State Championships: Why don't all states have them?

i4pool

i4pool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does anyone have a list of states which have State Championships? For 8-ball, 9-ball, or any? Just curious.

AFAIK, we don't have one here in California. I wish we did. Wouldn't it be great if every state had their own State Championship and then have one National event to name a "National Champion"? I know... I know... I'm just dreaming right. :)

For those states that do have State Championships, do you know what the entry requirements are? In other words, do you have to be a resident of that state? If so, for how long? Or could someone from a neighboring state theoretically win the State Championship where he does not reside? Are these events restricted to non-Pros?

And what governing body, if any, organizes these "state" events?

Lastly, did California ever have State Championships?


Lots of questions... thanks for listening. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.



BTW, here's a list I have so far of states:

1. Arizona
2. Tennessee (used to)
3. Maryland
4. South Dakota
5. Iowa
6. Missouri (thx dgarfoot)
7. Virginia
8. Texas
9. Rhode Island
10. Arkansas


Regards,
Abe
 
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State titles.......

i4pool said:
Does anyone have a list of states which have State Championships? For 8-ball, 9-ball, or any? Just curious.

AFAIK, we don't have one here in California. I wish we did. Wouldn't it be great if every state had their own State Championship and then have one National event to name a "National Champion"? I know... I know... I'm just dreaming right. :)

For those states that do have State Championships, do you know what the entry requirements are? In other words, do you have to be a resident of that state? If so, for how long? Or could someone from a neighboring state theoretically win the State Championship where he does not reside? Are these events restricted to non-Pros?

And what governing body, if any, organizes these "state" events?

Lastly, did California ever have State Championships?


Lots of questions... thanks for listening. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.


Regards,
Abe
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Arizona has Championships in all games. We even separate bar table and 9ft. champions. Of course 1 pocket and 14.1 are only 9ft. So, we have lots of championships.:thumbup:
 
tucson9ball said:
Arizona has Championships in all games. We even separate bar table and 9ft. champions. Of course 1 pocket and 14.1 are only 9ft. So, we have lots of championships.:thumbup:
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Hi tucson9ball. Does one have to be an AZ resident to compete?
 
Unfortunately you can put a title on anything in this game. Legimate state championships would be great. Possibly held on the same day of the year. Would this grab national recognition?
 
Mark Griffin was looking into this with his NCS qualifier format, which creates a national champion in each discipline. But I think they found it would be to much trouble and some states do already have an annual state tournament.
 
Tennessee used to have a State Championship in 9-ball, but I don't know if they still do. It was open to everyone though.
 
It doesn't really matter, like everything else in pool. Most states CALL IT a state championship but let out of state players play in it and most of the time win it. Johnnyt
 
state championships

While putting together the NCS (National Championship series) concept, we tried to tie into the various State Champonships throught the US. It is just too difficult to tie together. Many states do not have state championships-and many are actually on 7' tables.

Our concept of the NCS is that we will wnt to have all of the qualifiers and the finals on 9' tables. This is because we are trying to allow the winner of the Nationals to go the the World's events.

The World events are an annual event and maybe in time we can cooridinate the various state winners to be done in a timely fashion - so they can go to a National event that allows the winner to go to the World's event.

Also on the topic of State events. Often there are no 'real rules' on their state tournament - where it is held, who can play and all of that.

But - we have high hopes for the NCS events. If you want more info, go to www.playcsipool.com and look up the NCS info.

Mark Griffin
 
state championships

While putting together the NCS (National Championship series) concept, we tried to tie into the various State Champonships throught the US. It is just too difficult to tie together. Many states do not have state championships-and many are actually on 7' tables.

Our concept of the NCS is that we will wnt to have all of the qualifiers and the finals on 9' tables. This is because we are trying to allow the winner of the Nationals to go the the World's events.

The World events are an annual event and maybe in time we can cooridinate the various state winners to be done in a timely fashion - so they can go to a National event that allows the winner to go to the World's event.

Also on the topic of State events. Often there are no 'real rules' on their state tournament - where it is held, who can play and all of that.

