Kansas City had 9371 tables in play at the Spring Nationals and that was only 129 short of the estimated table count. The tournament site was in a good location - played in two hotel connected by a Skywalk. The local tournament committee did an outstanding job of providing hospitality for the players and there were many wonderful restaurants within a short distance of the hotels.
Two very exciting news events came to us in Kansas City --
Our beloved Texas Legend, the late Bobby Nail, was elected to the ACBL Hall of Fame and the induction ceremony will be held during the Hall of Fame Banquet in Toronto July 19th. I sincerely hope that those of you going to Toronto will plan to be at this event. Bobby was well loved in our District and in the ACBL.
The second good news was received from Jose Damiani, President of the World Bridge Federation. He announced that bridge would be an ATTRACTION at the WINTER OLYMPICS IN SALT LAKE CITY. This event will take place two days before the official opening on February 8, 2002
And it is an event to show the members of the IOC how bridge can fit into Olympic Sports. If this is a successful venture we hope that bridge will
Be admitted as an Olympic Sport at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.
The ACBL has formed a Bridge organization that encompasses only the US portion of the ACBL and ABA members. It will be known as the United Stated Bridge Federation. This Federation will apply to become an associate member of the US Olympic Committee.
The Board of Directors of the USBF will assume responsibility for selecting and approving teams or pairs to represent the US in International competition. The Board will consist of nine directors - the ACBL President, Jim Kirkham appointed Shawn Quinn and me, to be members of the original Board of Directors. Shawn and I are very honored by this appointment.
There are three separate team trials scheduled to determine the ACBL representatives at the WBF World Championships in Bali this October.
Each Unit is entitled to hold four charity events annually. The first and third must be for the benefit of the ACBL Charity Foundation. The second and fourth if any, may be for the ACBL charity Foundation or a local beneficiary. Events held at Sectional and Regional tournaments to benefit charity are not excluded from the appropriate per table sanction fee.
Scheduling and sanctioning Regional and Sectional tournaments -
If it is in the best interest of bridge and ACBL, management may grant a sanction even though such a sanction would violate an existing regulation
Upon advice of our new League Counsel, Peter Rank, the disciplinary code has been amended to eliminate attorneys from representing either the accused or the party bringing charges at Disciplinary Hearings. The person charged may be represented by an attorney in regards to other matters concerning the Hearing.
Many clubs have complained that when holding ACBL wide games they must allow persons who have been barred from their club to play in the event. This rule has been reversed and Clubs may now extend the barring of a player to include Grand National Teams and North American Pair events, Sectional tournaments and Unit or District championships held in their club. In such cases, a written notice to the person barred must include the reason for this action and the person has the right to appeal the action to their Unit Board.
Management is allowed to run an experimental game whereby clubs in different locations will score across the field. The software to do this is now in place.
A new Club Recognition Program and the Jane Johnson Club of the Year Award were established and approved. There will be winners in each category of clubs each year.
A College Team Championship for 2001 has been established to be played on the Internet with six regional teams playing in a final at one of the NABC or in Memphis.
All Online sanctioned events shall award master-points that are un-pigmented. Not Gold, Silver or Black.
For the year 2002 only, the election of the ACBL President will be held at the 2001 summer board meeting instead of the 2001 Fall Meeting.
At the Toronto Summer Nationals a new event will be offered -
A Mini Spingold KO divided into two flights and run opposite the regular Spingold. Flights will be 0-1500 and 0-5000.
Don't forget the next three upcoming Nationals - All good locations and great vacation cities: Start making plans to attend
Hope to see you at the Hall of Fame Banquet honoring our own Bobby Nail Watch the ACBL Bulletin for reservation information.