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APN-Leagues 2007 Re-Launch

A Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource Article

http://www.pro9.co.uk/html/



Date: Saturday, December 30 2006 @ 10:49:11 UTC
Topic: APN



APN-Leagues Re-Launch
American Pool Network
National Amateur 9-Ball League Championships
01035 779596
info@americanpool-network.co.uk
www.apn-leagues.co.uk
Download this A3 Poster (380Kb .pdf download)

January 2007



APN-Leagues Re-Launch

January 2007 sees the official launch of the biggest amateur 9-ball competition the UK has ever seen! APN-Leagues, the UK’s only National Amateur 9-Ball League Championships is coming to a club near you!

"Read More..." for the details.

Mission Statement:

  • To provide the amateur pool player with a variety of tournaments and a quality National 9-Ball pool league structure.
  • To maintain low costs to you – the player, in return for large financial rewards.
  • To continue to promote the game of 9-ball at grassroots level to increase player/media awareness and participation.
  • To offer product benefits and coaching packages to all our members.


    What are APN-Leagues?

    Your local APN-League (see club list below) is your first step towards pool stardom! You can enter a local league for only £35 (payable in 2 instalments). Table time is free on league nights so this works out at less than £1/hour table play with a chance of winning your money back and much, much more! You will compete against other local like-minded players in a handicapped 9-ball league administered by APN *. All you have to do is turn up on your league night, find your opponents for the evening (2 matches per night, fixtures provided by APN), play your matches and give your scores to the host venue. You can then track your progress online at www.apn-leagues.co.uk. For those of you not on the internet a copy of the latest league tables and fixtures will also be made available at the hosting venue.

    There are 3 sessions per calendar year in APN-Leagues; Jan-Apr, May-Jul, Sep-Dec. You can play in as many or as few leagues as you like in your quest to qualify for either our Regional or National Championships.

    *Exact length of league determined by player numbers (max. 12 weeks, see structure below)


    Amateur vs Professional

    APN-Leagues is strictly for amateur pool players, to simplify the amateur vs professional debate please refer to the list (below) of banned players on the these grounds.


    Regional and National Championships

    If you should win a local league – and with it, a healthy amount of prize money, you will automatically qualify for the APN National Amateur 9-Ball League Championships (£5000 minimum guaranteed prize fund, minimum £1000 to the winner – no entry fees!), to be held later in the year. Place highly in a local league (see structure below) and you might qualify for your Regional Championships, a prestigious tournament that also acts as a last chance qualifier for the National Championship Finals*. There are 10 Regional Championships held around the UK, from which the 4 highest placed players qualify for the National Finals.

    The National Amateur 9-Ball League Championships 2007 brings together all the league winners from the 3 sessions from around the UK together with qualifiers from the 10 Regional Championships for the biggest amateur 9-ball tournament ever in the UK. Over 250 players will fight it out to be crowned APN National Amateur 9-Ball League Champion 2007.

    *If the same player should either a) win a league more than once in a calendar year or b) attain Regional Championship qualification criteria more than once in a calndar year, his/her (Regional/National) place will go to the next highest non-qualified player in that league. Please note; Prize money is not affected by this type of scenario.


    How do I get involved?

    For details of where your nearest league is (and what day of the week), simply find your nearest club from the list below, pop in and get yourself an application form from behind the bar, fill it in and hand it to a member of Rileys staff together with the first instalment of £17.50. (The remainder - £17.50 is due on week 3 of the league)

    The deadline for all application forms is Friday 5th January 2007.

    All leagues start the week beginning Monday 15th January 2007. On your first league night (Start time 7.30pm) you will be issued with a complete fixture list, an APN-Leagues membership card, and a copy of our league rules in full.


    Handicapping

    As with any sport there are players of different abilities. APN-Leagues do not want to turn potential players away just because of their ability. We want players to compete on as level a playing field as possible.

    It also allows players for different regions to compete together.
    Having a handicapping system also helps to eliminate the same players winning over and over again. As APN-Leagues is about amateur pool we believe that as every player has put in the same amount of money each player should have just as equal a chance to win some back.


    How Does the New System Work?

    Gone is the previous Hi-Run system, where players only had to pot a certain number of balls in order to win a rack. All APN-Leagues matches are a race to 9 racks, under the new system higher ability 9-ball players will have to give a number of racks start to lower ability players based on the difference between their handicaps.

    The system still works on a numeric scale and runs from 1-6. 1 is the lowest ability players and 6 the strongest.

    1-2 = Beginners
    3-4 = Intermediates
    5-6 = Advanced

    To find out a rack start the lowest ability player takes their handicap away from their opponents to give a difference. This difference is the number of racks awarded to the lower ability player at the start of the match.

    Example: Player A is a 2 handicap and Player B is a 5 handicap. The difference between the two players is 3. 3 racks start would be awarded to player A in this example.
    When players have the same handicap they now just play off scratch, which means longer matches and more pool!


    How is a Starting Handicap Awarded?

    The starting handicap is awarded in one of two ways.

    1. Previous APN-Leagues players

    Any player that has played APN-Leagues before will be awarded these handicaps:
    Old Handicap 3-4 = New handicap 1
    Old Handicap 5-6 = New Handicap 2
    Old Handicap 7-8 = New Handicap 3
    Old Handicap 9-10 = New Handicap 4
    Old Handicap 11-12 = New Handicap 5
    Old Handicap 13-14 = New Handicap 6

    2. Brand new players to APN-Leagues

    Brand new players will be awarded their starting handicap in these 3 ways:

    1.    Prior knowledge of the players by the APN-Leagues team
    2.    Prior knowledge of the players from within the hosting club
    3.    All other players will initially be awarded a handicap of 5 - and then will have up to four matches whereby APN-Leagues and clubs can change it based on league performance.


