APA: How long have you been with the APA as a player and League Operator?
Cyndi: My late husband, Roger, and I started running the League in the fall of 1992, so I have 23 years as a League Operator.
Lee: I started playing 26 years ago and began working with Cyndi 10 years ago.
APA: What made you decide to look into becoming an APA League Operator? Did you have to relocate?
Cyndi: Roger met with two fellas from Chattanooga that talked about the APA forming in their area. Roger became very interested and did some research. A week later he was on his way to St. Louis to learn more. Roger came back as a League Operator. Together, we built the APA Rocket City Pool League (now APA of North Alabama) with three Host Locations and eight teams.
Lee: I had been participating in the League and really enjoyed playing. With my job, I was relocated numerous times; but each time I moved, I would join the local APA League. I knew with the APA I could make friends easily who also had a common desire to play pool. After moving to Alabama I once again joined the local APA with Cyndi and Roger as my League Operators. Cyndi’s support for me, as a player, led me to support and become great friends and business partners with her, after Roger passed.
APA: Can you briefly describe your day to day lives as League Operators?
Cyndi/Lee: On top of the normal office admin work such as stuffing/delivering/picking up packets, redlining, scoresheet input, division review, etc., etc., etc., we’re always trying to come up with new ways to keep things fresh and exciting in our League. With Monday through Saturday League play, our main work week is Wednesday-Sunday. But, as they say, when you LOVE what you’re doing, it’s NOT work. We enjoy running extra tournaments for our players on the weekends and visiting Host Locations through the week at night.
APA: What do you enjoy most about being League Operators?
Cyndi/Lee: Our players. They’re our family—our large and sometimes dysfunctional family—but family. We’re just one big family and we try to promote their businesses as well. Players love playing Lee for the “I Beat the League Operator” patch, and we enjoy watching their faces and seeing their excitement when they get to play (and beat!) Lee. We enjoy giving back and helping our local community. We’re always looking for ways to raise money through local tournaments, fundraisers and donations. For example, we have our Breast Cancer Awareness fundraisers in October, our Santa’s Helpers toy donations and big screen TV raffle and Foodbank for North Alabama in December, and our Tools for Schools “Empty Your Pocket Change” fundraiser each year. We’ve helped raise tens of thousands of dollars! We feel very proud of our players for their contributions and we enjoy helping in any way we can!
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