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2014 Teaching Activities
So far it's been a busy year, in which I've visited clubs in NSW and Victoria as well as Queensland.
Along the way I’ve met some fascinating people who are doing a great job of keeping their local games alive.
In February, I spent some days in Maitland, and loved the energy of the movers and shakers there. Their organisational skills are fantastic. Workshops over two days covered Defence, Declarer Play and Competitive Bidding.
Here we are at luch after the Teacher Training Programme. Miriam, Wendy, Jenny, Helen x 2, JB and Maureen.
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Newcastle Teacher Training Programme
Forty people were interested enough in bridge education to attend this weekend, sponsored by the ABF and the NSWBA.
Eileen Sellers and others organised the weekend, and we posed for our pic, after receiving the certicates of completion of the TTP.
This is a start towards full Teacher Accreditation, details of which are here on the ABF website.
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Victoria's Mornington Peninsula
Later in March I spent 10 days in Victoria, doing workshops with Brian & Margaret Morgan, who run their own bridge club at Rye Beach. Brian’s also an asset with the ABF, presenting the viewpoint of a small business operator.
Margaret has been teaching in the club for a few years, and they report that their membership is growing. They both attended the very first TTP in Melbourne.
Players were enthusiastic about the three workshops I presented, with some keen beginners amongst them.
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Phillip Island - No Penguins
Down to this beautiful island I went, for a full day of workshops. I met marvelous people for whom age is no barrier.
The club’s treasurer, Beryl Chilcott, ( a mere 92! ), was born on the 4th of July, and likes a punt, (only on horses with American names of course). She rides her scooter to the bridge club, where she plays three times a week, and she’s also teaching beginners. Go Beryl!
President, Lorrie Read, did a great job of coordinating the workshops and I hope I'll meet more of the club's great characters another time.
Below is Beryl Chilcott presenting me with a lovely bottle of local red.
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Bairnsdale and Professional Development
Next came two days of really interesting Teacher Training workshops in Bairnsdale, in the Gippslands. Bridge is alive and well in 10 schools in this area, and the teachers wanted to standardise teaching methods and to upgrade their skills.
Organiser extraordinaire, Chris Heesom, made the days go like clockwork, and Philip Goode, who looked after me in his magnificent B & B, and Pam Dingwall (President of ERBA) played a big part in the event’s success.
Frank Power is the driving force behind bridge in the schools there, and works tirelessly with his band of teachers and supervisors.
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True Students of the Game
Frank Power arranged for these school students to be at Bairnsdale Bridge Club to have a chat with me about their bridge.
A local journalist came along and covered it for the paper. Thanks to the Bairnsdale press for the photo. Here we are with Frank.
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Bairnsdale Movers & Shakers
(l - r) Phillip Goode (Bairnsdale President) JB, Pam Dingwall (ERBA President), and Frank Power (Schools bridge Coordinator)
After the Gippslands, next stop was Melbourne for a TTP there on the last weekend of March. Thanks to Annette Maluish for helping me all weekend.
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Further North
The first weekend of April, after leaving Victoria, I ran another Teacher Training Programme, this time in Northern NSW, at the Ballina Bridge Club.
Fred Whitaker had set this up, and the local club gals did an amazing job with catering. Ballina President Howard Jeffery and his wife Liz, made sure the event ran smoothly. Special thanks to Jim Roche too.
Here we are after the presentation of certificates on Sunday 6 April.
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Even Further North
In March I gave a workshop at Toowong Bridge Club to more than 80 people, on Doubles, and that was one of the topics chosen by the Noosa Bridge Club for two days of teaching in April.
Liz French, Geoff Hart and Colleen Grant had worked hard to make this happen.
There’s a great camaraderie in clubs lke these, and that’s no accident. The people working behind the scenes make it all happen. After all, bridge clubs are an integral part of our social fibre.
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