Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the Sports and Billiards Association (SBA)?
A. SBA is a handicapped, 8-ball, 9-ball, “Bar Room” Rules, 10-Ball 7-Ball, “No Fear” (non-handicapped), 3-Person, and Scotch-Doubles – money and trophy league, our corporate office is now operating in the Colorado Springs metropolitan area.

Q. Why start a different league?
A. We believe that a complete league must:

Build a sense of community amongst the players.
Actively seek the ideas and desires of the players, and change when those desires dictate the need.
Reward players for their contribution in building and solidifying the player community.
Welcome and encourage players from other systems to assess the benefits of the league without making a commitment.
Be flexible with respect to the chosen format and reward preferences of the players.
Offer players of all skill levels an enjoyable experience.
Fairly handicap players so those players of equal or vastly different skill levels can play together.
Offer a challenge to the players of high skill, yet encourage and advance players who are new.
After looking at leagues currently in local operation, and others not local, but available, none met our criteria. Consequently, a decision was made to start from scratch and create a totally new, easy to understand league system combining player skill ratings, and game/match handicapping to result in fun, fair, and honest play for all.

Q. How much does it cost to play in SBA?
A. There is a $15 annual league membership fee, and a $6 per player match fee. Any and all players are allowed to play one session without having to pay the annual league membership fee. This is done so that they can experience the benefits of our community and culture before making a commitment.

Q. How does SBA reward players for building the community?
A. That’s easy – they play for FREE! For every new member that an active player brings into the community, they will receive one night’s match play for free. In other words, if an active player invites 16 of their friends into the community, they get to play the whole session for free.

Q. How Does SBA solicit the ideas and desires of the players?

A. We feel that maintaining open and honest lines of communication are essential to any community or organization. Therefore, we will collect and respond to player feedback and ideas through multiple channels to include:

· The creation of a player “Steering Committee”

· Distribution of surveys and feedback forms in weekly packets

· Two-way E-mail

· Face-to-face discussions

· Monthly newsletters distributed in packets

Q. What sessions are offered by the SBA?
A. All sessions can be run in multiples, and will run concurrently over a 16 week session and will consist of both 8 and 9-ball formats on each night, Monday through Friday, provided the minimum number of teams are formed for each.

SBA offers the following sessions:
1. Standard 16-week session
a. 8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball, 7-Ball, “No Fear”, 3-Person, and “Bar Room” Rules formats
b. Money-back to all teams
c. Two-week playoffs (Top 4 teams)
d. Six-team minimum
2. Two 8-week sessions
a. 8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball, 7-Ball, “No Fear”, 3-Person, and “Bar Room” Rules formats
b. Money back to the top 50% of teams
c. One-week playoff, 2nd place and wildcard (1st place is automatic)
d. Four-team minimum
3. Three 5-week “Trophy Run” sessions
a. 8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball, 7-Ball, “No Fear”, 3-Person, and “Bar Room” Rules formats
b. Trophy session (Given to top 2-teams)
c. No playoff
d. 4-team minimum
4. Standard 16-week Scotch-Doubles session
a. 8-Ball, “Bar Room”, “No Fear”, and 10-Ball formats
b. Money-back to all teams
c. Two-week playoffs (Top 4 teams)
d. Six teams minimum (in-house 4-team minimum*)
*no playoffs for in-house league with 4 teams.

Q. How does SBA rate players?
A. Each player has a skill rating based on the player’s win/loss history. Better players have higher skill ratings. We have identified the most important factors of handicapping a player. These measures are used to obtain an accurate handicap while simultaneously simplifying the score sheets. The goal is to make the game of billiards enjoyable for all players and not focus on forms.

Q. How is a player’s initial skill rating established?
A. If the player is rated in another league, it will be used as a basis for an SBA skill rating. If the player is new to league play, men will begin play at a skill level 4 and women at a skill level 3.

*NOTE*

If a team captain intentionally brings a “known” player into the league, at a handicap lower than they should be, that player will play at a skill level 7 for the remainder of the session, and the captain placed on probation for violation of our integrity value.

Q. Does SBA offer national competition?
A. Yes. When SBA grows substantially, we plan to hold annual nationwide tournaments in Colorado. We will also encourage SBA operators to hold State-wide tournaments, for the players in their respective state.