Team Selection

The following message is from Graham Cheater on behalf of the BAG:

The Bridge Advisory Group (BAG) is tasked by the Committee to select a team to represent the club in the Regional Club Championship and also the Quadrangular match where Waikanae compete against Otaki, Levin and Paraparaumu.

We have encouraged members to consider being part of the team in the forthcoming Regional Championship, 12th July. We received some interest but would have liked to see more.

For those members who wish to be considered for the Quadrangular match on 19th September BAG will be selecting 2 pairs from each main grade viz Open, Intermediate and Junior.  To assist in the selection process BAG will look at current XG ratings but particular consideration will be made of current partnership results and most notably in this year's past tournaments and also forthcoming local tournaments (Charity Tournament 28th June, Waikanae Multigrade 2nd August and Novice/Junior Pairs 10th October).

Tournament Organisation

The Committee has approved a new top-level guide to the organisation and running of tournaments at the Club:

The document is available on the Club website here.

Recent Results

KHAP

In the latest round of the Kapiti Horowhenua Area Pairs, Lorraine Gaffaney and Vicky Young were 2nd (with 59.58%), Maureen Pratchett and Vivienne Cannell 3rd, Ady Dale and Marg Gott 4th, and Anthea Black and Naciye Bagci 6th. 

Upper Hutt Multigrade Pairs - Sunday 14th June

Congratulations to Murray Lobb and Graeme Norman on their 2nd place finish, and also to John Donbavand and his partner who were 5th.

Karori Junior Pairs - Saturday 6th June

Many congratulations to Liesbet and Phil Gavey who won the event with a score of just under 62%, and also to Lori Dianne Fernando and her partner who were 2nd.

Membership Survey Results

This document is the first part of the report on the findings of the recently-conducted Membership Survey.

A proportion of the feedback received was in the form of text responses: these are still being collated and will be the subject of a further report in due course.  

Winter Health and Safety

Seasonal Illness

As we move into Winter it's important that we all understand that as a group we are all to one extent or another vulnerable to the full range of seasonal illnesses.  With the clubroom doors and windows mostly closed to keep us warm, our germs can spread quickly and easily, and lead to potentially serious consequences for all of us, particularly the older and more susceptible among our number - and our extended families.

I'm not talking here about those chronic non-infectious conditions which affect some of us; these deserve to be - and should be - treated with tolerance and sympathetic understanding.

IF YOU ARE UNWELL PLEASE DO NOT COME TO BRIDGE UNTIL YOU ARE SURE YOU ARE NOT INFECTIOUS.

Please note that this is a requirement under the Club's Health and Safety Bylaw.

If you do come when you are unwell, you are not letting your partner down (he or she can always find a replacement for you) - you are letting the whole club down: it's not fair on you and it's not fair on your friends at the club.  They will not thank you for playing when you are ill - but they will thank you for staying away and protecting their health as well as your own.

Allergies

On a separate note, the Committee asks all members to be considerate of those who suffer from allergies and try to avoid making things worse for them.  Examples include the wearing of strong perfume or scents, the indiscriminate use of insect killing sprays, or bringing flowers.  

Your co-operation will be appreciated.

Calling All Junior and Novice Players!

I'm pleased to be able to announce that the Committee has agreed to introduce a new session exclusively for Junior and Novice players.

The new session will be held weekly on Friday evenings, commencing on Friday 14th August at 7.15pm. It will be combined with (but separate from) the existing Friday evening session, will use the same boards, and will be open to all junior and novice players.

Subject to demand, the session will run as a trial for up to 18 weeks until 4th December, and will feature 6 three week series, with players required to have different partners for each series. Recognising that - especially for our newer players - this will all be a new experience, there will be no need for juniors to play the same number of boards or at the same pace as the rest of the room. The minimum number of boards to qualify for C Points will be played, however, and C points will be awarded in accordance with normal practice.

Vivienne Cannell has kindly agreed to direct, at least initially. We very much hope that as many members as possible of this year's learners' class will choose to play and Vivienne will be able to guide those new players on play at a club session.

The Committee would like to emphasise that this new Friday session is additional to and not instead of the established afternoon sessions which attract many of the club's junior players. We hope that it will be of special interest to those junior players who for whatever reason are unable to attend those Monday and Thursday sessions.

If you are a Junior or Novice player and would like to play with others at the same level, please come along to these Friday evening sessions - we'd love to see you!

NZBridge AGM 2026

The NZBridge Annual General Meeting will take place on Saturday 13th June at the Wellington Bridge Club.

For those who are interested, the paperwork is available here.