Chairman’s Corner
No.6, February, 2006
Another year, another Council –
and this year it’s a cracker. Ben Chosid, Julian Foster, Peter
Gill and Kim Morrison have stayed on, there’s new blood in the
form of Kim Neale and Nick Horne, capped off by the welcome return
of an old-hand in Keiran Crowe-Mai. Wasting no time, the Council
has approved two major initiatives:
The regional roadshows are
aimed at providing our 150 or so affiliated clubs with the
opportunity to hear, and put questions to, subject matter experts
in the fields of masterpoints, directing, teaching, &
tournament regulations. The intention is to stage three of these
in 2006: one in Tamworth, tentatively scheduled for May; another
in Wagga, tentatively scheduled for November; and a third in
Sydney to cater to the metropolitan clubs, at a date yet to be
determined. These roadshows will differ from the bridge teaching
tours that the NSWBA has sponsored in the past in that their aim
is to raise the skill levels of the people who run the clubs,
rather than that of the patrons. Every club will be invited to
send one representative along to its closest venue, with the NSWBA
defraying a fair chunk of the cost. The Council has allocated
$10,000 for that purpose, to be matched dollar for dollar by the
ABF. It is anticipated that this will enable the staging of
workshops that are of high standard. Clubs wishing to send
additional representatives will be welcome to do so but it would
be at their own expense. If you have any suggestions as to the
material you’d like to see covered, or any questions, please
address them to Peter Gill at the NSWBA.
By way of a separate initiative, a high powered
committee has been formed to examine whether the current structure
of the NSWBA is adequate in the face of the mounting challenges
confronting the Association in the coming years. The committee
consists of three ‘elder statesmen’ in Neville Moses, John
Scudder, and Peter Jamieson, along with Ken Storr representing the
FABC, Kim Neale representing the Council, and with myself as
chair. It is anticipated that ad-hoc members, including some of
our more prominent bridge entrepreneurs, will be coopted onto the
committee to ensure that a full spectrum of viewpoints is
represented. The committee’s brief is:
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To decide the proper role of the NSWBA,
going forward; o To determine what needs to be done to improve
the governance and promotion of bridge in NSW;
-
To assess whether internet bridge and
changing demographics are likely to result in a structural
change in the demand for bridge clubs in NSW in the foreseeable
future;
-
To determine whether there is an
overabundance of congress events NSW and if so what, if
anything, can be done about it;
-
To assess whether the proliferation of
bridge clubs is a good or bad thing and what can be done to
accelerate or retard the process, as appropriate;
-
To determine whether the problems with
the current premises (e.g. air conditioning, parking, etc) are
sufficiently serious to warrant the NSWBA looking once more at
relocating; and
-
To assess whether merging the NSWBA and FABC is
advantageous.
The committee will report back
to Council within six months. Rest assured that no action will be
taken by the Council without extensive consultation with the
membership and affiliated clubs. Submissions from interested
parties would be most welcome and should, in the first instance,
be addressed to myself.
Best wishes for now,
Dr Alex
Yezerski
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