    How Do Handicaps Change?

    By playing regularly players will improve their ability (or worsen!). This means that handicaps can and will change. They will only change during these times; the first 2 weeks for a new player (4 matches) and at the end of a session for all other players.

    To move up a handicap a player will have won more than 60% of his/her matches.
    To go down a handicap a player will have lost more than 60% of his/her matches.

    If you have any questions regarding the handicap system please contact us or put a post in our player forums at www.apn-leagues.co.uk.


    APN-Leagues Calendar for 2007-2008

    League Session 1
    15th/22nd January 2007 – 9th/15th April 2007

    League Session 2
    23rd/29th April 2007 – 9th/15th July 2007

    League Session 3
    3rd/9th September 2007 – 26th/2nd December 2007

    Regional Championships (All venues TBA)
    1-2 December – North West, Scotland, South West/Wales
    8-9 December – South Manchester & Sheffield, South East, North East
    15-16 December – North London, South London
    22-23 December – Midlands, South Central

    National Championships (Venue TBA)
    4-6 January 2008


    Participating Clubs

    Scotland
    Rileys Aberdeen (Chapel Street)
    Rileys Glasgow (Ledard Road)
    Rileys Greenock
    Rileys Kirkintilloch
    Rileys Stirling

    South East
    Rileys Basildon
    Rileys Colchester
    Rileys Hastings
    Suzy Q Maidstone
    Route 66 Southend
    Rileys Stanford-Le-Hope

    South Central
    Rileys Bournemouth
    Rileys Bracknell
    Rileys Brighton
    Rileys Guildford
    Rileys Oxford
    Rileys Reading

    North London
    Rileys Harlow
    Rileys Luton (Park Street)
    Rileys St Albans
    Rileys Stevenage
    Rileys Victoria
    Rileys Walthamstow
    Rileys Watford (147)
    Rileys Wealdstone
    Rileys Ipswich
    Rileys Norwich

    South Manchester & Sheffield
    Rileys Crewe
    Rileys Rugeley
    Rileys Sheffield (Mansfield Road)
    Rileys Stafford
    Rileys Stoke (Hanley)
    Rileys Stretford
    Rileys Chesterfield
    Rileys Barnsley

    Midlands
    Rileys Coventry (Hertford Place)
    Q Bar Leicester
    Rileys Leicester
    Rileys Northampton (Gold St)
    Peterborough Q Club
    Rileys Rugby
    Rileys Birmingham
    Rileys Derby (Babington Lane)
    Rileys Mansfield
    Rileys Nottingham
    Rileys Solihull
    Rileys Wolverhampton

    North West
    Rileys Blackpool
    Rileys Bolton
    Rileys Lancaster
    Rileys Manchester
    Rileys Oldham
    Rileys Preston
    Rileys Wigan

    South London
    Rileys Clapham
    Rileys Croydon (Frith Road)
    Rileys Lewisham
    Rileys Shepherds Bush
    Rileys Sutton
    Rileys Twickenham

    North East
    Rileys Doncaster
    Rileys Hull (Alfred Geller St)
    Rileys Leeds
    Rileys Rotherham
    Rileys Scarborough
    Rileys Stockton
    Rileys Sunderland

    South West and Wales
    Rileys Cardiff (City Road)
    Rileys Exeter
    Suzy Q Gloucester
    Rileys Newport
    Rileys Weston-Super-Mare
    Rileys Yate


    League Structure & Qualification criteria*

    League Structure & Qualification criteria
    League SizeQualifiers for Regional ChampionshipsLeague Structure
    6-82nd Place1 conference
    9-122nd and 3rd place1 conference
    13-24Runner-up + losing semi finalists in playoffs2 conferences. Top 4 from each conference qualify for seeded playoffs (straight KO).
    25+2nd-8th Place (7 players)4 conferences. Top 4 from each conference qualifying for seeded playoffs (straight KO).



    Banned Players

    The following UK based players are banned from competing in APN-Leagues as APN consider them to be Professional players.

    Banned Players
    PlayerReason
    Daryl PeachWPC/IPT
    Kevin UzzellWPC
    Imran MajidWPC/IPT
    Raj HundalWPC/IPT
    Andy WorthingtonWPC
    Pat HoltzWPC/IPT
    Michael ValentineWPC
    Steve HigtonWPC
    Lee ChenmanWPC/IPT
    Steve DavisWPC
    Steve KnightWPC
    Anthony GinnWPC/IPT
    Roxton ChapmanWPC
    Tommy DonlonWPC
    Tony DragoWPC/IPT
    Kevin SmithWPC
    Carl MorrisIPT
    Karl BoyesIPT
    Brian SalehIPT
    Jayson ShawIPT
    Ben DaviesWPC/IPT
    Mick HillIPT
    Darren AppletonWPC/IPT
    Craig OsborneWPC
    James KayWPC
    Rico DiksWPC/IPT
    Ricardo JonesWPC
    Chris MellingWPC/IPT
    Phil HarrisonIPT
    Neil RayboneIPT
    Rob McKennaIPT
    Jimmy WhiteIPT
    Ronnie O'SullivanIPT
    Plus any Top 128Main Tour Snooker Player.
    Plus any other Top 16 IPA Tour player.