What does the GNYBA Board do other than run some tournaments every year? It's a question I'm often asked and one to which I answer "Plenty!" While our Regional and Sectional tournaments are our most visible actions, they are both also part of a broader effort to promote bridge and bring new players into the sport.
It's hard to believe as you look across the sea of filled tables at our Regionals or the Nationals that the bridge population is shrinking, but numbers don't lie. On a national level, the ACBL has established a special committee to study the situation and develop recommendations to reverse the trend. On a local level, the GNYBA Board maintain three committees to tackle the problem: Youth Committee, Clubs Committee and Newcomers Committee.
The Youth Committee, chaired by Barry Rigal, coordinates a program with Library Power to teach bridge as an extra-curricular activity in city-wide elemen-tary and secondary schools. The ACBL partially funds this program and the GNYBA provides a subsidy to help defray travel expenses of volunteer teachers. Anyone who has regretted as an adult not having taken up a now-loved activity as a child can understand how important this program is.
At the July Board meeting, Barry reported that 20 people (previous partici-pants and first-timers) have volunteered to teach this year and that Library Power can supply as many schools as we can provide teachers. To help develop more teachers, the GNYBA Board approved Barry's request for funding the ACBL's Teacher Accreditation Program (TAP) which was conducted at the District Regional in July.
The Clubs Committee, chaired by Jeff Bayone, provides a forum for club owners to discuss mutual activities and concerns. One issue of common concern is the overall drop in club play we have all seen over the past few years-in part a reflection of the declining bridge population, but also a result of the growth of computer bridge and a crowded tournament calendar. The bridge lessons provided through the clubs are the single biggest source of new players to the game. The supervised play and newcomer games offered in our clubs are important stepping stones to continuing involvement with bridge. And keeping all levels of players playing in club games is the key. To encourage club play, our District Director, Al Levy, is spearheading an effort to coordinate a series of district-wide weekend club games for 1997. These games, because of their potential size, will provide large master point awards and overall District winners-an achievement not available in our Unit Sectionals.
The next level for new players, tournament play, is addressed by The Newcomer Committee, chaired by Lisa Berkowitz. The Committee's efforts include organizing our hallmark Pro-Am Tourna-ment and coordinating speakers and topics for the lecture series we conduct at our Regionals. Another more subtle promotion of the game results from the pride we all take in the accomplishments of individual members of our Unit. Everyone likes being a member of a Unit that can boast of stars. Most recently, Gail Greenberg and Jill Blanchard, playing on a team with Juanita Chambers, Shawn Quinn and Irina Levitina won the right to represent the United States at the Team Olympiad in October in Rhodes. They have my heartiest congratulations and best wishes for success. As the Greeks say: "Kalo taxide!" (good journey).
Earlier this spring, Kent Mignocchi was named the 1996 King of Bridge and awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the International Palace of Sports Foundation and the ACBL. All he had to do was have the best bridge record of all graduating high school seniors in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda! That's a very impressive feat and my hat is off to Kent. I'm sure your academic achievements will be just as impressive.
So, now you have the answer to the question about what goes on with the GNYBA Board around and between tournaments. Has it made you interested in getting involved? If so, mention it to any Board member or call me at (212) 769-2470 or e-mail me at bonnie@nyc.pipeline.com. In early September the Nominating Committee will be putting together a slate of candidates and officers for the 1997 GNYBA Board of Directors which will be voted on at the Winter Regional.
And speaking of the Winter Regional, I'm pleased to announce that the Board voted at the July meeting to accept a proposal from the Crowne Plaza Manhattan to again host the Winter Regional, to run from December 26 through December 30. We've closed the loopholes that created problems for us last year and the tournament committees are now at work planning the schedule of events and tournament amenities. I would also like to thank Tom Rozinski and Roberta Magnus for their efforts which provided us with potential alternative playing sites - we may need them in the future.
See you at the tables!
Bonnie Gellas