The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) 2009 Nominating Committee ... announces that it has selected the candidates for the seven (7) available seats on the BCA Board for the 2009-2010 Board year. The open seats include six (6) in the Manufacturer/Distributor category and one (1) in the Room Operator category. The candidates are as follows:

Manufacturer/Distributor Category:

• Fred Cohen, D&R Industries/Championship LLC, Lincolnwood, Ill.

• Tom Gregory, Toltec Lighting, Burnsville, Miss.

• Larry Liebl, McDermott Cue, Menomonee Falls, Wis.

• Skip Nemecek, Tweeten Fibre Co., Chicago, Ill.

• Austin Rothbard, Brunswick Corporation, Bristol, Wis.

• Michael Serra, MBS Group Inc., Elk Grove, Ill.

• Thomas Rodgers, Robertson Billiards, Tampa, Fla.

• Kelye Stites, Champion Shuffleboard, Richland Hills, Texas

• Terry Taggart, Executive Billiards, Parker, Colo.

• Eric Weber, CueStix International, Lafayette, Colo.

Room Operator Category:

• Danny Kuykendall, Danny K’s Billiards, Orange, Calif.

• Greg LeCorgne, Dave & Buster’s, Dallas, Texas

• David Vendenberghe, CueSports International, LLC, Henderson, Nev.

In order to select the best candidates, the Nominating Committee based its decision on the needs of the organization and the information provided by potential candidates. Each nominee supplied a Candidate Data Form, which enabled them to tell the committee why they are the best candidate for the position. The form is designed to highlight each candidate in the areas of billiards industry volunteer experience, professional job experience and responsibilities, and potential contributions to the BCA.

Ballots will be issued to all BCA members eligible to vote via postal mail the week of May 25, 2009 (the membership eligibility cutoff date for voting was April 1, 2009). Ballots can be returned to the BCA offices by Friday, June 19, 2009, or BCA members can hand carry their ballots to the Annual BCA Membership Meeting, Wednesday, June 24, 2009, at the 2009 International Billiard & Home Recreation Expo in Las Vegas. Members can also vote at the meeting. The results of the elections will be announced following the meeting.

In a continued effort to enhance ... the overall membership experience, especially when it comes to offering members access to information and resources that can help keep their businesses moving forward and remaining profitable, the BCA introduces two new online discussion forums to the BCA Web site at bca-pool.com: Pool Room Operator Discussion Forum and Retailer Discussion Forum.  The BCA Discussion Forums are an exclusive, member-only benefit and forum users must be a current BCA member to gain access.

These forums are designed to afford BCA members the opportunity to communicate with their peers on topics of interest to the billiards industry while accessing informative and useful content relative to their business.

The BCA Discussion Forums are the resource for:

• Tangible business-improvement tips;

• Sharing of best practices;

• Customer sales techniques;

• Marketing dos and don’ts;

• Industry updates;

• and much more.

The BCA looks forward to bolstering the content on the forums, so post your questions or share your know-how today and benefit from the experiences of members of the billiards community. Be sure to check back often for the latest and greatest posts!

Make your plans now to attend the BCA Annual Membership Meeting … which will be held Wednesday, June 24, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada (the home of the 2009 BCA Expo). The agenda for the meeting includes election of the BCA Board of Directors, as well as an update on current and future BCA projects and initiatives.

All BCA members are invited to attend the meeting, but only those who hold a current BCA membership with a charter date prior to April 1, 2009 (90 days prior to the election) are eligible to vote. Please keep an eye out for the Board of Directors ballot, which will be sent via postal mail on or around May 25, 2009. Installation of the new Board of Director members and election of the BCA officers for 2009-2010 shall take place immediately following the Annual Membership Meeting.

Save big when you ship to Vegas ... by taking advantage of the BCA Freight Savings Plan. This FREE member benefit offers substantial savings on your tradeshow shipment with YRC, both to the show and on your return shipment. YRC offers a guarantee on your exhibit shipment inbound to the show or advance warehouse at no additional charge!

