Leaving APA (not your everday bashing)

TimKrazyMon

TimKrazyMon

Kid Delicious' Evil Twin
Silver Member
I'm pretty much done with APA. I got into league pool with the idea of playing with the same team for as long as I wanted. After 7+ years in APA (rising to a SL7 in 8ball & 9ball), I've found that every year I have to find a new team or retool my existing team.

Quite frankly, I've become tired of all this. BCA, VNEA, & USAPL have all come up with systems that allow teams to stay together, why can't APA follow suit? There's no incentive to recruit new members other than to retain the "privilege" of playing APA.

One day, I finally asked myself "Why do I keep doing this?" And you know what? I couldn't come up with a good answer. So, to APA, I say goodbye. BCA, VNEA, I'm here to stay.
 
With the APA's ranking system, it makes it very difficult for a team to stay together long term. As you know, you can only play a total points per team - per week and as players like you get better and better and your handicap goes up it is more difficult to play each week. Teams must recruit lower skilled players just so they don't go over that magic number.
 
TimKrazyMon said:
I'm pretty much done with APA. I got into league pool with the idea of playing with the same team for as long as I wanted. After 7+ years in APA (rising to a SL7 in 8ball & 9ball), I've found that every year I have to find a new team or retool my existing team.

Quite frankly, I've become tired of all this. BCA, VNEA, & USAPL have all come up with systems that allow teams to stay together, why can't APA follow suit? There's no incentive to recruit new members other than to retain the "privilege" of playing APA.

One day, I finally asked myself "Why do I keep doing this?" And you know what? I couldn't come up with a good answer. So, to APA, I say goodbye. BCA, VNEA, I'm here to stay.
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Tim:

(And gosh, I know I'm going to get flamed for this!) Congrats on making a move to better yourself as a player. Part of that bettering yourself is removing yourself from those scenarios that frustrate you and keep you down as a player. Climbing the ladder is a natural progression in one's pool playing career (or experience, if pool isn't a career per se). You leave one rung, to climb onto another. The APA for you was just one rung on that ladder. You've left the world of social banger pool (not that social pool is wrong, mind you -- there's something to be said for a great evening out for competitive pool play with friends), and are now looking for a better thing.

Keep climbing higher! It only gets better from here. The VNEA/TAP/BCAPL are just better-run leagues, without the Amway-style growth tactic built-in. Not that the APA is bad, mind you. It is what it is, and it does what it does -- which for our beleaguered sport of pool, is quite good. But it's not for everybody, and at some point, you do graduate beyond it, and have to leave the training wheels behind.

-Sean <-- puts on his U.S. Navy flame-retardant fire-fighters gear
 
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TimKrazyMon said:
BCA, VNEA, & USAPL have all come up with systems that allow teams to stay together, why can't APA follow suit...
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They have and it is called the Masters and is a great format, IMO. In Masters you will never have to break up your team because there is no handicap at all.
 
sfleinen said:
Tim:

(And gosh, I know I'm going to get flamed for this!) Congrats on making a move to better yourself as a player. Part of that bettering yourself is removing yourself from those scenarios that frustrate you and keep you down as a player.
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There is nothing for you to be flamed about in your post. I play APA, and get tired of the bashing-for-bashing sake posts. Your post isn't one of them.

I've always maintained that if APA isn't for you, if you are getting frustrated with the way the system is set up, then by all means do not play. If you are able to play at a higher level than you see in most APA matches, why should you stay and play APA, especially if it causes you stress or frustration? Especially if you have other options to play competitively.... (For many, APA is one of the few options available.)

The APA system does what it does, and does it well. It has hiccups like any other organized entity, and some of those become larger issues which need attention. APA doesn't hold a monopoly on having "issues". If players outgrow the system, or the level of play, great. Bigger and better things ahead for them, like our OP.

If more folks who are frustrated would move on, perhaps we'd have fewer issues. Perhaps less cheating. Or fighting. Maybe not, but frustration has to have a hand in those elements. {Like the saying "Everyone sandbags in APA"}

Good for our OP that he can move on and leave his frustrations behind him. Seriously. I don't know why anyone would continue to participate in something that bothers them so much for any extended length of time. Life is too short.
 
sfleinen said:
Tim:

(And gosh, I know I'm going to get flamed for this!) Congrats on making a move to better yourself as a player. Part of that bettering yourself is removing yourself from those scenarios that frustrate you and keep you down as a player. Climbing the ladder is a natural progression in one's pool playing career (or experience, if pool isn't a career per se). You leave one rung, to climb onto another. The APA for you was just one rung on that ladder. You've left the world of social banger pool (not that social pool is wrong, mind you -- there's something to be said for a great evening out for competitive pool play with friends), and are now looking for a better thing.

