Wheelchair Championship Results The finals of the Wheelchair Championship hit the PoolDawg Championship Arena on Saturday, May 4. Multi-time Champion Charlie Hans (SL7) of Harrison, Ohio, was up against 2015 Champion Ron Bates of Coldwater, Mich. The race was 5-2. After a great match that ultimately went hill-hill, Charlie took home the title once again by pocketing the 8-on-the-Break on the final rack for a final score of 5-1. Hans took home $2,000 for his Champion finish. Bates didn’t go home empty-handed, earning $1,200 as Runner-Up. A total of 61 players competed in this year’s Wheelchair ..read more

The finals of the 8-Ball Classic were decided on Friday, May 3 in this year’s Poolplayer Championships. Champions in the 8-Ball Classic receive $15,000 in cash and prizes! There were 1,030 players in the 8-Ball Classic this year.    View Final Brackets Blue Tier (Skill Levels 2-3) In the Blue Tier, Daisy Dresden Mollinedo of San Gabriel, Calif., defeated Melissa Bisig of Kalamazoo, Mich. A total of 86 players competed in this year’s Blue Tier. Champion Daisy Desden Mollinedo of San Gabriel, CA Runner-Up Melissa Bisig of Kalamazoo, MI 3rd Place Cameron Gordon of Indepe ..read more

The 2024 9-Ball Doubles Championship finals hit the PoolDawg Championship Arena on Thursday evening, May 2. Nut Jobs – Damen Harrison (SL5) and James Fleming (SL5) – of Winder, Ga., were up against Titanic – Lyman Vick (SL6) and Dick Bedgood (SL5) – of Gastonia, N.C. The race was 38-42. Ultimately, it was Nut Jobs taking home the Championship title, 38-37. They earned $5,000 for their win, while Titanic banked $3,000 as the Runners-Up. View Final Brackets Champions: Nut Jobs of Winder, GA James Fleming, Damen Harrison Runners-Up: Titanic of Gastonia, NC Lyman Vick, Dick Bedgood 3rd ..read more

Yesterday, May 1, WFTV Orlando released a story about the pending closure of the Wyndham Orlando Resort which hosted the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship.  We’ve since confirmed this news with the hotel’s management directly. Here is a link to the WFTV Orlando article: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/i-drive-hotel-close/7WPOK2UNHBBERJQUHUSX5GZWKI/ This news comes as a major surprise to APA, as we were actively planning for our 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship in Orlando. APA is now exploring all our options for this year’s U.S. Amateur Championship. We appreciate your support and understandi ..read more

How long have you been at APA? Describe your role/title now and those you’ve held through the years. I have been at APA 36 years as of January 25, 2024. I started at APA in 1988, and worked as the Central Office Manager and Admin Assistant to Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart. My next role was in the Field Department (what is now known as Franchise Support) as a Field Representative, later promoted to Assistant Field Director and eventually to Field Director. Then in 1995, I was promoted to Vice-President and stayed in that position until just a couple of years ago (2019) when I became Senior Vi ..read more

Becoming an APA League Operator remains an outstanding opportunity for anyone looking to take control of their future by becoming a small business owner.  APA was named #255 in the 2024 Entrepreneur Franchise 500! In addition, APA was ranked #1 in category in Best of the Best Franchises for 2023. APA also ranked #107 in Top Global Franchises, #14 in Top Franchises For Less Than $50,000, #1 in Miscellaneous Recreation Businesses Franchises, and #45 in Home-Based and Mobile Franchises. To view all the APA franchise accolades, visit https://poolplayers.com/franchise/honors/. For more inform ..read more

APA has made the very difficult decision to cancel our Juniors Program indefinitely after the 2024 Junior Championships in St. Louis, Mo. The timing of our Junior Championships has always been a significant challenge for our organization with the event falling between World Qualifier season, which runs through late June, and packing for the World Pool Championships which takes place in mid-July.  Also taking into consideration the end of the Canadian school year in late June, and the July 4th holiday in the U.S., it made the scheduling of this event extremely difficult. We believe in th ..read more

Memphis APA League Operators Bobby & Nika Harvison held their 6th Annual Shoot for a Cure event Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2023 at the Fitz Casino Hotel in Tunica, Miss. A total of 96 8-Ball Doubles teams, 32 Team Captain-style teams, 40 Open 8-Ball teams from eight APA League areas were represented. In total over 600 APA players showed up to participate! “Bobby and I had a vision six years ago to do something to give back to our community,” Nika said. “We chose St. Jude because they turn no child away. Never in our lives did we think it would gain this much momentum. We cannot even begin to descri ..read more

For the second consecutive year, the Monroe & Carbon APA (MCAPA) in Pennsylvania collected toys for the Greater Pittston Area Santa Squad. This local organization helps ensure every child in the Greater Pittston area has toys under the tree on Christmas morning. MCAPA been has running a local toy drive for the last nine years, supporting organizations such as Toys for Tots, Mikey’s Closet and a children’s wing of a local hospital. Last year, MCAPA was the Greater Pittston Area Santa Squad’s biggest individual contributor so they asked players to do even bigger and better this year…and th ..read more

Ed Gill of Birmingham, Ala., is 97 years old and plays APA League five nights a week. Ed started playing pool on the weekends with his father in-law in the 1940’s when he was in his early 20s. “There was no organization for pool then,” Ed said. “We just played until we were tired.” During World War II he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving 4 years as a radio airman, and flew both dive bombers and patrol bombers. Ed then spent 30 years as a traffic controller before retiring. Ed joined APA after his wife passed away in 2013. His daughter, Lisa, who joined APA in 2013, suggested he come play wi ..read more