I am starting a new BCA league in Bloomington, IN and would like suggestions on getting people/teams involved. I am going to make this a players league...meaning that majority rules voting will decide the formatting of the league. I will not be making the decisions we will play it how the majority wants. I am going to post some flyers and talk to some local bar owners to try to get them to gather a team out of their establishment. I will also talk to some of the players to see if they can get a team out of their home place to play. Anyone have any other suggestions?
BCA league participation
- Thread starter wbweld0
- Start date
I understand your desire to make this a "players league". You feel you want participation at the highest level. But I would like to warn you about those kind of things. Generally, you will never satisfy everyone and if you have a small committee making the rules, I promise you, you'll pi$$ off someone. I know you said majority rules but most of the time you'll only get a small group that really wants to get involved anyway.wbweld0 said:
My suggestion, at least for the first year, is to come up with some reasonable league rules on your own. You'll probably get knocked a couple of times anyway so you might as well do your way. Let people deal with just playing pool and having fun. Once you've got yourself established, then ask league members how you might improve things.
Just my .02, good luck with getting everything up and running.
Well
You have National regulations on how you have to run the league per BCA.
You can contact the National Office for a copy either by phone or email.
If it is going to be a BCA league, you only have so much latitude on how you can run it. They do have standards, you know.
You have National regulations on how you have to run the league per BCA.
You can contact the National Office for a copy either by phone or email.
If it is going to be a BCA league, you only have so much latitude on how you can run it. They do have standards, you know.
It is my understanding you will need 30 players in the league to BCAPL sanction the league. So where you want to start is to see if you can actually gather 6 teams of 5 players before anything. First you will have to decide whether your going to handicap the league or play straight up. If you decide on handicaps then you must come up with a system to present to the players before they will be interested. Be sure to tell them before the league that the BCAPL nationals is straight up play if the goal is to have winners go to the nationals, they do not use handicaps at the nationals. Next you need to calculate a prize fund for the league based on what you think you will charge per week to play. Players always want to know what they are shooting for. I would imagine a lot of BCAPL sanctioned league use the prize fund to send the winner(s) to the nationals , or offset the cost. But you could just pay out the prize fund as well. Next, you will need to speak to locations as to what night they would want the league in their establishments, so that their is a set night and time agreed upon first. I could go on and on but thats enough.
good luck
Kev
good luck
Kev
Snapshot9 said:
You are misinformed. You have to abide by BCA rules but there are different ways to run the league as far as what constitutes a team "winning the league". You can do this by rounds won or total points. You can have 3 man teams, 4 man teams, 5 man team. You can calculate handicaps as a total basis as opposed to a per game basis...these are the things that I am talking about, not the rules.
I have played in the BCA league and national team event for 11 years...all years winning the league as a team and getting the trip paid for. I know the BCA just not about starting a league myself...my local league crashed because the lady running it did not know anything about running a league and I tried to help but she was reluctant.
This may be the last chance to get the BCA going in my area and I want to do things that will make people happy and want to play. Thanks.
You gotta offer something to players that they can't get from their normal casual pool nights. If the bars offer some incentive, and the league offers entertaining functions such as banquets & tourneys & parties, then people will play. You want people to join, even if they are not avid players. The idea is to create a larger & more competitive pool community. To get people other than established players, you'll have to entice them. Make it fun & people will join.
Make the league night a Monday or Tuesday, early in the week when bars have minimum business. Require the bars to offer a free drink to each player & supply food such as pizza or cold cuts. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what the bar will be making that night, a night that usually is dead. Schedule holiday parties & tournaments, where you give away door prizes like low end cues & accessories. Have periodic league gatherings where every player can vote on rule changes & such. Make it fun and people will join. Keep it fun & it'll grow. It's pretty simple stuff. Most of all, keep it politic free. Be a dictator that listens to what the players want, but don't let anybody have enough power to screw things up.
