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 The
Northern Colorado APA League franchise is rich with amateur players
and growing rapidly. Approximately 185 teams play in and around
Boulder, Longmont, Estes Park, Fort Lupton, Greeley, Fort Collins,
Firestone, Frederick, Lafayette, and Louisville. This lively, expanding
pool scene owes its vigor to the hard work and savvy leadership
of Kevin and Erin Leivonen.
The Leivonens hail from New Jersey,
where they married 15 years ago. They have three children together
plus Kevin’s older daughter, Jenny. The kids all play pool
although four year-old daughter Riley, the youngest, is just at
the “pushing balls around the table” stage, says Erin.
Kevin first played APA in 1991. It
was hard to find league venues in New Jersey, he says. Bars had
only one or two tables, if any, because New Jersey’s laws
made it difficult to serve liquor where pool was played. There was
no official APA league so in 2003 Kevin started one. He grew it
to over 80 teams during the next 5 years. Then Kevin and Erin reached
a crisis point in their lives.
Their family was growing. The pool
league was growing. Kevin’s job in the medical ultrasound
profession was full time and then some. Something had to go. The
Leivonens had the courage to let the job go, putting their children
and their pool passion ahead of false “security.” They
also had a hankering to move West, and fate conspired to help them
in a timely “coincidence.”
Through the APA national organization,
Kevin learned that the Northern Colorado franchise was available.
Colorado was on the Leivonens’ short list of places to live,
and the opportunity to take over a thriving league territory iced
the cake. Kevin moved here in December, 2008, while Erin and the
kids remained in New Jersey until their house was sold six months
later. Kevin and Erin have been hard at work ever since, promoting
pool and league play in many innovative ways.
Advertising (in Cue Times, of course!)
has proven effective, says Kevin. Many people are not even aware
that APA leagues exist until they run across an ad. Erin always
carries fliers to stores, supermarkets, beauty salons, etc., and
is not at all bashful about talking up the game of pool and the
league.
The couple consistently recruits
new venues, and not just bars. Community/senior recreation centers
are semi-secret pool venues, for instance. The meeting halls of
service organizations often have tables. Going beyond the bar scene,
the Leivonens reach new categories of potential players and recruit
venues where non-drinkers feel at home.
“I like pool, but I can’t
play well enough” is the most common objection to joining
a league that the Leivonens run into – and they love to hear
it. That’s because it gives them a chance to explain the APA’s
handicap system , which gives a novice an even chance to beat an
expert. Far from being looked down upon, rookie players are in great
demand on every APA team.
It’s hard for non-league players
to believe that APA team captains positively crave players with
lower skill ratings of 2 or 3. But it’s true, because they
enable more match-up flexibility and a larger team. Under APA rules,
the sum of the skill ratings of all team members cannot exceed 23,
and a team must field five players per match. So a pair of 2s will
fit on a team roster while a pair of highly skilled 6s will not.
That’s why novices are always welcome – eagerly sought,
actually.
“It’s all about having
fun, not just winning,” says Erin, “although there is
the potential reward to going to Vegas” for the national championships
and all the prestige and excitement of that achievement… not
to mention the prize money!
Kevin is especially keen to offer
special events to entertain and educate players and non-players.
Recently, he brought legendary trick shot artist Mike Massey to
the Bit of Billiards in Longmont for a weekend of amazing feats
and humorous banter about the game, the pros, and life in general.
(See our interview with Mike elsewhere in this issue.)
“This sort of thing is good for the venues as well as the
players,” says Kevin, noting that more than 80 people ate
and drank and played pool at Massey’s exhibition. Quite a
few of them did not play pool often, but became interested in the
game and league play while watching Massey’s magic.
The Northern Colorado APA League
is in excellent, hard-working hands. The Leivonens plan to grow
the league to about 250-300 teams over the next five years. It’s
their full time passion and commitment.
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