But - we have high hopes for the NCS events. If you want more info, go to www.playcsipool.com and look up the NCS info.

Mark Griffin
 
RE: State Championships

Maryland has two state championships - both hosted by All-Star Billiards in Frederick, Maryland (301-668-5668).

The Maryland Open 10-Ball Championship will be held on Saturday February 21, 2009. See the tournament announcement section of the forums for details.

The Maryland Open 8-Ball Championship was held on November 15, 2008 and will be held again this year in November.

Both events are played on 9 foot tables and are open to all players from any state (pro, amateur, men, and women).
 
A State Championship is no different then anything else if there any money in it or if a promoter can make money then walla a state championship, if not then no state championship it is all about the $$$$ just like everything else greed rules.
 
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State championship

I live in South Dakota we have 2 state tournaments. 1 is for the vnea leagues played throughout our state and the other is through another league system we also have a 9 ball state tourney. You have to qualify a certain amount of weeks during league play to go. The problem with any of the touneys is the cost to go. It doesn't seem that the vendors do a whole lot to help the players afford to go every year. I personally play in singles and team events in all the tourneys which would equal a total of 16 days and I have to say the expenses are there when you figure the cost for food, hotel, gas and quarters or should I say dollars you have to put in the tables since we are charged $1.00 a game including the 9 ball tourney. So it is very little wonder why not all states offer a state tourney and most that do have peaked and are starting to decline. With that said I am very competitive I play in the highest divisions and I will continue to attend these tourneys. I am sure that is exactly what the vendors count on what do they have to lose their rooms are free.
 
2 here...in I-O-A

There are two recognized State Championship Tournaments here in Iowa. One is put on by the Iowa Operators of Music & Amusements (IOMA) and is associated with the VNEA. The other is the Iowa State Poolplayers Association State Championship (ISPA) and is completely independent from any National organization. I can only speak for the ISPA as I am associated with this league...not the IOMA or VNEA.

Both are similar in size...I think the ISPA is slightly larger...we had about 2500 players in 15 different amature events, including 9-ball, 8-ball, team 8-ball, mixed scotch doubles and an Elite event over a five day event. All of the amature events require a minimum amount of league participation. The Elite is open to any player from anywhere. Last year SVB won that event. I hope to see him return to defend his title.

We have some sponsor participation. A few of our vendors have donated equipment and merchandise for us to use to fund our tournament and to add to the prize fund. Some of the local businesses contribute as well. It is a lot of work and so far, we have been able to recruit volunteers to do most of the work.

This year will be our 14th year and we are still going strong. We are growing every year and I hope to keep that trend going. There are some 'things' in the works that might allow us to grow in a big way. We currently use 150 7' tables for our tournament but if things go right, I can see us using 200 or more tables in just a few years.

I am kind of disappointed at some of the National Organizations for not partisipating in and supporting State level Tournaments more. We started with one of these National organizations, but revieved very little in support at our tournaments. That is one of the reasons we are independent right now. We utilize a yearly Sanction fee to join our organization, but we keep all of the funds in our state and it get paid back to our players in either service or prize moneys.

I am glad to be associated with the ISPA because I feel we have gone a long ways with volunteers and that is good for pool. We do have some people promoting pool and not trying to make a profit from it.

As someone else mentioned, it would be cool to have a State Tournament in each state that would qualify teams to play in some sort of sanctioned National Championship Tournament. Maybe...someday...

I think one (the main) reason every state does not have a State Championship Tournament is because of the work involved and the lack of funds in such an event. There aint no money in it for the Association so you won't find too may people volunteering.

L8R...Ken
 
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MO state championships

I know Missouri still has at least a 9 ball state championship (Must be a resident of Missouri). it is going to be held this wknd (feb 6th-9th) at Billiards of Springfield in Springfield, mO. Great venue, and super nice staff. Good luck to all that play.
 
Great responses from everyone. Thanks.

Mark-- I really like the NCS concept and I wish you & CSI the best of luck.

SKUNKBOY-- 14th year! Wow. You must have a really good team organizing and managing these events to have such a long run. :thumbup:


All-- What "requirements" would you implement for a legitimate State Championship?

