#6 - 1st September

I discovered Port Elizabeth’s best kept secret!
The P.E. Mini congress hosted 30 teams and 62 pairs and what a successful event! It was their 37th Congress and my congratulations to the organizers of a fabulous weekend.

The most exciting part of this for me was that there are so many bridge players and tournaments in places that I have never ever heard of: Mcgregor, Bedford and Cradock to name a few. I am certainly going to try to make it my business to discover all the bridge that we have in our country and get to know our players that put so much time and effort into offering bridge to all.

Interclub 2009
We are beginning to receive entries for the Interclub and it promises to be a great bridge weekend. All affiliated clubs can send a team and if the club hosts more than 30 tables 2 teams can enter.

For clubs that don’t have as much exposure to bridge as in the bigger centers, it is a wonderful opportunity to play against varied opposition. So get your entries in as soon as possible as we will probably have to limit the event to 30 teams. Remember that there is a list of B & B’s in the area on the SABF website under ‘Free State tournament’.

School Bridge
Carol Grunder in Gauteng has started teaching Mini-Bridge to Grade 6 and Grade 7's, (ages between 11 and 12 years old) at Gordon and Ikage Schools in Alexandra once a week.
Within a couple of lessons the children have learnt to do the following :-
  1. Shuffle, sort and identify the ranking of the suits.
  2. Count the points between the two hands. The pair with the most points declares the hand and dummy is put down before the lead.
  3. Decide on a trump suit and estimate the number of tricks the partnership expect to make.
  4. We reinforce the following:
    - lead low from an length/honour or top of a sequence
    - 2nd hand plays low, 3rd hand plays high
    - lead back partner's suit

So, in effect the children are able to play bridge, without the bidding. Teaching these children is a very rewarding experience and the classroom often resembles a market with laughter, shouting and 'high-fives' !


The response to her plea for teachers has been very encouraging but needless to say there is always a need for more help. If anyone wishes to assist her in this worthwhile project she can be contacted at grunder.carol@gmail.com



Warm wishes,
Helen

No comments:

Post a Comment