APA of Southwestern PA Local Bylaws David N. Hanna Phone: (724)-601-1614 1915 Kennedy Blvd Email: dhannapc@yahoo.com Aliquippa, Pa 15001 Website: swpa.apaleagues.com We welcome your team to the American Poolplayers Association! In order for us to enhance your enjoyment and the service of the League, we must enforce local bylaws, which are designed to allow a smooth operation of the League. Read these bylaws carefully and keep them with your team manual. Breaking these rules can cost you a play-off spo or LTC spot by losing valuable points. These bylaws have been read and approved by the American Poolplayers Association. The local bylaws are a secondary source of information created in accordance with and in addition to the Official Team Manual. League Office Hours The League Office hours are 11:00am 4:00pm Monday through Friday. If we are not in the office when you call, please leave your name, phone number and a brief message on the voice mail and your call will be returned as soon as possible. Our phone number is 724-601-1614. We do not take phone calls during league play. Please refer to your team manual or these bylaws if you have questions during league play. Please know the rules! Team Fees Team fees are $30 per week, per team for all scheduled matches regardless of number of games played or forfeits. Division Playoffs and 1 st Round Tri-cup are $30.00. Mailing System & Paying Dues APA League will be using the mailing system for delivery and pickup of weekly paperwork and fees. Please do not send cash through the mail as our League Office cannot take any responsibility for lost or stolen cash. So please send only a Money Order or Personal Check. Every week, each Captain, will receive a score sheet for the current week of play, information on any local tournaments being held, and a self addressed pre-stamped envelope to return the weekly score sheets, dues, memberships, etc. to the League Office. Each team captain will be responsible for collecting and mailing all score sheets, memberships, and weekly dues to League Office. Weekly score sheets and dues are to be mailed to League Office no later than the day after play. Example: you play on Wednesday, you mail everything on Thursday (before noon should guarantee postmark). Any score sheets and weekly dues that are sent to our office without a postmark of the day following League play will not receive their bonus point for that week of play. Bonus points will be explained later in these bylaws. When paying any weekly dues, memberships, etc, please send a check or Money Order made payable to: APASWPA There will be a $25 charge for any returned checks.
Late Fees Any team that falls two weeks ($60) behind in paying their dues will be sent a warning notice stating that their team will be subject to suspension and removed from the division roster for the rest of the session unless all past due monies ($60) plus the current weeks dues ($30) are paid to their opponent before the match is played. A team will not be reinstated for the session after being removed and the team or its players will not be eligible to play in any further sessions until all past due monies are collected. APA Memberships An APA membership is paid annually and expires December 31st of each year. In order to play on a team or in any APA event, you must have a current membership. APA membership dues are due the first night a player plays. If a team member is unpaid by the fourth week, they will be removed from your roster. Your annual APA memberships are $25. If you join after August 15, the annual membership dues will be prorated as follows: After August 15, you still pay $25 to join, but you are able to renew for only $15 to cover the following year. If you are entitled to a $15 renewal you must renew no later than March 1 or the first night you play in a Spring Session, whichever occurs first. After either of those dates, only full $25 memberships are accepted. **WARNING** If you shoot a player who has not filled out an application, and paid there APA Membership dues; your team will lose ALL points for that night. Bonus Points Every team will have the opportunity to earn bonus points. Three (3) bonus points for 8-Ball and 15 in 9-Ball will be awarded weekly to all teams who return completed score sheets, memberships, and weekly dues on time. Completed score sheets have all information filled out correctly (such as player number) and completely including total innings, games won and defensive shots played; if no defensive shots were played you must mark a zero (0). On time means postmarked by the day following League play. Bonus points will show up on weekly standings and will count towards total points at the end of a session to help determine team placement for playoffs. Penalty Points Score sheets must be received within two weeks of the match play. Three (3) penalty points for 8-Ball and 15 in 9-Ball will be deducted from the score for scoresheets received beyond two weeks of the scheduled match date. If the match was rescheduled, mark the top of your score sheet Make-up - Played _/_/_ in order to receive your bonus points and no penalty points.
