Captain’s Log, January 6th, 2008 

Happy New Year! We hope you all enjoyed the holiday break and hope you all have a wonderful 2008. The Spring Session is the longest running session we do each year. It’s also the last session to qualify your team for the 2008 SDAPA City Championships. We run extra weeks in the Spring to help each team get all of their teammates eligible to compete in higher level tournament play. By the time you receive your first week team packets, the Blast schedules will be posted on the web site. The 9 Ball Blast is scheduled for January 19^th at the Hungry Stick. The 8 Ball Blast is scheduled for January 26-27 at the Hungry Stick. We will be issuing MVP trophies, Perfect Session Trophies and Break and Break and Run patches during the Blast, so come on out. Check the times of the Blast before you make the trip though, because we would hate for you to make the trip and find out we are already gone for the day. 

There are several teams that will be participating in the Blast even though they didn’t place first in the division standings or win the session ending playoffs. The highest placing non qualified team in the playoffs that finishes behind an already qualified team gets an invite to compete in the Blast. Check the Blast schedules to see if your team is one of those teams.  

We will be issuing prize money checks to the division standings winners (divisions of 6 teams or more) and playoff winners starting next week for 9 Ball divisions and the following week for 8 Ball divisions. If you want the check to be issued to someone other than the team captain, please contact the league office as soon as possible.  

League fees for the SDAPA are $40.00 per team. You will see that it’s also membership renewal time for all SDAPA members. $20.00 renewals are people who paid membership prior to August 15^th of the previous year. $10.00 renewals are people who paid membership fees after August 15^th of the previous year. We allow teams the first 4 weeks of play to submit membership fees, but we highly suggest that you pay them as soon as possible, especially qualified teams. All non paid members get dropped from their teams after the 4t^h week and all personal records with the team are zeroed out. We do not restore these records, so get those memberships in on time!  

Qualified teams are NOT allowed to make any roster changes after the 4^th week of play in the Spring Session. After week 4, your roster is frozen through the City Championships. Qualified teams that make roster changes after week 4 LOSE THEIR ELIGIBILITY!!! This includes having players dropped due to non payment of membership fees. See above. Don’t be that team. Qualified teams will also want to read up on the higher level tournament section of the APA team manual.  

You should have a membership renewal form with your score sheet this week. Please have all of your teammates update any incorrect or missing information from their personal records. It is important that APA has the correct address info to ensure delivery of APA promotions and membership benefits. This is the only form you will receive. Do not send it back until all members have had a chance to correct the address information. PLEASE USE THE FEES SECTION OF THE SCORE SHEET ONLY FOR DOCUMENTING WHO IS PAYING MEMBERSHIP FEES, NOT THE RENEWAL FORM. The renewal form is only for address corrections. New members must fill out an application, and you should have those in your packet as well. Have each teammate initial their section and you only need to fill out the form once if you are on more than 1 team.  

Schedules change a lot in the first week, so check for schedule changes frequently. Bye teams in week 1 should be prepared for a possible match. Teams are always adding late and its best for everyone if we can get matches in the week they are scheduled. We are looking for new teams to fill byes to help us reach an extra slot for Nationals in 8 Ball and 9 Ball. If you know anyone looking to form a team, have them give us a call. 

There are lots of new teams playing this week. We ask that everyone be as helpful as possible getting the new teams started. The APA accepts cash, check or money order made out to APA. We do not recommend submitting cash through the mail and the SDAPA league office will not be responsible for any lost or stolen fees. Team envelopes must be postmarked the first mailing day following your league match. Use the fees section to explain the amount being submitted.