What happens in Vegas will hopefully come back to Santa Rosa County if Jimmy Burcham and Donna Chastang have anything to say. They’re the team captains for American Poolplayer Association teams “Safety First” and “Bazinga” respectively.
The seven-man Bazinga will depart Milton in the coming weeks to battle for the $25,000 1st place prize money at the 2014 APA 8-Ball National Team Championship-Open Division. Bazinga members are in the APA Pool League and participate in weekly league play at Oops Alley Family Entertainment Center in Pace. Chastang said, “We’re all very excited.” She’s been in the league since ’06, but said two players with Bazinga have only been playing a year. Bazinga itself, she said, started last September. Teams in the local league, she said, compete in three sessions every year. Session winners compete in June to decide who’s going to play in Sin City. One team member, Becky, she said sustained an injury to her foot and will be going to Vegas in a cast with a knee scooter. Chastang said, “How often do you get to go to Vegas?”
Four-man team, Safety First, qualified for the Masters Championship joining hundreds of other APA players from throughout North America. They will be traveling to the Riviera Hotel & Casino to compete in the event. The Masters Championship is held in the MiniMania room in conjunction with the APA National Team Championships, which will also include the Open 8-Ball and 9-Ball National Championship tournaments.
Owner of the Santa Rosa County APA league, Matt Miley, said the league has 29 teams and is constantly growing. Upon reaching 42 teams, he said, the league will be able to send two eight-ball teams to the Vegas tourney.
Last year, the APA National Team Championships, along with the MiniMania events, paid out more than $1 Million in prize money with $10,000 going to the 1st Place winner of the Masters Championship.
The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. Nearly 265,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9-Ball League play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.
The APA produces three major tournaments each year: the APA National Team Championships, the APA National Singles Championships, and the U.S. Amateur Championship together, paying out nearly $1.5 million in cash and prizes annually. In 2010, Guinness World Records recognized the APA National Team Championships as the “world’s largest pool tournament.”
For more information, or to sign up with the APA, contact Matt Miley at 450-4610 or by email at mattmiley@apaleagues.com. Also, visit the official APA website at poolplayers.com and the SRC league at www.santarosa.apaleagues.com.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: SRC residents prepare for national pool championships in Las Vegas