Keep climbing higher! It only gets better from here. The VNEA/TAP/BCAPL are just better-run leagues, without the Amway-style growth tactic built-in. Not that the APA is bad, mind you. It is what it is, and it does what it does -- which for our beleaguered sport of pool, is quite good. But it's not for everybody, and at some point, you do graduate beyond it, and have to leave the training wheels behind.

-Sean <-- puts on his U.S. Navy flame-retardant fire-fighters gear
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Sean, thanks for the kind words. I'm always looking to get better.



JDB said:
They have and it is called the Masters and is a great format, IMO. In Masters you will never have to break up your team because there is no handicap at all.
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In my neck of the woods, the Masters format has never generated enough interested to keep it going on a consistent basis.
 
I came to the same conclusion about 4-5 years ago. I think you will look ba:thumbup:ck after the move and ask why you did not leave earlier. I know I did.
 
I wish the APA had a Masters division in my area as a choice. I play in a VNEA league. It's a scratch division - no handicaps, just load 'em up & bring 'em. Good competition, and we've had some really sporty players come thru... Gary Serville, Dave Matlock, Steve Hassell, Rick Garrison,... But I still play APA, too, to have a match format available to me. (Don't have time to play tournaments as often as I'd like.) I just try to let the inevitable bullshit slide off, and, frankly, I find I don't have to deal with too much of it personally. At the end of the day, if I can't be honest with myself about whether I played well - there's not much hope for me.
 
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TimKrazyMon said:
In my neck of the woods, the Masters format has never generated enough interested to keep it going on a consistent basis.
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Yeah, masters is APA-without-most-of-the Bull-crap ... but if there is no option for that, then go with the others. Still, you need to have a good league operator regardless of what league
 
TimKrazyMon said:
In my neck of the woods, the Masters format has never generated enough interested to keep it going on a consistent basis.
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Then I would pretty much agree with you. If my wife quits the 23 rule double-jeopardy division we currently play in, I am probably done with APA 23 rule and will only play Masters. So I definitely get where you are coming from.
 
JDB said:
Then I would pretty much agree with you. If my wife quits the 23 rule double-jeopardy division we currently play in, I am probably done with APA 23 rule and will only play Masters. So I definitely get where you are coming from.
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Hey Jim,

Looks like we are dropping out of the division this week. I'm gonna miss you big guy :eek:
 
NewStroke said:
Hey Jim,

Looks like we are dropping out of the division this week. I'm gonna miss you big guy :eek:
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I think we will probably run into each other if I can get work under control and start getting to some of the weekly/monthly tournaments.

As long as I play in Masters a couple of times a week, I probably won't join BCA though just because I like the Master's format better.

But I will definitely play in some of the tournaments when I have the opportunity.

Are you playing in the National Amateurs tourament in Austin in September?
 
The Masters format is great, better than BCA or Valley or whatever, but you do have to live in an area that can support it, such as having a large enough pool of good talent to pull from for multiple teams. This will work in large cities but not so much in smaller communities or traveling leagues.

The Masters is a good solution by the APA but it's not heavily promoted enough and the rewards are not great enough to pull players over from BCA and Valley.
 
I understand your frustration. I started playing APA to play with my sons. We were not able to stay on the same teams after a while, and so we split up. Now, neither myself or my oldest son play APA at all. My youngest son (30 yrs old), plays on a team with his wife. Until she gets much better, they can play together for a long time.

Unfortunately, we can no longer play as a family-fun night. Also, I have to say that I don't play as good now as I did in the past, but my APA skill level does not reflect that.

I started with a TAP league, and we did OK...went to Nationals this year and finished 9-16, but now, the numbers there are beginning to kill us, too. I did the Masters thing for a while, and liked it pretty well, but now I most enjoy the Senior's league that I play on. All the ranking there is done in-house, and it is very fairly done and straight-forward, plus, it is an individual event, so there are no team numbers to worry about.

Joe
 
I'm at the top level myself in APA. Always have problems with the handicap issues as well. I do play in the Masters and like it but as far as regular 8 man team night is a joke. Everybody complains over here left and right about the handicap issue as well. I played a gal who is a 6 the other night that couldn't even draw the cue ball. Pretty hilarious!
 
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