Local Qualifier April 8th at Mad Hippo Saloon and Frank's Place in Leesburg

The following are rules applicable to this Tournament:

• Players may only participate on one team.
• Players must be from the same League area.
• Modified Single Elimination Format
• Players must have completed two (2) sessions as a Team Captain of a standard 8-Ball, 9-Ball, or Ladies team in the 2022/23 League years in the area the team represents. Alternate Divisions with 20 or more matches scheduled for play over the course of the division’s qualifying year will be considered equivalent to (2) sessions of standard 8-Ball, 9-Ball, or Ladies, thus their Team Captains will be eligible. Masters and Doubles Divisions are ineligible formats.
• Players must have played at least four (4) times in the Spring Session in the League area the team represents.  Matches played can be in either the standard 8-Ball, 9-Ball or Ladies formats.
• Players must be on an active (Summer Session) APA roster.
• Preregistration is required.

 Game Rules

• A maximum of 5 players allowed on a roster.
• Teams may choose any 3 of the 5 team members to participate in each match.
• The total of the skill levels of the 3 players fielded in any team match cannot exceed 15.
• A player’s highest skill level (SL) in this tournament will be the highest of either the player’s skill level in 8-Ball or 9-Ball, unless the player is a SL8 or a SL9 in either format in which case their skill level in this tournament will be a SL7.
• Only one player of skill level 6 or higher, sometimes referred to as a senior skill level player, may play in any given match.
• If a qualifying tournament is held by the Local League Office, a team must enter with a skill level of 15 or less. If the team improves to where it can no longer comply with the 15-Rule during the tournament and/or after qualifying, the team will be allowed to play up to 17 by using a modified race chart.  If their skill level increases to 18, a replacement of players will have to be made to reduce the team skill level back to 15 before entering the Championship.  The qualifying bracket and roster must be submitted with the entry.  The roster of the qualified team is locked, unless approved by the League Operator.  Players may not be added to, or dropped from, a qualified roster unless it reduces the team skill level back to 15.  Teams will be held to a maximum skill level of 15 for all entries received without the qualifying tournament bracket(s)/roster(s).
• If a team’s combined skill levels increase to 18 during the Championship, the team forfeits out of the event.
• If a team only has two players eligible to play in a match, the player with the highest skill level must be in the third spot. The remaining player may choose the first or second spot, and the team will forfeit the spot in the rotation left vacant.
• Each team is limited to one coaching time-out per game. If a player is not at the table shooting, the team members can converse freely without being charged with a coaching timeout.
• Alternate between 8-Ball & 9-Ball racks, starting with 8-Ball.
• Each individual rack is worth one team point.
• Team Captains flip a coin to decide who must declare their three players for the match first. Winner of the flip has the choice of declaring first or having the opposing Team Captain choose first.
• The players are listed in ascending order (lowest to highest). That list determines the player rotation, and is locked for the match. Once both teams in a match have declared their players, the players cannot be changed unless the combined skill levels of the three players declared by a team exceed the maximum permitted combined skill level in which case the team will be allowed to declare three different players prior to first rack being struck.
• Players of same skill level may be placed in order of preference.
• Players lag to see who wins the first break.
• Once the first two players have completed their rack of 8-Ball, the second two players in the rotation will play a rack of 9-Ball. Upon that rack’s completion, the next two players in the rotation will play a rack of 8-Ball.  Once set, the player rotation continues until a team reaches the required points necessary to win the match.
• The winning team breaks with the next player in the rotation after each rack.

It is a loss of game to shoot out of rotation.  Although it is sportsmanlike for the non-offending team to remind the other team that they are about to play a player out of rotation, they are not required to do so.  However, before any infraction has occurred, the team that has posted a player out of rotation may avoid penalty by asking the non-offending team which player’s turn it is in the rotation.  In that circumstance, the team must tell them the truth, and the correct player in the rotation will assume their rightful spot in the game.  Once the offending team has taken a shot out of rotation, the infraction has occurred, the game is over, and the sitting team will receive one point for the rack.  Both teams will then move to the next game in the match, with players in the correct rotation.  However, if the game is completed without the non-offending team calling the infraction, and the next rack is broken, the results of previous rack will stand, and the team that shot out of rotation will assume the new rotation for the remainder of the match.