WHY BE A CAPTAIN?

You Get To Choose!!

• Your Teammates
• Your Host Location
• Your Night of Play
• Your Format
• Your Strategy
• Play in the Team
  Captains Tournament

Why do people shy away from being a Team Captain? We've heard several reasons and would like to share some tips to minimize the "pains" associated with being a team captain. Keep in mind that being a Team Captain, YOU can CHOOSE to delegate some of the captain duties and make captainship painless!

FEES

While it is true that the Team Captain is responsible for collecting and turning in all fees, this should not cause you angst. Simple routines will make the process of collecting from your teammates painless.

• Collect an extra $5 from each of your teammates on your first night of league play. Turn fees in and carry the amount collected as a team credit. Use the credit to pay for any forfeits throughout the session, taking the burden of paying for any/all forfeits yourself, off your shoulders. Use the remaining credit at the end of the session to pay the team's last week's fees, playoff fees, or carry the credit to the next session.
• No money = no play. Collect player's fees BEFORE they play their match. If they do not have their fee that night, sit them out and play someone else who does.
• Consider taking advantage of pre-paying your team's fees, Pre-
  paying the session ensures you do not have to worry about who pays. Take the total amount of the session and divide it among the team.

SCOREKEEPING

We are now using Scorekeeper App, Everything is done on your mobile device or tablet. Any teammate can login and keep score with these easy to use simple tool. Watch these videos to learn more about scorekeeper at bit.ly/APAScorekeeper or search YouTube for APA Scorekeeper.

Teams may opt to use paper scoresheets however they must print their own copy from the app and submit it using a cam scanner app and submitting it to our email system by emailing it to nemass@apaleagues.com. All scoresheets submitted this way must be in PDF format using a scanner or scanning app. We highly suggest all team captains print out a few blank scoresheets to have with you in case of an outage or emergency. You can do this by going to (https://poolplayers.com/score/ And scrolling down to the scoresheets links.)

SCOREKEEPING CONTINUED

Make a point to teach all your teammates to keep score properly. A phrase that works well is "you play a match, you score a match".

• This allows for all members of the team to have some of the responsibility and become invested in your team.
• Assures not one person will be "stuck" keeping score all night and miss out on their opportunity to socialize and have fun.
• If one of your teammates is unwilling to learn how to score and do their part, consider playing them last or not at all, until said player chooses to become a "team" player.

TEAM STRATEGY - MATCH UPS

There is nothing in the rules that states "The Team Captain must designate who plays when", so if strategy is not your cup-of-tea, let someone else on the team take that on.

BE A TEAM CAPTAIN - NOT A BABYSITTER

Treat your teammates like the adults they are. Let them know they can find the schedule online or on the app, thus eliminating the need for you to call or text each one of them letting them know where your team is schedule to play every week. Every member should have the member services app where they can view stats, standings, schedules, edit their address and phone number, among other things.

KEEP INFORMED

The Team Captain assumes the responsibility of keeping informed on league happenings and events and sharing that information with all members of the team. This is easily done if you do a few simple things.

• Be sure to read the "message center" shown on your weekly match in the Scorekeeper app. 
• Read and become familiar with your Local Bylaws. Easily found right on this app in member services.
• Make sure to read and share the information of the flyers distributed by the League Office on the app and through social media. (All news and events are posted to the app under the news section!)
• Check the local league App and social media pages on a regular basis (at least once a week).
• Like us on Facebook - lots of information is available through both the national page (American PoolPlayers Association) and our local facebook page (Northeast Mass APA).
• Persuade your teammates to claim their member services account and be able to keep "in the know" themselves.