The American Poolplayers Association (APA), the world's largest pool association, is headquartered in New York. It has nearly 270,000 members in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Franchise Business Review ranked them as one of the best small business opportunities.
The sanctioning body in America and Canada for amateur pool competition is the APA. They organize many major pool tournaments each season, including the APA World Pool Championships. Guinness World Records certified the APA World Pool Championships as the "World's Largest Pool Tournament" in 2010.
APA also hosts nine-ball or eight-ball tournaments. Each member of an APA team must have a membership. Eligible to participate are members of other pool associations. If you want to join APA, you can apply by submitting a membership application to your local APA League Operator. The President of APA will then interview you.
APA also has three annual championships. These include the APA Junior Championships for children and teens aged 7-18.
The APA Poolplayer Championships is held in Las Vegas Nevada. They typically occur in the latter half of April or early May. This tournament gives qualified players the opportunity to compete against poolplayers from around the world.
APA organizes many other international tournaments including the APA World Pool Championships. These tournaments are organised by APA League Operator franchisees. Qualifying tournaments are open to anyone who does not qualify for national competition. Some players call the "Equalizer", APA's handicapping system. APA's handicapping system does not use A-D rankings like other tournaments. Rather, it uses a proprietary system that rates the best 3 scores. An individual may receive more than 3 ratings.
There are also some APA franchisees who have a conflict of interest. For example, one franchisee has been accused of kicking out players. APA is allowed to make the decision. However, the franchisee posted in several ** groups and had recruited players to his place. He tried to claim APA had removed a number of players from his territory.
Numerous APA League Operators won the coveted APA League Operator of the Year award. Five of these five operators were recognized at the APA Annual Convention in Las Vegas. One of them was the only APA location in the world to win the award twice.
Another reason to consider joining APA are its franchise locations. APA is home to more than 270 League Operators from the United States, Canada, Japan and Japan. Some of these areas offer in-house Divisions. APA is considered the largest pool league in the country, however, a local League Operator has no authority to change to another league.
APA is home to more than 270,000 active members. There are however more than 270 League Operators who organize pool tourneys. These locations are associated with APA, and may have additional fees. Depending on which market the franchisee is in, the franchise fee could include licensing fees as well as equipment and marketing expenses.