Most members will be aware that the red section on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons has often been "full" 40 minutes before session start. In some ways related the green sections on Wednesday and Fridays have also been "full" as those green members ready to move out have seen limited alternatives available to them. This in turn has made the green section less attuned to its primary purpose of meeting the needs of those new players graduating from beginner classes and supervised sessions.
What to do about it? We have invited comments from interested members both before and after a brainstorming session held on 7 January and after a Committee proposal paper was prepared in early February. You can peruse the wide range of comments, some strongly held and from a range of viewpoints.
The Committee on 25 February considered and approved the proposals which include a number of improvements where this can be done at no significant cost and also two trials of more significant changes.
The improvements to be introduced in the near future are:
Reaffirm and promote the goal of our green “rookie sections” as providing new players graduating from beginner classes/supervised sessions with an option to play, while they need it, in a duplicate session with a suitable character including a possibly slower rate of play and with the Peninsula basic system as they were taught played by all.
Promote and hold six-monthly "mix-em up" sessions to combine each of the green sections with one of the other sections on the same day, with notes/encouragement given:
- To green section players in advance re dealing with unfamiliar conventions and with a more experienced group of players, and
- To the “other section” players reminding them of how "intimidating" they and their self-assurance may appear and of the need for empathy throughout the session.
Appoint one or more coordinator(s) to arrange suitable “buddy pairs” for green section pairs wishing to "graduate" to welcome and sit with the pair at session start for the first couple of weeks and to provide any advice or answers required about the section.
Encourage experienced green section players to also consider other smaller club sessions such as Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday during the day and Wednesday and Friday evenings.
The two trials expected to run separately in each of the Wednesday and Friday afternoon sessions for a period of 2-4 weeks are:
Adding a further “red section” style section both to accommodate a significant transition of green section players and facilitate mixing with existing red section players, and
Running an unlimited size combined main section (with 3 board rounds) to cope with red section size pressures and try to reduce any sense of boundaries between sections (replacing the current constraints on the red section’s acceptable conventions with a protected pair approach).
The Committee plans to then review this issue again - and would continue to welcome comments from players.
