Latest News from The Chair

Allan Morris writes:
On Saturday the 28th September the organisation held its AGM. We had the pleasure of approving two new life members - Alan Turner and Robin Young. Both have shown their love for the game and their desire to pass on that enjoyment to others by their great service to the game. We were able to acknowledge and celebrate both Alan and Robin at the opening of Congress.

There is not a lot to report from the AGM. Feedback from the meeting is that the wider membership is being kept abreast of what is going on and therefore the meeting can deal with procedural matters. One matter arising from last year was further work on the constitution. Over the preceding months we indicated that we would not be in a position to bring the matter before this year’s AGM. The committee dealing with constitution is making progress. They are grappling with a number of topics including the role of the board; timing and method of election; tenure of the board; powers of employment; role and function of regional committees. The plan is to have a draft available for discussion and comment by Q1 2019.

We were also able to acknowledge at the AGM many volunteers who work tirelessly for the benefit of the game. Without volunteers giving their time freely our game would be harder and more expensive.

One of our strategic objectives is about growing the game. As at 1 September membership was 14185, the first time we have been over 14,000 for many years. Membership is up in all regions. Also tournament participation is up by 679. These are pleasing indicators.

Whilst we are talking about pleasing numbers the Board was delighted to present the Statement of Financial performance for the year ending 31 March 2018. We were able to report a net surplus of $62,941. Revenue was similar to last year but we were able to reduce costs. Being financially prudent and being able to set aside funds gives us capacity to undertake things that will benefit and further advance the game.

We know many sports clubs are contending with a new and different participation model. Driving change are new and competing interests and, the fact that people have less disposable time (time poor in common lingo). Further as parts of our membership age there is less desire to play in the evenings. Bridge is no exception to this changing environment. With this in mind it is important we put our mind to the future of the game and look at ways to ensure we have a healthy and growing game. As mentioned earlier player numbers and tournament participation are up which are good indicators. Nevertheless we must not be complacent.

A further indicator that our game is holding its own is the fact we had record numbers (over 700)attend congress. Competition was healthy as one would expect. What was pleasing to observe was the level of fellowship and friendship.

At Congress we released a questionnaire. We encourage all Bridge players, not just those who were at congress, to complete the questionnaire before the 12th of October. Click here to let us know your views. They are important and will help us position the game.

Cheers Allan