ACBL Director's Report
ACBL Director's ReportHello Everyone,
I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving. It was appropriate being in Boston at this time of year. I hope a lot of you got to go to the Nationals. The local workers had gone to extremes in getting ready for the tournament and everything was going well when I was there. I am already looking forward to the next one in Boston.
The highpoints of the Fall Board of Directors meeting include:
Appeals and Charges had its biggest agenda since I became chairman four years ago. We worked through three hearings and several motions before finishing just on time. The Board of Governors’ motion to allow lawyers in disciplinary hearings was defeated (we just passed the ban on lawyers in hearings last February). Disciplinary and appellate hearing committees must now release their decisions within 30 days. The Director of Appeals can serve on the Appeals & Charges committee as well, and if unable to seat a five-person committee, the chairman of the Disciplinary or Oversight committees may borrow members from the other committee.
Hands played in NABC+ events will now be different from the hands played in other events at the same time. This was a security measure.
Online clubs will now be allowed to hold club championships. Each pair must play at least 18 boards and the points will not be pigmented. The maximum first-place overall award will be 3.90 masterpoints.
The ACBL budget for next year predicts a small loss. The only fees that were increased were the sectional surcharge, up from $135 to $165, and entries at NABCs. Entries for NABC+ events were increased $2.00 per session; entries for the other events were only increased 50 cents per session.
A club may not hold any special games if a sectional is being conducted within 25 miles of the game’s playing site.
The ACBL hired a new marketing manager. She and the youth coordinator hired earlier this year are redefining the youth and junior departments.
The new national event of the Platinum Pairs is moving closer to becoming a reality. In order to be eligible, you must have earned either 50 platinum points in the three years prior to the event or have more than 200 platinum points. It is tentatively scheduled for the first weekend of the spring nationals and is expected to become the top pairs championship. A second reading is required at the Houston NABC meeting. This has necessitated several changes in the NABC+ schedule. Please check the full minutes online next month if you are interested in the details.
The stratification levels for teams in Stratified Board-a-Match teams can now be determined by average masterpoint holdings.
The masterpoint awards for the Mini-Spingold were changed to fixed amounts.
Finally, management is now authorized to directly sanction sectionals on cruise ships without using an ACBL unit as an intermediary.
On a personal note, I was elected as an ACBL representative to the Executive Committee of the World Bridge Federation. I was appointed to the Bylaws and Constitution Committee prior to my election. The WBF plans on rewriting both of these documents in the near future. I have asked to be added to the Juniors and FISU committees as well.
On an even more personal note, I must share my good news. Many of you know I got my foster-parent license last February. On November 25, I was given my first children. I have two boys, ages 6 and 8. Right now we are working on finding after-school daycare so I can keep the boys as long as they need to be in foster care. It is utter chaos around here as we work to develop a schedule, get the boys in school, get to know each other and generally make all the changes necessary in going from being completely self-centered to being responsible for two little boys, but it is a wonderful chaos. I may not see as much of you at the tables while I figure it all out, but I will be back playing soon.
Happy Holidays,
-- Georgia Heth
If you have questions or suggestions about ACBL Board actions or other bridge matters, please contact me at gkheth@hotmail.com or 917 S. Main St., Morton IL 61550-2419