I think 'proof of residency' should be one.



BTW, here's a list I have so far of states:

  1. Arizona
  2. Tennessee (used to)
  3. Maryland
  4. South Dakota
  5. Iowa
  6. Missouri (thx dgarfoot)
 
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Ohio use to have the Governor's Cup state championship that was played in a convention center hotel setting. I only went a few times. A drivers license was required. It was in the late 80s. IIRC
 
The rules we implement at teh ISPA State Championship are the World Standardized Rules as published by the WPA. We do not have any 'special' differences from those...if it's covered at the WPA site, it's the rule. We have a crew of Nationally Registered referees at our tournament to enforce these rules. We've tried using our own 'in-house' referees with some sad results. Hiring that job out seems to work the best.

Our leagues, on the other hand, can use whatever set they wish during league play but they must conform to the WPA rules whan at our tournament. Once in a while, someone will get confused (like the 45 degree rule in VNEA) but that usually gets ironed out quickly...it can be a learning experience for some.

We do allow any existing Leagues to join our Association. We have some VNEA Leagues sanctioned with us as well. Anyone in the State is welcome to join, so long as they follow our rules. We do require that 50% of the League matches be played on Iowa Soil so if you want to drive to Iowa from the surrounding states and play in an Iowa based league, you're welcome to do so.

Yes, we do have some very knowledgable people working in the Association to pull this tournament off. Compared to some other tournaments I have attended and heard of, our's is be far the best set up...just short of some of the Nationals. One thing that sets us apart from most is out races. Where others use short races to save time, we use more days and fair races...everthing in the Open Divisions is race to 5 on both sides, Masters is race to 7 and the Elite Division is a race to 11. The teams are race to 8 in the Open and 13 in the Masters Divisions.

I do get some complaints, but it is usually trivial stuff that someone wants to vent about because he/she feels they got ripped off somehow. That's what happens when you get 2500 drunken pool players together for five days...lol

L8R...Ken
 
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SKUNKBOY said:
I do get some complaints, but it is usually trivial stuff that someone wants to vent about because he/she feels they got ripped off somehow. That's what happens when you get 2500 drunken pool players together for five days...lol

L8R...Ken
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Ken-- Yes... you can't make eveyone happy especially when they have the beer goggles on. :eek:

Btw, I mistyped. I should have said "requirements" not "rules" in my previous post. Good info nonethess. Thank you.

i4pool said:
All-- What "requirements" would you implement for a legitimate State Championship?

I think 'proof of residency' should be one.
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i4pool,

Ok let me outline what we require:

First off, we only accept leagues with 30 players or more. Those leagues must agree to report their statistics to our Association via a web site that we provide for free. Each league then has thier own individual web site (it includes a forum and some of the leagues use those forums regularly, some don't use them at all). Each League Operator is required to attend a specified number of 'Board' meeting. Some of those League Operators assist in the running/set up of the tournament. Each player is required to pay the Association a sanction fee (which covers our expenses and the cost of the web sites). To be qualified to participate in our State Championship Tournament, each player (and Team) must play a specified number of weeks of sanction league competition (this is reported to the Association).

In your case, you might want to form some sort of 'Association' yourself. Try to contact some room owners and existing League operators or vendors that might be interested in this sort of activity. Start with a meeting somewhere to discuss all of the possibilities. There will probably be some costs right up front, but you could get some donations from some of these League operators/vendors. It will need to be comletely voluntary in the beginning, but eventually you will be able to pay some of the most active 'volunteers' (like the officers of just the secretary and treasurer as they require some degree of professional experience) a small wage for their time.

Our first tournament was on a Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday with 25 pool tables. Start with something like that and work up from there. If you have further questions, PM me and we'll discuss other questions you might have.

The other otion is to join one of the National Organizations (BCAPL, APA, VNEA, ACS or others) and express to them your desires for a State Tournament. They will probably help you out with advise but don't expect any finacial help...you're basically on your own with thier blessing.

L8R...Ken
 
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