APA POOL LEAGUES BYLAWS FOR LEAGUE OPERATOR BOB GRUDZINSKI
MIDDLESEX / ESSEX COUNTIES OF MA P.O. BOX 856 BILLERICA, MA 01821
PHONE (978) 663-2APA (2272) FAX (978) 671-9APA (9272)

1. Office Hours – 11:00am- 4:00 pm. If you call and get our recording please leave your name,
phone number and a short message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible-
or call you Division Representative on league night.

2.Make-ups - If a team asks for a postponement then the match must be made up within 2 weeks and
the team that asked for the change must agree on the make-up date the other team chooses.
The League Operator has the final decision on these matches. This office must be notified
and may give the OK for any schedule changes. No team may ask for a make-up match on the night
of play unless an emergency that can be verified has accrued. Both teams must call in and verify
the make-up date with this office.

3. Teams Sandbagging – or caught sending in falsified score sheets may be subject to one of the
following (A) Removal from the league or (B) all members on the team raised one handicap level.

4. Byes- 4 points will be awarded for 8-ball and 80 for 9-ball. This includes your bonus point or
points.

5. Checks- If you pay by check, please make them out to APA or American Poolplayers Association.
There will be a $ 10.00 charge for all returned plus loss of the bonus points.

6. Fees- there is a $ 35.00 a week ($ 45.00 for money leagues) team fee for all scheduled matches
regardless of forfeits, including playoff matches. There is no charge for byes, except the money
leagues pay $ 10.00 on these nights.

7. Bonus Points- One bonus point will be awarded each week for 8-ball and 20 points for 9-ball teams
that have their envelopes postmarked by the day after league play and have the correct money, with
a completed score sheet in it. Teams will be given one day grace period if they fax their score
sheets in the next day, or use overnight delivery. There will be no exceptions to this rule.
If you lose your bonus point please do not call and ask for your bonus point back.

8. Late Fees – Any team that falls two (2) weeks behind in paying their dues will be sent a warning
notice stating that their team will be dropped from the league for nonpayment of dues. Any team that
falls three (3) weeks behind in paying their dues may be dropped from the league nonpayment of dues.

9. Forfeits- If a team fails to show up for a match, the opposing team will receive 4 points for
8-ball and 75 points for 9-ball. Also, 1 bonus point for 8-ball and 20 bonus points for 9-ball will
be given for mailing their paperwork and dues in on time. If possible, we will try to schedule
make-up matches during the first 2 weeks of play for teams that played against no show team.
If only one player shows from the opposing team, you will get 4 points and you will receive an extra
point if your player wins the match. On the last two weeks of the session, if a team forfeits the
entire match or more they will not be eligible for a wildcard draw.

10. Last Two Week Forfeit- Any team that forfeits their match during the last 2 weeks of a session
may be suspended from the league. If the team that does forfeit is a qualified team for higher level
of play, they could possibly lose their eligibility.

11.Forfeit Time- A team match is forfeited if no players show up by 30 minutes after the scheduled
time on the score sheet.

12. Player I.D.’s - League members must have a picture I.D. on them when playing in the league.
Any player may request to see I.D. for verification. Any team that plays a player under a false name
will have their team’s points lowered to one less then the last place team in their division and not
eligible for the wild card draw that session. Their opponents will receive all points won all points
one plus 1 point for 8-ball, 15 points for 9-ball for any match involving an illegal player.
Just before the match starts or just after it is over is the proper time to ask for identification.

13.Common Player-a player that is on both team rosters. In upper level tournaments common players
cannot play or coach for either team. Matches with common players will be decided by the other players
in an even number of matches. If 5 players cannot be fielded because of not allowing common players
to play for either team then the match will be decided by 3 individual matches whose skill levels
cannot exceed 15. If a team cannot field 3 players then 1 player from each team will decide the match.

14. Regional Qualifier Tournament- at the end of each session we will have a tournament called the
Regional Qualifier Tournament for all division playoff winners. From the division playoffs the
divisions that have 7 or less teams will send the first place team to the regional, divisions with
8-11 teams will send first and second place teams, divisions with 12 or more teams will send first,
second, and third place teams. The winners of these tournaments will then advance to the Northeastern
Massachusetts State Finals in June. If a team wins a regional twice, then the team they defeated the
second time would then advance to the state finals.

15. Ties- In the Playoffs, if a match ends up with a ‘two to two tie’ and neither team has an eligible
player then the team that won two of the first three matches will be declared the winner. If two teams
are tied at the end of the year and they have not played each other, the team that did the best on the
last week of play would be the winner. If there is still a tie, then the team who got the most points
the week before would be the winner, etc.

16. New Teams- The league operator may add a new team to the league at any time during the beginning
of the session.
The new team will receive the lowest point totals of the last place team or a “standard” average of
3 points for each week the team would have played.

17. Inclement Weather- (Snow, sleet, etc.) During bad weather, the away teams should inform the home
teams of a possible delay. Matches will be rescheduled and must be made up within two (2) weeks.
Two or more inches of snow is considered inclement weather, however icing conditions also qualify.

18. Protests- All protests in be in writing and include and $25.00 protest fee. Protests will be
resolved by the board of governors. The team who wins the protest will receive their $25.00 fee back.
The Board of Governors are made up of Division Representatives.

19. Banned- If a player has been banned from a tavern then the team must play without him/her when
playing at that location.

20. Picking Players- Once both players have been picked they cannot be changed: However, there is on
Exception. If the balls have not been broken, then a team can change the player to prevent themselves
from going over the “23” rule. This is the only reason you can change your player. At this time the
other team may change their player if they wish to.

21. Breaking Down Cue Stick- This is not a loss of game. However, it could end up as a sportsmanship
violation.

22. 23 Rule- A team must write down on the score sheet if the opposing team goes over the 23 skill
limit and you MUST make the opposing team aware of this violation before you leave the match site.

23. National Rules- Always supersede local bylaws in higher level tournaments.

24. Playoff Formats- Playoffs will be two weeks. The first week, the team with the most points plays
the wild card team and the team with the second most points will play the team that has the third most
points for the session. After that the two winning teams play for first and second and the other two
teams play for third and fourth place. Trophies are awarded to all the players on the first place
division team’s roster. In four team divisions for week one of playoffs: 1st place gets a bye,
2nd place plays wild card draw between 3rd place and 4th place, then that winner plays the team
that has the most points.

25. Drop Outs- Any team dropping out or being suspended from the league forfeits all benefits, trophies
and other awards.

26. Minimum Matches- All players must shoot at least four matches each session to be able to play in
division playoffs.

27. Hand In The Pocket- If you put your hand in a pocket to catch a cue ball, it will be considered a
scratch and ball in hand will be awarded to your opponent. It is a loss of game if you are on the
8 ball when you did it. Foul occurs when the cue ball comes within one inch of the pocket that the
player has their hand in.

THESE BYLAWS HAVE BEEN LAST APPROVED BY
THE AMERICAN POOLPLAYERS ASSOCIATION DATED 4/16/2007