Points awarded for byes Eight (8) points will be awarded for all byes in 8-Ball. Seventy-five (75) points will be awarded for all byes in 9-Ball. Score sheets will not need to be returned and no fees will be due during a bye week. LTC Eligible Teams In order to earn a slot in our Local Team Championship (The LTC is the tournament that decides which teams advance to Las Vegas for Nationals), you team must do one of the following: a. be the first place points earning team in a division of 8 or more teams; b. win your 1 st Tier division playoff and one round at the Tri-cup; or c. win the 2 nd Tier Tournament at the Tri-cup. Once your team is eligible for the LTC, they must remain active throughout the current League year. Example, eligible summer teams must play the fall and spring sessions; fall teams must play the spring session. In addition, once a team is eligible, they must finish in the top 50% of their division throughout the current League year. Teams that do not finish in the top 50% of their divisions in the session(s) following eligibility are subject to heavy scrutiny of their handicaps by the Handicap Advisory Committee and possible loss of eligibility. Inclement Weather Severe weather warnings or travelers advisory warnings are reason enough for rescheduling team matches. Please contact your opposing Team Captain and reschedule the match and then notify the League Office. Forfeits Full 8-ball teams forfeits will receive 8 points and full 9-ball team forfeits will receive 60 points (plus any bonus points earned) in an evening when the opposing team fails to show for a match. Individual forfeits will be worth 2 points each in 8 Ball (15 in 9 Ball) after the 3rd match has been played. Weekly dues ($30) is due regardless of the number of matches that are played or forfeited. Teams that do not show up for two consecutive weeks will be considered dropped from the League and a new schedule will be issued. Playoff forfeits are 3 points in 8-ball and 20 in 9-ball. Dropped teams or any suspended player(s) will forfeit all benefits: trophies, awards, and prize money. In the case of any team dropping out before the session is over and that team has not been replaced, all future matches will be awarded as byes. There will be NO forfeits the 1st week of play. If the whole team does not show the 1st week, then we will reschedule all the matches. If one person does not show the 1st week, then reschedule that match.
Rescheduling Team Matches Anytime a team match needs to be rescheduled it must be completed within 2 weeks of the originally scheduled date (players always shoot at their current skill level). Coordinate a date before you agree to reschedule a match. If a date cannot be agreed upon, then the League Operator will pick a date and both teams are expected to play on that date. If a team does not show, then the no-show team will forfeit all points. Failure to play the match within the two week time limit will result in a double forfeit. No matches will be made up during the last 2 weeks of session play and unpaid matches will receive (0) zero points and (0) zero bonus points. The League Office must be notified of any rescheduled matches. Banned Players / Sportsmanship If a player on your team has been banned from a tavern or location, then the team must play without him/her. The APA has no right to insist that a host location admit this player. Any player or team receiving more than (2) two sportsmanship violations will be dropped from the League. Dropped teams or any suspended player(s) will forfeit all benefits: trophies, awards, and tournament prize money. Sandbagging/Falsification of score sheets Any team found to be sandbagging by the Board of Governors/HRC (see below) will have the handicap of each player on the team raised by 1. Any team sending in falsified score sheets will be subject to any penalties handed down by the League Operator, which may include being dropped from the League. Travel Assistance Fund for the National Team Championship in Vegas This fund is for the benefit of the team(s) who have won the LTC and are traveling to the National Team Championships. After team travel plans have been booked and confirmed by the League Office and the team signs a Travel Assistance Fund Agreement, 8-ball, 9-ball, and teams will receive $3500.00 ($3,250 paid directly to the team captain; $250 paid for the slot). Ladies, Masters and Doubles teams will receive $400.00 per person and their slot paid, after team travel plans have been booked and confirmed by the League Office and the team signs a Travel Assistance Fund Agreement. If an eligible team elects not to participate in the National Team Championship or is deemed ineligible to participate by the Local League Operator, the team forfeits all travel fund money. Your team must show up with a full team for that format (5 players for open team; 2 for doubles) for at least two rounds of play. If the non-participating team was paid, all forfeited money must be paid back to the Local League Operator by September 1st of the year the team was eligible for the National Team Championship. We will attempt to insert the 2 nd place team in the slot, time permitting; otherwise, the forfeited travel fund will then be placed in the tournament prize fund.
