Changes Starting Summer 2025

Purpose:

The APA is working to standardize league play across all areas to ensure consistency for players. This means that if a player relocates to or from an area like San Diego, they’ll already be familiar with how the league operates.  

Updated Terminology:

• BLAST will now be referred to as Tri-Annuals
• Cities will now be referred to as World Qualifiers

Path to World Qualifiers (previously Cities):

• Division winners (in divisions with 6 or more teams) will continue to earn a spot in the Tri-Annuals (previously BLAST).
• Playoffs will consist of just one (1) round, and all teams that win that round will advance to the Tri-Annuals.
• With more teams participating, the Tri-Annuals will now feature at least 2 rounds of play to determine who advances to the World Qualifiers.
• To accommodate this increase, Tri-Annuals will now be held as a 2-day event for both 8-Ball and 9-Ball.
• Payouts will no longer be distributed after winning your division or playoffs. Instead, all teams that qualify for Tri-Annuals will now receive a payout simply for participating.
• Additionally, teams will earn increasing payouts as they advance in the Tri-Annuals.
• The total amount in the Players Fund remains the same. What is changing is how and when the funds will be distributed.

Notes:
There are currently no changes to the regular session or the World Qualifiers format.

Teams that earn a Tri-Annual spot in the Fall or Spring but are already qualified for the World Qualifiers will still participate in the session-ending Tri-Annuals to compete for awards. As a result there will no longer be teams that earn a spot in Tri-Annuals by default.

Please review the UPDATED BYLAWS (<- click here), which now include details about playoff structure and team eligibility based on division size and standings.

You can also watch the Player’s Meeting from January, where we first shared some of these changes. We’ll be scheduling another Player’s Meeting sometime soon to answer any questions related to this or other topics. Please hold your questions until the Player's Meeting, as this post covers most of the details available at this time.

Keep an eye out for a post in the app with the Player’s Meeting date, make sure your notifications are turned on!