines who plays in the playoffs:
In divisions with 6 to 12 teams, which are all of our current Ladies divisions, the first place team automatically advances to the City Championships and does not participate in playoffs. 2nd place hosts the wild card team and 3rd place hosts 4th place. In week 2, the highest seeded team remaining in the playoffs hosts the other team to determine the playoff champions for each division. Playoff champions also qualify directly for the City Championships.
We conduct a wild card draw in our office for the last playoff spot. For a team to be eligible for the wild card draw, you must have a team participating in the division, caught up in league fees and no more than 5 forfeits for the session.
In the event of a tie in the division standings, we compare how the teams did against each other during the session. If two teams tie in head to head matchups, the team that won the last time the two teams played will be the tie breaker.
End of session prize money is $350 for the standings winner and $350 for the playoff champion in each of our 3 Ladies divisions. Checks will mail out on the first week of the new session. We will also provide trophies for each team that won the division standings or won playoffs. MVP’s will be determined and posted to our MVP page on our web site. We will post the playoff match ups on the playoff page, so be sure you look to see if your team got the wild card and made playoffs.
I have been notified by the APA National Office that we have 5 slots for the Ladies National Championships. We won’t have less than that, but we could end up with more. We were able to send 6 teams last year. We won’t know how many teams we can fund for the National Championships from the 5 slots until we know how many Spring Session teams are playing. Last year, we paid for travel assistance and hotel for 2 teams and the other 4 teams paid entry fee and were on their own for room and travel.
The Spring Session begins on Friday, December 4th. The Spring Session will continue beyond the holiday break and into May. The City Championships will take place during one of the first three weeks of June.
Jennifer Landau is currently undergoing a tough battle with cancer and she recently had to give up her Ladies team. Keep Jennifer in your thoughts and prayers during this tough time. We hope to see her back on the pool tables soon.
Good luck in this final week of the session. Special thanks to all of our participants and hope to see you playing the Spring Session. If you know anyone looking to put a team in, have them get in touch with the league office. We are very happy that our ladies program is doing so well.