AMERICAN CONTRACT BRIDGE LEAGUE
6575 Windchase Blvd. Horn Lake, MS. 38637
Claire Jones
District 18 Director
(901) 332-5586
2708 Lakeview Ave FAX: (901) 398-7754
Regina, Sk. S4S 1G3
Canada
H: (306) 584-3516
F: (306) 585-1443
Email: stats@accesscomm.ca
Pre San Francisco, California
October 28, 2012
October 28, 2012
Greetings Everyone,
Fall is here and I’ll soon be attending the next Board meeting. There have been a number of happenings since the summer.
Each year District 18 is allocated $1000.00 for a local charity. This year’s recipient was the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake. It is nice to see our charity money going to work.
I hear about so many people doing such good work across our District. Each year we recognize just of few of them. The 2012 District 18 appointees to the Charity Committee are Joy and Brian Saville of Calgary. The 2012 District appointees to the Goodwill Committee are Steve Visocan of Townsend, MT. and Linda Taschuk of Edmonton, AB. Congratulation to these people and thank you to everyone for all the good work that goes on around the District. For those players planning to attend the NABC’s a new NABC online partnership desk is up and running. If you are planning on attending San Francisco you may want to try this link:
http://www.acbl.org/news_archive.php?id=375
The District GNT Fund 18 STaC is set for Dec. 3rd to 9th. Clubs can sign up on the ACBL web site. If you need any help for this contact Marilyn Swadron, the District 18 special events coordinator, at dmswadron@shaw.ca . Remember that all moneys raised from this go directly to supporting the teams representing District 18 at the National Finals.
A reminder for Grass Roots Month coming up in December. During December all clubs are able to host special games with the money raised going to the NAP or GNT representatives in our District. This is an excellent opportunity to support our players and win extra Master Points.
There is a full agenda for San Francisco. I will highlight a few of the motions I feel are most relevant to our District. Please send me your comments on these or any of the motions that are coming up. You can view the full agenda and all motions on the ACBL web site, http://www.acbl.org/about/bodmeetings.html .
May all your finesses be successful,
Claire Jones
District 18 BoD
Item 123-02: Cheating
Item 123-03 : Code of Disciplinary Regulations 5.1.15
These items wetre deferred in Philadelphia and sent to the Laws Commission for refinement. The proposal for San Francisco has increased penalties for violation and a more detailed outline of how these penalties are to be applied. I believe this is an excellent initiative and will be supporting the motions.
Item 123-54: ACBL Membership requirement for ACBL tournament participation.
This motion would require all players at Sectional and Regional tournaments to be ACBL members. Under the present regulations non-members can participate but must pay an additional non-member fee. I believe tournaments are an excellent advertising tool and a valuable way to recruit new members. I believe this could be detrimental to our tournaments and don’t support the motion.
I am very interested in your thoughts on this.
Item 123-53: Amnesty Program
Moved that: ACBL will initiate a six month amnesty program for 2013 offering to record any masterpoints won by a lapsed member while they were a non-member to be credited free of charge when they renew their membership.
I support programs that encourage increased membership.
Item 123-46: ACBL Membership for Club Managers and Club Directors
Moved that: Anyone who is a current or prospective club manager for a club running ACBL sanctioned games must be an ACBL member in good standing with all service fees and dues paid. Any club or higher-rated director must be an ACBL member in good standing with all service fees and dues paid to be eligible to direct an ACBL sanctioned game.
Club managers and directors are our front line when it comes to contacting new members. I support this motion.
Item 123-45: Grass Roots FUNd Month
Moved that: The Grass Roots FUNd month shall be moved from December to January, starting in January 2014. There shall be no Grass Roots FUNd Month in 2013.
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Our calendar is very crowded. I’m interested in you view this change.
Item 123-161: Junior Membership
Moved that:
The ACBL remove the Student Membership option.
The ACBL upgrade all current Student Members to Junior Members at no cost to the Student Members, and receive all applicable benefits of the Junior Membership. Upon time of renewal, the cost of the membership will be the current Junior Membership rate.
The current ACBL membership structure looks like this:
Junior Membership: $15 - (25 and younger): 2,040
Student Membership: $5 - 420
Student members have player numbers and can access an online My ACBL account but don’t receive a mailed bulletin. Management feeling the mailed bulletin in a valuable advertising tool and should be encouraged.
I’m interested in your thoughts.
Item #122-110 Playing Directors in STaCs be reconsidered by the ACBL Board of Directors.
In Philadelphia it was voted that playing directors would not be eligible for over-all awards in STaC games. I did not support the motion and feel it is detrimental to the smaller clubs which require the use of playing directors. The motion asks the Board to reconsider this decision with an eye to how the concerns for security can be tempered with the reality of small clubs that host these games.
I am interested in your thoughts.