ACBL Director's Report
ACBL Director's ReportSuch a dilemma! I don't know what to write about first. We had a wonderful national tournament in St. Louis, but this is the last chance I have to convince you to come and play in the District 8 Grand National Team finals, coming up in just a few short weeks.
St.
Louis NABC: Thanks to everyone who worked at the St. Louis Nationals. Mike
Carmen and Glenn Smith did a wonderful job running the tournament, but there
were dozens of you who worked as committee chairmen and volunteers who made
things go so smoothly. I heard very few complaints for a bridge tournament and
many compliments about how well things went. People also seemed to enjoy the
area. I thought the after-game hospitality and entertainment were very good, and
I particularly enjoyed the different bands they hired. I know the tournament
took a lot of work from a lot of people, but it was really worth it. It was
great seeing so many different District 8 players at a national tournament, and
I enjoyed getting to talk to so many of you.
Goodwill winner: Many of you may not know that Debbie Avery from Unit 208 was given a special goodwill award at the Goodwill Reception at the tournament. She was surprised and pleased. Debbie has been the District 8 Secretary-Treasurer for many years, the caddy master at the Champaign regional and a longtime owner and club manager of the Bridge at Ginger Creek club in Champaign. She is also just a truly nice lady. Debbie (center in the photo) was presented the award by me (left) and Martha Leary (right). Martha, who lives in Urbana, is immediate past president of the District 8 Board and Debbie's partner in running the bridge club.
Grand National Teams: Please make your teams now and show up for the District 8 Grand National Teams District 8 Final, to be held May 5 and 6 at the Education Association Building in Springfield IL. We had so many teams show up last year that they are making me hire two directors this year, so I need even more of you to come and play. Chris Patrias will be the director in charge, so I expect things will run smoothly this year. The national finals are in Nashville TN, which is easy driving distance from most of District 8. That means our District travel awards for the first-place team in each flight will go even further. I hope to see at least 45 teams this year. We will have the standard Springfield hospitality from Betty, Liz, and Mike.
Board of Governors: It's time for us to re-elect our District representatives to the ACBL Board of Governors, a national board that serves as an advisory body to the ACBL Board of Directors. Our current representatives are Chris Benson of Le Roy IL and Leah Newell and Liz Zalar of Springfield IL. If you're interested in running for this position, you should file for candidacy by the end of May. Details are in the April issue of the ACBL Bridge Bulletin.
Highlights from the Board of Directors meeting:
Karen Walker was re-appointed to the ACBL Disciplinary Committee and I was appointed to the ACBL Laws Commission.
The Board decided to establish a new tax-exempt foundation to preserve the history of bridge. It is expected that this foundation will fund a Hall of Fame and a library/museum exhibit.
It was decided to let the national bridge organizations decide if a player who has been readmitted to the ACBL after being expelled for cheating should be allowed to represent the ACBL in international competition. Previously, the ACBL Board made this decision.
A motion to create an Educational Foundation month (similar to the Charity, International Fund and Junior months) was defeated. I believe the reason was that the Educational Foundation has a checkoff box on the membership dues statement and has the fundraising game at the Nationals, neither of which the other groups have.
The conditions of contest for the Grand National Teams national finals, the Blue Ribbon Pairs, the Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams, and the other four-session NABC Board-a-Match events were changed slightly.
You can no longer petition to receive ACBL masterpoints for games played outside of the ACBL.
Grand National Team and North American Pair eligibility requirements were changed to allow exceptions for people with multiple residences.
The reimbursement for winners in the North American Pairs has been changed to a flat amount, rather than reimbursement of actual expenses. First place qualifiers in each flight and each District will receive $700 each and second-place qualifiers will receive $300 each.
The Masterpoint Committee gave a preview of the changes they plan on recommending at the next meeting.
Again, thanks to everyone who worked at the Nationals and helped make the tournament such a success. I hope to see hundreds of you in Springfield IL at our District GNT weekend on May 5 and 6.
-- Georgia
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.