Save money and get your materials to the show on time! For a free freight quote, contact Siriani & Associates, administrators of the BCA Freight Savings Plan, at 800.554.0005 or via e-mail at info@sirnai.com.

Guaranteed delivery offer is available only on LTL ground shipments inbound to a show or from one show to another. Air and van line service not included. For no additional charge, YRC guarantees to deliver the qualifying shipment no later than the scheduled delivery day based on YRC standard transit schedule. All other specialized services take precedence over the guarantee.

More than $450,000 in cash and prizes was awarded ... to American Poolplayers Association (APA) members at the APA National Singles Championships held April 29-May 2, 2009, in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel & Casino. The National Singles Championships consisted of both the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout Singles Championships and the Jack & Jill Doubles Championship.

The final round of the 9-Ball Shootout featured three championship matches, one for each skill level tier, with two shooters in each match competing for $10,000 in cash and prizes.

Dustin Harwood of Sumner, Wash., defeated Amber Setzer of Mooresville, N.C., in the finals of the Green Tier (Skill Levels 1 — 3) for the championship. Nicolas Reyna of Lincoln Park, Mich., defeated Joshua Sherman of Rockledge, Fla., in the finals of the White Tier (Skill Levels 4 — 5) for the championship. Kenneth Brisbon of Oxford, Mich., defeated Brandon McGuire of Roaring River, N.C., in the finals of the Black Tier (Skill Levels 6 — 9) for the championship.

In the finals of the 8-Ball Classic, four champions each took home a prize package worth $15,000 for their performances.

In the Blue Tier (Skill Levels 2 — 3) of the 8-Ball Classic, it was Brent Bratcher of Louisville, Ky., defeating Michael Ryan of Joliet, Ill., in the final match. The finals of the Yellow Tier (Skill Level 4), saw Donnie Richardson of Buersheba Springs, Tenn., defeat Tripp Tatum of Germantown, Md. In the Red Tier (Skill Level 5) of the 8-Ball Classic, it was Chris Frazao of Trumbull, Conn., defeating Douglas Krus of Peoria, Ill., in the final match. The finals of the Purple Tier (Skill Levels 6 — 7) pitted David Rowell of Birmingham, Ala., against Martin Zavala, Jr. of Joliet, Ill.

In the annual Jack & Jill Doubles Championship, Matt Mancini and Wai Lam of Revere, Mass., defeated Richard Winpigler and Leslie Hickman of Frederick, Md. Mancini and Lam took home $5,000, while Winpigler and Hickman received $3,000 as Runners-Up.

Sportsmanship Awards were presented to Richard Benes of Palmetto, Fla., and Kevin Jones Jr. of Fontana, Calif., for outstanding conduct throughout their matches in the 9-Ball Shootout and 8-Ball Classic, respectively.

Official coverage of the event can be found on the APA Web site.

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) recently announced ... that Illinois State University (ISU) will host the 21st Annual Junior Nationals and the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Collegiate 9-Ball Championships on July 21-26, 2009. The collegiate event will be held Tuesday through Thursday, while junior competition will take place Thursday through Sunday.

The Bone Student Center, located on the ISU campus in Normal, Illinois, has 15 Brunswick billiard tables that will be the stage to an expected 200 young billiard athletes. Junior players will be competing for scholarships, prizes and an invitation to represent the United States at the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) Junior World Championships.

To participate in the BEF Junior Nationals, players must earn an entry through a BEF qualifier or must be appointed by their local junior league. The national event features four divisions: 19 & Under Boys; 19 & Under Girls; 14 & Under Boys; and 14 & Under Girls. Qualifiers will be held throughout the United States through June 7, 2009. For more information about hosting a qualifier, league guidelines, or upcoming qualifier dates and locations, visit billiardeducation.org. Collegiate participants must be invited to participate through an ACUI regional tournament (visit acui.org for more information).

The Junior National sponsors include Brunswick Billiards, Simonis Cloth, Ozone Billiards, Delta-13 Rack and the Billiard Congress of America (BCA). To become a sponsor, make a donation or inquiry, visit billiardeducation.org or contact Laura Smith at 303.926.1039 or laurasmith@billiardeducation.org.