Growing up watching my late father play billiards, some of my fondest memories are watching him practice with his APA League. Each year, the goal was to win a spot to compete in Las Vegas.
APA stands for the American Poolplayers Association and is the world’s largest amateur pool league with more than 250,000 members competing in 8-Ball and 9-Ball leagues throughout the United States, Canada and Japan. Every team that participates has the chance of winning a trip to Las Vegas to play in the World Championship.
Team APA of Central Florida has been operating for over 30 years in the Orange, Lake, Seminole, and Osceola counties. It is one of the largest leagues in the state of Florida. Of the four teams from APA of Central Florida competing in Las Vegas, one of them is Motley Cue based out of Lake Nona.
When I heard that a group of players in Lake Nona had united to compete in a 9-Ball league, I jumped at the opportunity to share their story. More than luck, competing in a league that makes it to Las Vegas is a notable achievement. Being the team to go to Vegas without any organized billiards experience…well, that’s just unheard of. Laureate Park resident Ryan Thomas shares with us how this all came together.
After moving here in July 2016, Thomas had not yet found a local pool hall to continue his love for the game. After taking a friend up for some pool at Trick Shots in Waterford Lakes, he recalls the server complimenting his game and suggesting he join a league. Thomas’ only time playing organized pool was a short stint in New England before moving to Florida. So, he went home and posted on a few Facebook pages to recruit members. And soon, he had a team. They showed up on Tuesday nights and just played.
With Thomas as captain, Motley Cue includes Donna Mazzerelli, Jeff Amorim, Chad Wentz, Buddy Bowers, and Michael Hanley. Drew Tanski deserves a shout out, too. Tanski helped the team place in Tri-Cups, however, once qualifying, he couldn’t continue to the next competition because handicap levels had increased.
Thomas recalls one of the matches where they were down 29-11 and came back to win. Breaking his finger on an early break, Thomas won 15-5, Amorim won 12-8 (playing a 30-year vet), and Bowers came in and won as well. Again, winning and going undefeated in Tri-Cups, they are ready to compete in Las Vegas.
Beating out teams that have played for 20 years and never made it to Nationals, here is a team out of Lake Nona who has never played organized pool, wins Tri-Cups, goes undefeated in cities and now on to Nationals. Thomas attributes all success to the team.
Speaking of the group, Thomas is proud and humbled. “I started this team looking for a sense of community to form bonds of friendship while eating, drinking and playing pool,” said Thomas. “We take pride in embracing camaraderie and coaching; we do it for each other.”
The APA 9-Ball World Championship is Aug. 9-13 with a first prize of $15,000 at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Finals will be televised. Congratulations, Motley Cue!
Sophia Rogers is a six-year Lake Nona area resident and Realtor/founder of NonaHomeGuide.com. A wife and mom of four, family, relationships and real estate are her passions. She can be reached at [email protected]
