ACBL Director's Report
ACBL Director's Report
Happy Holidays to all!
The Board of Director meetings in San Francisco were very full. The logjam was finally cleared when we were told we would be returning Thanksgiving morning to finish J
Normally, long November meetings are due to budget issues, but this was not the case this year. The best news I have for you is that the 2013 budget, while including significant expenditures for strategic planning projects, includes no increases in any fees. During his first year at the ACBL, our new CEO Robert Hartman has made changes in the way the ACBL does things, resulting in significant savings.
The meetings started with an update on the strategic planning process and a presentation by staff members of the projects that will be going on in 2013. Of course, ACBLScore+ (new scoring software) is the biggest project. Stages are being completed on or under budget, on time or early. TourneyTRAX is a project that combines all of the current systems used to manage tournaments into one system that will work more efficiently and provide more information to improve operations. The Education department is working on an interactive web-based learn-to-play-bridge program. An online partnership desk is in development. They want to learn why people leave the ACBL and identify ways to retain members, and finally, they want to develop a “vision of an ideal TD structure and identify path to this structure.”
What was most impressive about these projects was the enthusiasm and commitment of the staff members working on them. It looks like the requirements for success are in place: Personal commitments by staff and management and the financial commitments needed to fund the projects.
I thought the most interesting motion was a proposal by management that all players at a tournament must be ACBL members. To me, there are two important but very different justifications for this. The first is that we have a product we are proud of, and all participants should pay their fair share. Collecting the $1 per session surcharge creates more work than it is worth. Most other organizations require participants to be members to enter their activities. I have some concern about newcomer games, and I think we need to come up with a creative solution to this, possibly running events at a tournament for newcomers that do not award masterpoints so that they could be exempt from membership. The second justification is fairness. Not joining the ACBL means that the player’s masterpoints are not recorded. This allows non-members to continue playing in restricted games long after they would have been ineligible if they had been a member. This is not fair to the players who truly don’t have many masterpoints playing in these games. It is not possible to assign eligibility points to all of these players to avoid this problem. This proposal was deferred to the meeting in March. I would really like to hear comments from you on this issue.
The Grass Roots Fund games month will be moved to January starting in 2014. (Please see separate article for details on this fund.) December was the only available month when the fund was established, but by moving the first International fund game, January was made available. December was not popular with clubs that like to run charity games for a local charity during the holidays, and that problem was solved. There will not be a Grass Roots month in 2013, but the January 2014 game will be part of that cycle.
The Code of Disciplinary Regulations was amended to require masterpoint removal for certain offenses. A range of mandatory penalties has been added to Appendix B, ACBL Disciplinary Sanctions Guidelines for each offense.
The CDR was also amended to require that if both suspension and probation are involved as part of a penalty, the suspension must be served before the probation. If part of the penalty is to prohibit the player from participating in a particular event or tournament, this can be done through other provisions of the CDR rather than by placing the suspension in the middle of the probation. (We have some very creative committees out there.)
For masterpoint purposes, a mentor-novice game is counted as an open game.
Club managers and directors must be members of the ACBL.
There will be another amnesty program in 2013 offering to credit masterpoints won during a lapsed period upon renewal of membership.
The Student Membership option was removed. Upon renewal, all current student memberships must become Junior memberships. I abstained on this motion as I have a Student member in my household.
The ACBL is going to support its members participating in the 2013 World Youth Championships to be held in Atlanta right after the Youth NABC at the same site. The ACBL will pay 50% of up to $30,000 of entry fees for Zone 2 (USA, Canada and Mexico) ACBL members in good standing for their pro-rated portion of a team or pair. As a side note, I would like to let you know that other significant fundraising is going on for this event. If successful, all meals will be provided free, the current hotel rate will be reduced and entry fees may be further subsidized. Donna and Chris Compton are working all of their bridge fundraising sources to make this as affordable as possible for youth to play. Districts 6 and 7 and Mid Atlantic bridge organization are all considering significant grants. I know that there are multiple youth bridge groups in this area. Perhaps each unit could sponsor a pair or two. This is an opportunity for our youth to play in a world championship in the US that is not likely to be repeated during their “juniorhood.” Details are still being worked out, but will be available next spring, and online registration is required. Please spread the word to your juniors. The WBF changed the schedule to accommodate US school schedules. Let’s make them glad they did!
There will be a new event at the St. Louis nationals in March 2013. The NABC 10K Swiss Teams will be held the first Friday and Saturday. This event will pay 10% platinum points for overall awards, but there will be a cap of ten platinum points. All other masterpoint awards will be gold. I voted against this event because the event was initially passed without the platinum-point provision, and I could not see messing with an already established schedule without the bonus of the platinum points. Fortunately, that part passed as well.
Effective January 1, 2013, the electronic device policy will be amended. All events will use the current regional event policy – devices must be off and out of sight at all times during an event. Only the Director-in-Charge can grant exceptions.
The ACBL is going to participate in the Alzheimer’s Association fundraiser on June 21, 2013. This is “The Longest Day” fundraiser (summer solstice). It is hoped that bridge clubs will run games all day to highlight the event. Funds raised will go directly to the Alzheimer’s Association and are not subject to the regulations for normal charity games. The ACBL Charity Foundation authorized a $50,000 grant to kick off the event.
Donald Mamula was elected president of the Board of Directors for 2013. Donald has been a friend of mine for the entire time I have been on the board and he took me Black Friday shopping at Walmart last year in Seattle, so how can I say anything that is not wonderful about him? I think you will be able to meet him in Champaign next year if you don’t get a chance at the St. Louis NABC.
You know I can’t write a column without mentioning the Grand National Teams. We have our conditions of contest submitted, our sanctions are in for the next ten years, hopefully the Grass Roots Fund will make more money available for the teams that represent us at the NABCs, so GET YOUR TEAM TOGETHER. The district finals will be May 4 and 5, 2013 in Springfield IL.
On a personal note, I was re-elected President of the Charity Foundation and I was elected Honorary Secretary of the World Bridge Federation.
Please enjoy the holiday season, and I look forward to seeing you all next March at the St. Louis NABC.
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.