From the Committee

Players often ask about alerting requirements.

This summary constitutes part of the ABF Alerting Regulations, and is intended as a brief guide to players. 

Players should be familiar with the full regulations, and should try to support the fairness and enjoyment of our game by complying with both the letter and spirit of these guidelines.

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Dear Fellow PBC Members, with the end of February being half was through our financial year I thought I would report back on how we are going from a purely financial perspective.

Our half-year surplus is $25,701 compared to a loss last year of $1,344 so that is very positive.

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Dear all,

What a start to the year - so good to see a fabulous attendance by Peninsula members at both the Canberra and Gold Coast congresses with lots of success at the table plus wonderful social and fun times. Congratulations to all our novices who braved the competitive space for the first time and for doing so well.

I would like to thank Alan Davies for being a wonderful Chief Director for the last two and a half years. Alan took on this role in 2017 and kindly continued until January 2019. He has done a wonderful job, keeping all the directors informed of any changes to rules, advising and guiding our directors and helping to mentor our newer directors.

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Congratulations to three of our directors-in-training, Nerida Gillies, Annegrete Kolding and Bruce Kleem, who have received advice of their successful ABF club director accreditation during the past month.

They will now complete their hands-on training in conjunction with some of our experienced member directors before running club sessions on their own.

Members may have noticed that at times, particularly when a major national congress is being held, that our member director body is stretched thin. Our club is very fortunate to have so many members prepared to direct, and we welcome these additional accredited directors.

To serve or supply alcohol in NSW typically requires a liquor licence.

Our club is a not for profit organisation and an exemption has been granted to allow us to supply/serve alcohol for up to six functions in a year without paying a license fee.

This means that the club can continue to offer alcohol as a contribution to the enjoyment of our key social events such as Melbourne Cup, the Christmas Party and our large congresses. We will still have the same number of bridge events throughout the year but will serve an alternative to alcohol at some of the smaller ones.

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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.

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We are a volunteer-run not-for-profit club. Some volunteer needs we currently have are:

• Event Support - helping our event conveners prepare fliers and other communications - some comfort with email, computers and word processors would be useful - talk to David Farmer in the first instance
• Fill-in Players - being happy to be called to see if you are available to come in for a free game with an unpartnered player - helps us avoid sending home players whose partner is unexpectedly unavailable - ask any director to add you to the noticeboard list

Readers will remember from an article last month that some members, especially some of our newer members, have expressed some concerns about difficulties progressing between sections.

A brainstorming meeting was held on 7 January which helped identify the pluses and minuses with the four general options that have been identified.

You are invited to read the post-meeting summary paper of these options and, of course, provide any feedback on any option's strengths or weaknesses - these can be provided to me at austega@gmail.com or to the President or any committee member. The committee will probably consider these options at its meeting at end February - looking for a reasonable path forward knowing that not everyone will be happy with any option.