Welcome to the 2002 National Singles Championships. As a participant in an APA National Championship, you are about to experience excitement and competition unlike that which you faced during weekly League play and regional qualifying competition.

Last year marked some historic changes to our National Singles Championships. A new skill level tier system replaced the Ladies and Mens Divisions, allowing us to crown three new champions in both the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout. While the format may have changed, the result was the same with three men and three women all leaving Vegas as APA Champions.

With so much at stake in the 2002 National Singles Championships, you will need to stay focused, challenging yourself to play your best, as this is the highest level of amateur APA competition. You'll experience more excitement, more intensity and more grueling competition than you may have ever encountered. But if you are up to the challenge, you just may return home as an APA National Champion!

Before you begin to focus on what lies ahead, take a moment to reflect on what you have already accomplished. Only a small portion of our nearly 200,000 members ever makes it this far. Almost 36,000 members competed locally, trying to qualify for this competition. Of those, more than 4,900 of them competed at the Regional Level in an attempt to get here. Now you understand why we consider all of you winners - you have already competed hard just to get here. And regardless of where you finish in this event, you should take pride in all that you have accomplished just getting to Vegas.

We want to make sure your experience here in Las Vegas is one-of-a-kind, which is why we have plenty to keep you busy. In addition to the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout, we'll be hosting our Jack 'n Jill Doubles Preregistered Mini Event and running 20 hour/per day MiniMania tournaments - both in the MiniMania room. World famous trick-shot artist Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman will also be on-hand on Saturday and during the pool party, performing some of his exciting exhibitions. Finally, be sure to join us on Saturday night as we party poolside here at the Riv to wrap up an exciting weekend of competition.

On behalf of the entire APA staff and our network of League Operators we wish you the best of luck and hope you enjoy the tournament!

Best regards,

Renee' Lyle Poehlman
President