Most checks have now been cashed for the fall session. There are still a few that remain outstanding as of February 28. We are individually contacting those who have not cashed their checks for the Fall session.

Most teams are in week 11 of play. Only 7 weeks left until playoffs. We have struggled with a few schedules from teams dropping out. Please remember, when schedule changes are made, all teams are affected. Every effort is made to make sure each team has the same number of matches played at home and away. We do our best to make sure the home bar gets business 1/2 of the time during a given session.

VOTE NOW: WE WOULD LIKE EACH TEAM TO VOTE ON THE CAPTAIN/TEAM IN YOUR DIVISION WHO YOU FEEL HAS THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES:

1. Good Sportsmanship
2. Knowledge of Rules
3. Helpful/Courteous to other teams/players
4. Likes to win, but having fun is more important
5. Does not cheat by padding innings, etc.

Each team gets one vote. Please have your votes in to us by May 1, 2003.

SINGLES REGIONAL:

The Singles 8-Ball Regional Tournament was held at the Golden Eight Ball in Columbus on March 1 & 2. A total of 49 players participated from all over Ohio.

The following persons were winners of the Singles Tournament:

Out of the 4 winners, 2 were from the Central Ohio League. These 4 winners qualified to go to the Singles Championship being held in Las Vegas April 24-25. We would like to congratulate the winners and wish all of these players luck out in Vegas! Thanks to all participants who made the tournaments a success!

Call now to run a singles board. Be one of the contestants to participate in the next Singles Regional. Who knows, you may be making the next trip to Vegas!

All that is required is a person willing to take time to set a date and time. It doesn't matter where the tournament is run. It can be in someone's basement! Make an evening out of it. Up to 8 players can participate. The total cost for the board is $120. With 8 participants, each player will pay $15. The fewer participants, the greater the cost.

We encourage you to run boards for the same skill levels(ex. 3's & 4's). It is no fun for a 3 to be in a singles tournament against a 7. As you can see above, the Regional separates the skill levels giving everyone a chance to go to Vegas. The more boards we run, the more participants we have in the regional.

The APA is sponsoring the US Amateur for 2003 again. Changes to the U.S. Amateur for 2003. Two divisions will now be held - a Men's Division and a Women's Division. One person from each preliminary tournament (16 total) will advance to the U.S. Amateur Championship being held in Berlin, Connecticut. The winner of each Division (Men's and Women's) of the Amateur Championship held in Berlin will receive free travel, lodging and entry into a 2004 Pro Event, compliments of the APA.

The 2003 U.S. Amateur Preliminary round will be held at the Golden 8 Ball in Columbus. This will be held September 20 and 21, 2003. All male skill levels 7 & higher and all female skill levels 6 & higher will receive an invitation in the mail from the APA. The entry fee is $40 for APA members and $50 for non-APA members. Any player can participate in this event regardless of skill level. Just call the League Office and we will send you a U.S. Amateur packet.

Deadline for getting the entry form back to this League Office is June 1, 2003. This is a great opportunity to show your skills and see how far you can advance!

The 15^th Annual Billiard Junior National 9-Ball Championship Qualifying Tournament will be held at the Golden 8 Ball on High Street on Saturday May 17^th. If you have sons or daughters who would wish to participate must sign up at 11:00 am. The tournament starts at 12:00. Entry fee cost is $20 which includes green fees. There is no need to pre-register.

The divisions that will be played are:

14 & under Open

18 & under Open

18 & under Girls

We are already working on recruiting teams out of new bars for the summer session. It is not too early to start thinking about getting your team registered for the summer.

Also, if you are the only team playing out of your bar, we would really like your help in recruiting a second team for your Bar's benefit.

Please visit our website apacolumbus.com. This site has all the information you need regarding Division standings, weekly team points, and top gun (mvp) reports.

Please use the website to print off information that you may want. There should be at least one player on each team who has access to the website. If there are no players on your team who have access to the internet, please let us know. We will then mail the necessary reports to you with your scoresheets.

Please mark your calendars for these important events:

May 14 - Deadline for summer session

May 27 - Summer Session begins (Tues-Thurs)

June 1 - Summer Session begins (Sun-Mon)

June 7 - 9 Ball Regional

June 13,14,15 - Spring Tri-cup

June 20,21,22 - 8 Ball City Tournament

Sometimes we get calls on how much fun another team was to play. Last session we got good comments on the following teams:

Sofa King Good out of Crown Sports, Westerville, Captain Jason Anderson

Nuthin Special out of the Tack Room, Captain James Jordan

Smack Down out of Scalawags, Captain Billy Billingsley

This session:

Rocky Breaks out of On the Rocks, Captain Jim Papamihail

Rubys in the Hills out of Ruby Hills, Captain Chris Kinney

These teams have received compliments about being so much fun to play against. They played professionally and were a lot of fun. It is so nice to hear these things about players and teams. Okay guys, don't let this go to your heads!!!! This is what the APA is supposed to be all about! Play to have fun and if you win in the process, it is just icing on the cake!

Deaths:

There have been 2 deaths this winter:

Paulette, owner of Pauley's Westburgh Pub and Sean Mullin Both were sudden. We offer sincere condolences to their families and friends.

Please e-mail us if you have any information you would like to add to the newsletter.

Richard Whaley

PH: (614) 833-1009

e-mail: apacolumbus@hotmail.com