I just wrapped up my first league experience and I enjoyed it. I played in the VNEA league here in Southwest Michigan.
In case you aren't familiar with the VNEA league:
The teams are composed of 4 players (at least in this case). Each night you play a different team and you play each opposing member 1 rack. The league is handicapped based on player ratings. The player ratings determine how many balls the better team must give to the lesser team. I like this system since the games are still played head to head and then you add the additional handicapped balls at the end of each round. So, you only play 4 racks of 8 ball a night. I know this isn't much, but I have found that it really has helped me improve my level of concentration. Plus, the night doesn't drag on into the wee hours and once the match is over you still have time to matchup with someone.
It was a short session (no more than 10 weeks or so). Our team finished 1st in the regular session and managed to win the tourney at the end. So I pocketed around 300 buckaroos for my time which was pretty cool.
Which got me to thinking how many other amateur sports do you walk away with more money than you put into it? Not too many that I can think of. Just another reason that pool is the greatest sport in the U.S. :thumbup:
I'm one of those guys that admittedly sort of looked down on league play for some reason (at least in my younger years). I now realize it probably would have been in my best interest to embrace it to a certain extent a long time ago. I am now looking forward to the bigger amateur events and I wonder why they weren't on my radar much sooner. So, if you have overlooked ALL of the leagues in the past maybe you might want to reconsider - I did and I'm glad I did.
In case you aren't familiar with the VNEA league:
The teams are composed of 4 players (at least in this case). Each night you play a different team and you play each opposing member 1 rack. The league is handicapped based on player ratings. The player ratings determine how many balls the better team must give to the lesser team. I like this system since the games are still played head to head and then you add the additional handicapped balls at the end of each round. So, you only play 4 racks of 8 ball a night. I know this isn't much, but I have found that it really has helped me improve my level of concentration. Plus, the night doesn't drag on into the wee hours and once the match is over you still have time to matchup with someone.
It was a short session (no more than 10 weeks or so). Our team finished 1st in the regular session and managed to win the tourney at the end. So I pocketed around 300 buckaroos for my time which was pretty cool.
Which got me to thinking how many other amateur sports do you walk away with more money than you put into it? Not too many that I can think of. Just another reason that pool is the greatest sport in the U.S. :thumbup:
I'm one of those guys that admittedly sort of looked down on league play for some reason (at least in my younger years). I now realize it probably would have been in my best interest to embrace it to a certain extent a long time ago. I am now looking forward to the bigger amateur events and I wonder why they weren't on my radar much sooner. So, if you have overlooked ALL of the leagues in the past maybe you might want to reconsider - I did and I'm glad I did.