Faces of the APA:
APA Member On Call

APA member Tony Johnson has incorporated pool into his life so much in the past six years he’s decided to make it part of everyday life!

Tony started playing pool nine years ago with his nephew. “I knew I was getting pretty good after I finally beat him,” remembers Johnson. “About three years later, a friend of mine asked me to join an APA team, and I did. That session our team really did well; our team had won the Division!”

Unfortunately, that year, Johnson’s team did not make it to Nationals; however, he finally had that opportunity August 2002 when he attended the National Team Championships. “Along with four others, I beat a professional, Steve Lillis, in a challenge match. We decided to play each other to see who would get the prize, a jump cue. So, not only did I beat Steve, I beat four others who beat Steve to take home the jump cue,” Johnson said.

In addition to playing on two 8-Ball teams as a SL6 and one 9-Ball team as a SL7 each week, Johnson is very active in the APA in his hometown of Philadelphia, Penn. He plays each week in the League on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He has been a Division Representative and has had a position on the Board of Governors for more than a year now.

“ Usually, when people have problems on League nights they call me, I help people solve problems and disputes, and even help some teams contact all of their players if necessary. I am on call every League night,” said Johnson.

“ I enjoy the APA because you get to play so many different people and they all have different skill levels and ways of playing. I enjoy watching others play. You can learn a lot from someone regardless of their skill level. Everyone brings something to the game; everyone has their own style,” he added.

This article orginally appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of The American Poolplayer Magazine produced by the American Poolplayers Association.