ACBL President's Report
ACBL President's ReportDear members of District 8:
Reopening of our clubs: Face-to-face bridge is becoming a reality. I know some clubs in District 8 have been operating face-to-face games for some time now, and I have heard of more planning to reopen.
While the ACBL would like to give guidelines for reopening, they can’t. With games in four countries, the difference in the laws prevents us from doing so. And within each country, the laws vary. Clubs, units and districts are going to have to follow the laws in their area. I think we all know the CDC guidelines, but even they change as the situation changes.
I read an interesting article tonight that said that federal law doesn’t prevent private companies and organizations from requiring patrons to be fully vaccinated, even though the vaccines only have the emergency authorization, but that state law could prevent it. We all have to make up our own minds on what amount of risk we are willing to take. I will be fully vaccinated in two weeks and I am counting the days.
When I return to face-to-face bridge, I will wear a mask and use hand sanitizer regularly. I will not wear gloves because hand sanitizer makes more sense to me -- I have not been able to break myself of the habit of touching my face and so hand sanitizer seems safer than gloves. I would prefer that all of my opponents and partners are fully vaccinated and masked, but that is their decision. I don’t like masks and I hate hand sanitizer, but these are precautions that make sense to me. All of us will have to make these decisions for ourselves. The ACBL has chosen to require all of its employees, barring an exemption granted for very limited reasons, to be fully vaccinated before returning to the office or to directing.
Sectional and regional tournaments: Another issue preventing the ACBL from giving firm guidelines on when to return is that circumstances vary greatly depending on your location. Some areas have a decrease in cases; others are seeing another surge. I don’t see how tournaments can be successful until club bridge has resumed in that area with good attendance. The ACBL will be evaluating each tournament based on its individual circumstances. Management plans to have its protocol for making these decisions ready later this month. They will be considering sectionals to be held starting in August and regionals for October.
Fall NABC: The ACBL hopes to hold the Fall NABC in Austin TX and is proceeding on plans for it. But if closer to the date it becomes apparent that the tournament cannot be held safely, it will be canceled. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
Ethics investigations and hearings: Progress is being made regarding cheating. The number of staff members dedicated to this issue is more than double what it was pre-pandemic, and many volunteers are being used to screen and evaluate hands. I receive decisions from hearings regularly and negotiated resolutions are being used in the majority of the cases. The amount of work needed to prepare a case for hearing is staggering.
Most of you will only know a case is concluded if it shows up on the ACBL's Conduct & Ethics web page where suspended players are listed, as the proceedings are confidential until that point. Cases are generally added to the list once per month because of certain requirements of the system. The Appeals and Charges (A&C) committee has to review all cases involving convictions for ethical violations and then present their report to the Board of Directors before the decision is final. I had hoped not to need as many special meetings this year, but it looks like we will meet monthly to receive A&C reports even if nothing else is needed.
Thank you all for hanging in there with us during this difficult time. It looks like the end is in sight and I hope to see you at the tables later this year.
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.