Contact the BCA & get some ideas from them, as well as instructions for starting the league. I know some of the guys at the BCA. I played in Mark Griffin's pool room and played league with some of the BCA employees. They all know what it takes to promote the game & get leagues going. All are very nice people & will be eager to help you. We are all after the same goal, promoting the game. You getting a league going is a small step in helping the game as a whole, so it's in the BCA's interest to give as much help & advice as possible.
Make the league night a Monday or Tuesday, early in the week when bars have minimum business. Require the bars to offer a free drink to each player & supply food such as pizza or cold cuts. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what the bar will be making that night, a night that usually is dead. Schedule holiday parties & tournaments, where you give away door prizes like low end cues & accessories. Have periodic league gatherings where every player can vote on rule changes & such. Make it fun and people will join. Keep it fun & it'll grow. It's pretty simple stuff. Most of all, keep it politic free. Be a dictator that listens to what the players want, but don't let anybody have enough power to screw things up.
Contact the BCA & get some ideas from them, as well as instructions for starting the league. I know some of the guys at the BCA. I played in Mark Griffin's pool room and played league with some of the BCA employees. They all know what it takes to promote the game & get leagues going. All are very nice people & will be eager to help you. We are all after the same goal, promoting the game. You getting a league going is a small step in helping the game as a whole, so it's in the BCA's interest to give as much help & advice as possible.
I know a team here that won the state tournament and still lost money after paying for gas and hotel. They didn't even get the trip to Vegas paid for. The way I understand is the league franchise owner here is sticking all the extra money in their pocket instead of having a good league. Most that I know have switched to APA which does a better job rewarding the players. So my advice would be to reinvest back in the league and keep a little for your time but if you try to rob it, it won't last long. IMHO.
wbweld0 said:
I don't think BCA will like it if you don't employ the rules they approved. I think following the rules (player's responsibility) and making sure everyone follows the rules (promoter's responsibility) are actually one of the requirement of a BCA tournament.
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BCA league
First of all, the BCA Pool League welcomes ALL comments and questions on running a BCAPL league.
We have as few rules as possible for the local leagues. You can play any game and any rules. You can be Handicap or scratch. You can be traveling or an in-house league. You could actually play a league on one table in someone's basement.
As long as you provide true statistics - have 3 original team members on any natinal team and have 8 weeks for all of the other players.
VERY SIMPLE!
BUT - when you come to the national events, you MUST play by our rules.
We do have several suggestions that help promote the sport and help guarantee the success of a local league. Most of these are common sense - but it helps to have them explained. Call me with questions.
Mark Griffin
BCAPL
702-719-7665
First of all, the BCA Pool League welcomes ALL comments and questions on running a BCAPL league.
We have as few rules as possible for the local leagues. You can play any game and any rules. You can be Handicap or scratch. You can be traveling or an in-house league. You could actually play a league on one table in someone's basement.
As long as you provide true statistics - have 3 original team members on any natinal team and have 8 weeks for all of the other players.
VERY SIMPLE!
BUT - when you come to the national events, you MUST play by our rules.
We do have several suggestions that help promote the sport and help guarantee the success of a local league. Most of these are common sense - but it helps to have them explained. Call me with questions.
Mark Griffin
BCAPL
702-719-7665
crosseyedjoe said:
I didn't say I was going to make my own rules...I simply said that I was going to let the majority of the players vote and decide the format of the league. This being...scoring on a rounds basis or point basis, 3-man teams, 4-man teams...etc. These are the type of things that I am talking about...I am well aware of the BCA rules...I have been to the nationals for 11 years now.
YOU are ONE of the reasons I play B.C.A. and only B.C.A.....NO B.S.,Always on the up and up.Keep up the good work Mark.Mark Griffin said:
wbweld0 said:
Well, earlier you said you had a local league that some woman ran, that crashed and burned. Maybe hit her up for her players' contact list?
Other than that - go to tournaments, but maybe even, run your own out of the venue (or one of the venues) you plan to run the league out of. Do that to bring in players, and then talk up the league.