Q: What does it cost to join and play in the BLA?
A: $15 annual membership. $7 per shooter on league night; depending on your division.
Q: Does it cost anything to start your own division?
A: There are no franchise fees for starting a division.
The only up front money requirement for league rep:
You must be an active member: Yearly dues - same cost as players.
You pay for your initial printing & league rep shirt. The money will be returned to you at the end of your first session.
Q: How much do you pay back to the players?
A: OVER 80% of the money paid in is paid back to the players in cash & prizes.
Q: What is required to be a Division Representative?
A: It is actually quite simple: Get a minimum of four teams together and let us know you are ready to start. Our experience is available and in place to help you.
A: Because our office does the bookkeeping for you, your requirements are few. Print the score sheets (sent to you from our office), make them available to the players on league night, then at the end of the night,
pick up the score sheets & weekly fees and send them to our office. Either scan or photograph the score sheets and email or text them to the BLA Office.
The money can be sent to the office witn one of the online payment programs. Whichever is easier for you is the best option.
Q: How many players on each team?
A: You can roster up to 8 players per team; depending on number of players shooting per night. Each team can shoot either 2, 3, 4 or 5 players per match. Must be the same number of players for all teams.
Note: Ideal is to have 4 or 5 shooters per team. Sometimes a new or growing division does not have many players; then 2 shooters per team can be an option.
Q: What is the maximum rank rating allowed for a team per match?
A: There are no restrictions on your team rank points.
Q: How are individual ranks determined?
A: Ranks are done strictly by your individual games played. Take the number of balls made and divide that by the number of racks you have played. That is your rank. Nothing to question or fuss about.
Q: At what rank does a player start?
A: Rankss are determined after a player has played four matches. The office will then go back and input player ranks, total the score sheets and enter data into the database.
This makes for a valid rank instead of just picking a number to start with.
Q: Can a player's rank be changed because they shoot a jump shot or masse - like in some other pool leagues?
A: No! Ranks are only calculated by your balls made divided by games played. Nothing else. We encourage players to learn more but we do not penalize them because they tried something new; even if it worked. Good Shot!
Q: Do we need to keep track of shots & safeties?
A: No. At the end of the game, write down the score. In nine ball & ten ball, mark the balls made by each player.
Q: If every player makes money every session, how much do the players get paid?
A: The BLA pays you for every ball scored. Amounts accumulate until the end of the session.
A: There are also money prizes in the playoffs. The number of places and amounts paid are determined by the number of teams in the division.
Q: How does the league office get paid if you are giving so much money back to the players?
A: The BLA operates on 10% to the office and 10% to the division rep.
A: The BLA Office takes pride in making sure the players get taken care of. We think this is the best way to build and keep a good solid league.
Q: How does a team qualify for the playoffs?
A: Every team in the division goes to the playoffs every session.
Q: Does the BLA send teams to Vegas?
A: As of now we do not.
Note: With the development of more teams, we plan to have larger area Championships. See note below.
In order for a league to send teams to Vegas, the other teams are paying for those trips and get little or nothing in return for their money & efforts.
We believe it is better to give back to ALL teams & players instead of using everyone's money on one or two teams.
With the development of more teams in any given area, we can schedule for area playoffs. It is about growing in your area.
Q: If a player dropped out of the league today, what happens to their points/score or scoring for the team? Do the points still count or do the games that that person had played not count too?
A:
Points
If a player drops out of the league during the session, nothing changes as for their matches played or team points.
The exception would be if that player had not yet played enough matches to establish their rank, in which case there are two options:
1. Matches played by that player should be replayed by another player, either new or current, and scored accordingly.
This would remove all references to the departing player; including scores and balls made. Exceptions may apply.
2. The affected team captains, along with the division rep, can make a decision to score the played matches and use what rank the player had earned.
This would normally be done if there was just one more match to establish the rank. If the player had only played one or two matches, it would most likely be best to replay them with another player.
Money
When a player quits before the end of the session, they forfeit all of their earned money. The ball money earned by that player would be used for prizes given to the division.
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The exception would be if the player had special circumstances causing them to leave. IE: if the player had to move out of the area, or other reasons out of their control.
The team captain, division rep and/or league operator can decide to not enforce the forfeiture rule, but to give ball money earned to the player.
The BLA Office has final say on these funds
In some situations, a player may change teams during the session. Ball money earned while on each team is to be paid to the player.
In a situation where leaving the team was determined to be 'acceptable' by the team captain & division rep, and the player was still in 'good standing' with the league, the player could still be eligible to shoot in the Members Appreciation Tournament for that calendar year. This would not apply if a player left in a negative or disrespectful manner or created unnecessary problems when leaving. Each situation is dealt with accordingly.
If you have questions, please send them to us. We will answer you direct and maybe post those questions here for others to see and learn.
Notes & Questions sent about the BLA