Individual players on a team who elect not to participate, forfeit any claim to the prize fund. Equipment The home team/host location supplies the pool balls, including the cue ball, which must be on the table for practice by the away team ½ hour before the start of the match; a different cue ball or set of object balls that were not on the table for practice time by the away team may be used only if both teams agree before that evening s matches begin. Order of Play Team Captains (or whoever is there to represent the team for the coin toss) flip a coin to determine who MUST declare ( put up ) the first player. Winner of the toss has the choice of declaring first or having the opponent choose first. Once the team captain declares his choice of who is playing first & the opposing team has declared their player, NO changing the players is permitted. The only exception to this rule is when a team is in jeopardy of breaking the 23 Rule. After both teams have declared players in a match, if a team realizes that they are about to break the 23 Rule before the balls are broken, a team may change who they have declared in that match. Once the balls are broken, there is NO changing players. If the player that is being changed is from the team that declared first, then the team that chose 2nd will also have the opportunity to change their player after the first team declares. If the player who needs changed is on the team that chose 2 nd, then the 2 nd team will be the only team permitted to change their player. Slow play Slow play is a sportsmanship violation and should be reported to the league office; please see the Official Team Manual for suggested guidelines on match times. Sudden Death In order to avoid slow play, sudden death will be implemented during Tri-cups & LTCs. 8 Ball - Each team match must be in the 5 th individual match by the 3-hours-and-45-minutes mark or all subsequent individual matches will begin with a rack worth 2 team points and a second rack worth 1 team point, if necessary, will conclude that individual match. This procedure will continue in each subsequent individual match until a team mathematically wins or the overall match finishes in a tie: one 2-point rack, followed by one 1-point rack if necessary. Tie breakers will be decided by the team that won the most individual matches. NOTE: During Sudden Death, the individual match winner will be the player who wins the 2-point rack. 9-Ball - Each team match must be in the 5 th individual match by the 3-hours mark, or all subsequent matches will consist of all points earned being doubled. Each object ball pocketed will count as 2 points and the 9-ball will count as 4 points.
How un-sportsmanlike conduct is handled in this League If you believe that another player has violated our rules of conduct, you will need to tell us in a written statement - A Sportsmanship Violation Form. The following procedures will be followed but may be bypassed at anytime if the act of un-sportsmanlike conduct is so great that the League Operator feels that immediate indefinite suspension is the only proper course of action: 1. A Sportsmanship Violation Form MUST be filled out and turned into the league office. This can be found on our local Website swpa.apaleagues.com in the Important Documents tab. 2. This form will be mailed to the opposing party with a Response to Sportsmanship Violation Form. Which must be filled out by the responding party and returned to the office. 3. Once both forms are completed and returned, a Board of Governor s meeting will be scheduled. The Board of Governor s will receive both forms prior to the meeting for review. 4. At the Board of Governor s meeting, both parties will be given a chance to tell their side of the story as well as present any witnesses. 5. The Board of Governor s will deliberate and pass their findings and sanctions along to the office for action. Handicap Review Committee/ handicap complaints Complaints about player handicaps should only be written on a completed Handicap review request Form with specific details. We will be using a Handicap Review Committee (HRC) to assist with team/player complaints regarding handicaps (sandbaggers) and to review all eligible teams prior to the LTC. The HRC will be a three member random panel from dis-interested teams. The HRC will review player handicaps when requested by the League Operator after receiving a complaint about a player.the HRC will then make a recommendation to the League Operator. HRC members will from time to time be asked to observe the match of suspected sandbaggers. Contact the Office if you have an interest in being on the Handicap Review Committee. Complaints about player handicaps should never be verbalized during match play; this is unsportsman like conduct! Remember everyone can have a good night and the Equalizer system is supposed to allow lower skill players to win against higher skill players. No player likes to hear sandbagger when playing a match. Remember Dave says, "Play Like a Champion Today". Do not call the League office regarding handicap complaints, ever. Do not scribble profane comments about your opponent on the score-sheets, ever.
