Philadelphia Report March 2003
Not too many District 16 players made it to Philadelphia, but those that did had a good time. An excellent food court nearby made it easy to get a quick snack. The tournament had 10,850 tables and the locals had excellent entertainment and food after each evening game.
BOARD HIGHLIGHTS:
Junior Events -
The Board approved a World Junior Individual Championship to be held every other year (in even years starting in 2004) in North America at the site of the Summer NABC. It will begin on the Wednesday evening preceding the final weekend. There will be four sessions ending Friday afternoon with a closing ceremony, dinner, and prize giving on Friday evening. This will be a World Bridge Federation Event.ACBL Junior members can earn scholarships and be paid for giving bridge lessons at their school. This is a great new program, and I encourage District 16 Juniors to take advantage of it if possible. For more information, call me at 713- 988-1103 in Houston or Charlotte Blaiss in Memphis.
NABC EVENTS -
New Rules - Effective July 1, 2003 - In order to play in an NABC+ event at the Nationals, players must be an ACBL member whose service fees or dues are current. Anyone not a member may pay an extra $2 per session and enter the regional events.CLUBS -
Reminder- The new recruitment and retention program for units is great; any increase in membership is rewarded, and no long forms to fill out.WORLD BRIDGE -
ACBL master points will be awarded at the 1st Open European Championships in June 2003 in Menton, France.ACBL RULES AND REGULATIONS -
Volunteer officials who need copies of various ACBL rules and regulations will be notified by ACBL that they may request one copy free of charge once each year.Handbook of Rules & Regulation by unit secretaries and presidents; Code of Disciplinary Regulations by disciplinary chairs and recorders. Handbook for Appeals Committees by Appeals chairs. Recorder Regulations by all recorders.
Management is authorized to collect fees for ACBL services to affiliated organizations. (USBF, CBF, Education & Charity Foundations).
Master points won at WBF Championship Events will be converted to ACBL master points.
Approval is given for the creation of a manual for appeals guidelines.
A report on Tournament Director training and evaluation will be submitted to the Tournament Committee at the Summer NABC in Long Beach.
Congratulations to Dallas for hosting the 2006 NABC. It's not too early to think about volunteering to help or planning to attend.
See you at the tables.
Dan