Finally some light at the end of a long tunnel .. and it's not an oncoming limited express! There are quite a few results showing for Week 24 in X-Clubs and we expect many more this week as clubs reboot their seasons.

Covid-19 laid waste to the tournament schedule with several iconic events having been cancelled. Luckily the Te Aroha Teams will still take place albeit in the Hamilton clubrooms. We will miss our usual magnificent lunch, however, and have to make do with a self-supplied vegemite sandwich on the day.

The WAPs will rise again from the ashes by taking the best two of three results played at Matamata on Feb-16, Thames on Jul-5, and Hamilton on Aug-2. Click here to see the amended Rules.

.. bridge is cancelled - in case you hadn't heard. Mostly. There's still the Rubber Bridge competition. The deadline for entries has been extended to the 30th April. Should be money for jam - only four pairs in it with a week to go and a purse of $50 each to the victors. Or, if we get the numbers up to eight or nine pairs there'll be an extra $20 each, and if ten pairs the prize money jumps to a massive $100 each!! Wow! The winners also get to represent the Region at Congress (if we have one). And, of course, there's always on-line bridge. The best known site is BBO - Bridge Base Online - but there are plenty of others to be found in a Google search.

Good luck to you all over this unprecedented time. Our family could always tell when my mother was crook. First she'd stop eating. Then, if she got worse, she'd stop playing bridge. This is serious!!

The first event in the Judith Howard League was played at Waihi last Saturday 14th of March. Judith is donating $2000 of prize money in favour of those turned newly Open. The field is restricted to members of clubs in the Waikato-Bays who are ranked no higher than Provincial Master. Players earn points for playing and placing in a series of events - see under the WB Events tab above. While the major prizes of the League will be awarded at the end of the series, part of the plan is that there are also $170 worth of prizes for the top three places at any event. Saturday's inaugural winners were Ross Stewart and Elaine Rayner with Shirley Bain and Graham Young taking second, and Tim Rigter and Jan Baker coming third.

There seems to be a bit of a respite in the tournament scene this week. Perhaps an harbinger of things to come? Meanwhile life will continue in the class room with Clare and Kate covering Multi-2D at Cambridge on Tuesday night and Rona conducting Supervised Play at Taupo on Wednesday 7-9pm.

Enjoy your bridge - who knows if it'll still be possible in the near future.

Download the attached news from Waikato RBM Eunice Eccles to catch up with her plans for the 2020 season. Eunice is available to assist any club with advice particularly in the ares of recruitment, teaching, and retention of new members.

Allan Morris writes on the following points. Full letter including survey results attached below:

• Completion of the NZ Wide Pairs - $18k raised for Youth Bridge - National Teams in Nelson and the Inter-Provincials in Christchurch
• The Wellington region takes Dougal McLean trophy for the fourth year in a row
• Subcommittee on track with recommendations re the future of Regional Committees - nothing to happen before 2021 so elections will be held mid-2020
• RBM job vacancies in Otago/Southland and Central Districts
• Board is working on a handicapping system based on the Compass model
• Key findings of the post-Congress survey attached below