Rather, fill out the handicap review request form and return it to the office with your score sheet. Intelligent handicap review forms from players with integrity helps us improve your league! Division Reps/team captains Growth of this League benefits all teams, as the more opponents you have, the better the competition. In order to help us grow, I ask that all team captains help find new teams and host locations As this League grows, we will need division reps that will be responsible for fielding questions during League play and recruiting new teams. Contact me if you have an interest in being a division rep. Top Gun Tournament Following each session, the APASWPA will hold a top gun tournament. Please understand the requirements to participate in the Top Gun Tournament. 1. You must finish in the top 4 of your skill set in your division. The final top gun standings are posted in the APASWPA website. In the event of a tie, the place is awarded to the player with the highest win percentage. 2. Top Gun skill levels are based on the players session ending skill level. 3. You must play at your current skill level during the Top Gun Tournament. 4. You must have an established skill level based on at least 10 matches played prior to the start of the tournament. Tri-Cup Eligibility In order to qualify to play in our local tri-cups you must have at least 4 matches played in the qualifying session. You must also have and at least 10 lifetime matches prior to the end of the Fall or Spring qualifying sessions, or at least 6 lifetime matches prior to the end of the Summer qualifying session. ATTENTION NEW TEAMS: READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS RULE. Miscellaneous You are encouraged to enjoy the fare available at the host location. Do not bring any food or beverage into the host location unless they do not serve food and you have their permission. This conduct could result in the league being asked to leave a host location which is not acceptable; your team will be severely sanctioned if this happens. Also, the cost of the table will be split evenly between both players, no matter who wins or loses and regardless of their handicap. Your team should have a representative at the Wild Card Meeting, held the first Saturday after the end of each Session. Trophies are awarded during this Meeting. If you fail to utilize awards
or pick up trophies within 12 months of the date earned, we will dispose of trophies and you will forfeit awards. In order to play in any Tri-Cup or higher level tournament, you must be on an active APASWPA team roster. Amendment 1 Session Playoffs AMENDMENTS TO THE OFFICIAL TEAM MANUAL In Divisions with more than 8 teams, the team finishing first place at the end of weekly play will be considered the first place team, will receive 1st place trophies and be qualified to advance to the Tri-Cup and the Local Team Championship. If there is a tie, the tie will be broken by the Equalizer system which follows the guidelines in the Team Manual. To determine the Division winner, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th place team plus a wild card team will playoff as follows: 2nd vs. wildcard }-------- 3rd vs. 4th }-------- } --------- This winning team advances to the Tri-Cup The winner of the final round will advance to the Tri-Cup and receive trophies. In Divisions with 7 and less teams, the team finishing with the most points at the end of the session is not automatically determined as the 1st place of their division nor will such teams gain eligibility into the LTC. In this situation, the playoffs will be run as it is written in the Official Team Manual. Therefore, the playoff format would be as follows: 1st vs. wildcard }--------- 2nd vs. 3 rd }--------- } ---------- This winning team advances to the Tri-Cup The winner of the final round will advance to the Tri-Cup and receive trophies. 2 nd Tier Playoffs: All remaining teams eligible for the wildcard draw will participate in 2 nd Tier Playoffs being seeded by points earned; highest team is at home. Win two rounds and advance to the Tri-Cup. Amendment 2 Local Level In our League Area, if a 1st place team or Playoff Champion team gains eligibility more than once in the same League Year for the Local Team Championships, the team will NOT relinquish
its spot to the 2nd place team, or team that lost the playoff championship game, in that division. 1st place & Playoff Champion teams will always receive the rewards for being a 1st place or Playoff Champion team. This does not mean that any 1st place or Playoff Champion team which gains eligibility more than once gets more than one slot in the Higher Level Tournament. What it does mean is that another team did not gain eligibility for the Higher Level Tournament and therefore decreases the amount of teams playing in the Higher Level Tournament, and increases the odds for each team which did gain eligibility of going to the next Higher Level Tournament. The teams that gain eligibility into the National Qualifier Tournament the most times in a League year will also be the 1st teams eligible to receive a Bye (only if one is available) in that tournament. Amendment 3 Wildcard Meeting & Draw The wildcard meeting and Draw will be held at a location specified by the League Operator each session. For a team to be eligible to participate in the Wildcard Draw they must first meet the following criteria: 1. Teams must have had No more than 6 forfeits in the current session. 2. Teams must be current in all League fees. 3. Teams must not have been judged ineligible by the League Operator for any other reason. 4. Have a representative at the Wild Card Meeting. Your team should have a representative at the wild card meeting as matches are handed out to all teams and trophies are awarded to winners of the past session. Play like a Champion today!