APA Featured in Sports Illustrated

APA Featured in Sports Illustrated
Billiard Industry News - Sports Illustrated has highlighted the positive impact the American Poolplayers Association (APA) has made on the sport of pool in a recent article by Jon Wertheim. Wertheim addresses pool’s “seedy reputation,” but also notes the success of the sport at the recreational level – due in large part to the APA.

{mosimage}Here’s a small excerpt from that article:
“Much of the credit for this growth is owed to the American Poolplayers Association (APA), a Missouri-based outfit that claims a quarter of a million players as members and sanctions weekly amateur leagues in 9,000 different sites. If the group's official mission is to organize and standardize recreational pool -- serving as a governing body for amateur pool -- the unofficial mission is to serve as a public relations vehicle for the sport. For one, there's a strict prohibition in gambling. ("That's not the view we want others to have of us," says APA President Renee Poehlman.) Women are welcome and comprise nearly one-third of APA membership. And thanks to an in-house handicapping system, The Equalizer, ball-bangers (beginners) can play alongside the most skilled practitioners. "We don't want to be considered the pool of yesteryear," says Poehlman.”

About the APA
The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world's largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. More than 260,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9-Ball league play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.

The APA produces three major tournaments each year—the APA National Team Championships, the APA National Singles Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship — that, together, pay out nearly $1.5 Million in cash and prizes annually.

The APA is proudly sponsored by Cuetec Cues, Valley Tables, Valley Ultra Teflon Cloth and Aramith Billiard Balls.
For more information about the APA, visit the official APA Web site at Poolplayers.com.
To read Wertheim’s entire article, click the link below:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_wertheim/06/15/pool.image/1.html

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Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.