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The first comment below and the picture above should tell you which region is reporting its news this week. Is there really something more important than bridge?

Gee these regional round-ups sneak up on you quickly, right in the middle of calving no less.  Not everybody in the Waikato Bays are farmers mind you (Alan Turner to name but one!) and winter is often seen as the peak season for bridge. 

A resignation from one of our directors recently has highlighted that our region is woefully underrepresented for Directors.  We have had very few new Tournament Directors come into the ranks in the past few years … and of the few we did have, we have lost some to other regions.

The Waikato Bays committee sponsored a directors' seminar recently in Matamata run by Alan Turner and was well attended through 23 budding directors turning up. This bodes well for upskilling club directors. However we still are needing to fill some Tournament Director shoes.    While there are a lot of competent club directors in the region,  it seems that many are put off directing tournaments because a) they would rather play, and b) they are put off by the attitude of other players.  In other words, it is a thankless task done by a few for very little reward.    Therefore a reminder for all players to please be patient and accepting and polite to our directors. A plea for anybody considering becoming a tournament director to step up … your region needs you!

 Jane Stearns from Cambridge and Nick Whitten of Morrinsville hosted the first of their five planned "mini moos" tournaments for new players at Morrinsville.  The tournament was a Sunday afternoon of relaxed, no pressure play of around 12 boards for those fresh out of lessons with breaks for afternoon tea and discussion about the boards.  It was very encouraging to see 37 new players from 9 different clubs turn up to compete (or rather turn up to learn and have fun playing bridge).   The "mini moos" initiative also includes regular newsletters especially for those new to bridge and it was highlighted at the recent National Teachers Conference as a great initiative to encourage and introduce new players to club and tournament play.    For those wanting more information on the "mini moos " approach, you can go on-line at click here

Joy Craig of Morrinsville,

victorious at her first "mini moos" tournament

The Spa Town Teams is the only tournament on the Te Aroha calendar and so it perhaps was appropriate that the winning team; Tom Jacob, Vivienne Cornell, Steph Jacob and Andi Boughey, had a link to the heritage of the Te Aroha club via the Jacob family – (Tom’s grandparents were founding members of the Te Aroha Bridge Club over 60 years ago).    It was also the day when Andi collected the requisite A points to achieve Grandmaster rank – a very special achievement for Andi at just 22 years old.

The intermediate section was won by Tina Dudley, Carol Cullen, Muriel Cruickshank and Gilda Rowlands from the Mt Maunganui club (pictured above).   Meanwhile Hamilton hosted a Swiss Teams which saw half a home team win with locals Blair and Liz Fisher teaming up with Steve Boughey and Carol Richardson while Hattie Curtis and Bruce Ballard from Waihi had a good win in the Intermediate 5B which was run at the same time.

 Other winners from some recent tournaments included;   

Alan Turner and Stephen Francks took out the Bay Pairs with an average of 59% over the 4 days of competitions (and 8 sessions).

  The Mount Maunganui Intermediate was won by Nancye Ward and June Nightingdale with Donald Espie and Jan Gyenge winning both of their sessions to be comfortable winners in the Junior.  Our awesome teaching duo of Amanda Smith and Jane Stearns paired up to win the Charity Pairs in Tauranga mid week.

 

Winners of the Mt Maunganui Novice Pairs ( L-R  Sapphyre and Vanessa Mercer with runners up Heidi Tormey and Sue Spinks, all from Waihi.)

Finally – a special day was had recently at the Hamilton Bridge Club … winners on this day were Cherie (nee Aston) and Mike Barton.  All the best to the newlyweds.

 Mike and Cherie

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