Welcome to the 22nd Annual National Team Championships-the largest and richest of all the APA national tournaments. 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 local qualifying tournaments.

With more than $750,000 up for grabs at the national team events this year, your team will need to be at the top of their game, challenging yourselves 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 have ever encountered before. If your team is up to the challenge, you'll return home as APA National Champions!

Before you begin to focus on what lies ahead, be sure to take a moment to reflect on what you've already managed to accomplish. Only a small percentage of APA members ever make it to this level of competition. For that reason, you should all consider yourselves winners. No matter how your team finishes here in Las Vegas, you can walk away satisfied, knowing you made it this far.

Obviously, to make it this far, you've had lots of support from family and friends-many of which couldn't make it out here to support your team. That's why we've dedicated our Web site, poolplayers.com, to providing onsite coverage of this event for everyone back home.

An APA National Championship is a special event and we want to make sure you thoroughly enjoy your experience here in Las Vegas. Throughout the tournament, you'll find poolplaying activity in almost ever corner of the Riviera Hotel & Casino. In addition to the National Team Championships, this year we will again feature our Preregistered Doubles and 3-Person Team events as well as 20 hours of MiniMania tournaments daily.

We'll also have some of the top professional men's players her at the Riviera this week competing in the Las Vegas Invitational, Aug. 19-23. This 64-player event will provide you with the opportunity to see some of your favorite players up-close and personal.

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

Best regards,

Reneé Lyle Poehlman
President