This communique provides an update on matters arising at the ABF Annual General Meeting and ABF Board meeting both of which took place in late May, coinciding with the River City Gold Mixed Pairs in Brisbane.

If you have any questions, please contact David Fryda, Executive Director at david.fryda@abf.com.au

Player Numbers and Financials

As at the 31^st December 2024 the total number of active ABF registered players was 31,954 which represents a 45 player increase from the year before.  Player numbers increased in ACT, VIC and SA with decreases in the other states/territories. In addition, the number of youth players increased from 240 to 266 in the same period.  Overall, this net gain of 71 players represents a modest 2.2% growth. 

The Council were provided with a copy of the audited accounts of the ABF for the year ended 31 December 2024.  A resolution was passed unanimously to adopt the audited financial statements. 

In 2024 there was a significant turnaround in the financial performance from the previous two years.  The net deficit in 2024 was $35k compared to a deficit of $265,000 in 2023.  The 2024 result was significantly better than the forecast deficit of $175k presented at the AGM in 2024. The majority of the savings came from a lower than budgeted spend on My ABF due to limited availability of development resources.

A similar deficit is expected in 2025 and returning to a net cash surplus in 2026 and beyond.

This turnaround is due to the increases in capitation and masterpoint fees that were announced last year (implemented over the three years 2025 to 2027) and a number of efficiency improvements whilst continuing to invest strategically in the development of bridge in Australia.

The ABF’s cash reserves were depleted by the prior year’s operating deficits and a strategy has been implemented to ensure we return to having reserves equivalent to nine months of operating expenses within the next three years.

Tournament Committee

The Tournament Committee (TC) was busy over the past six months.  They have worked with the Tournament Organisers of some of our licensed events to consider some new event formats in 2025-2026.  Australia currently has a degree of uniformity in its national bridge events, with a large number of Swiss Pairs and Swiss Teams events on the calendar. 

With the Gold Coast Congress not being run in 2026 and therefore the Bobby Richman Pairs not being run Australia would have been without a major Matchpoint Pairs event on the calendar.  The TC is pleased that the Autumn Nationals in 2026 will include a Matchpoint Pairs event.

In addition, the Spring Nationals Tournament in 2025 will be introducing a totally new double-elimination knockout Teams event modelled on the highly successful Spring Fours event in the UK — a prestigious double-elimination tournament format.

The TC also recommended to the Board that Pairs based playoffs be held for the Open and Mixed categories for the 2026 calendar year.  The details of these playoffs as well as the selection process for the Seniors and Women’s are still being considered and are expected to be announced soon.

APBF Success

At the time of the Council meeting the Australian representative teams were completing their participation in the Asia Pacific Bridge Federation Championships in Hefei, China.  The Seniors team’s gold medal win was a standout achievement. The Open team’s bronze medal was also a commendable result.  Whilst the Women’s (4^th) and Mixed (8^th) missed out on medals they also competed well.  All four teams are now focused on their preparations for the World Championships in Denmark in August.

My ABF

Julian Foster presented to Council on the work that has been done and is planned for the My ABF technology platform.

The utilisation of My ABF has continued to grow and as at the end of April we had over 16,000 registered users and nearly 14,000 unregistered users (the latter being players who have been signed up by their club but have not used the software themselves).

We are on track to have over $5 million in payments processed through My ABF in 2025.

The current development focus is on behind the scenes updates to the technology, streamlining month end processes for club settlements and masterpoint centre integration as well as implementing some enhancement requests that have been building up over the past year.

Youth Bridge

Australia will be represented at the 2025 World Youth Championships in Italy this year in both the Under-26 and Under-21 events.  Details of the teams are on the ABF’s website.

The ABF’s National Youth Coordinator, Ella Jacob, has been working with the State and Territory Youth Coordinators to continue the development of this very important aspect of bridge.  The number of youth players in several states has been rising, and we are expecting another busy youth week in Canberra.

The World Youth Championships look likely to continue to be run around the same time as the ANC in Australia each year prompting a review of its impact on youth participation and potential to schedule alternatives.

Governance Committee

The ABF’s governance committee has been considering the potential for a conflict-of-interest issues arising from the ABF’s current Council and Board structure. Richard Ward, the Chair of the committee, shared with Council some ideas that have been considered for changes to the construct of Council to address this issue.  Further consideration is being given and following a period of consultation with the States and Territories a proposal will be voted on by Council at the mid-term meeting in November.    

ABF and ABF Licensed Event Participation Rates

The level of participation in our events continues to increase.  The total number of tables in play in 2024 was 13% higher than in 2023 but still remains 12% lower than the peak in 2019 before Covid.

Proposal to Run Online Tournaments on Funbridge

The Board considered a proposal from 52 Entertainment (owners of BBO and Funbridge) to run ABF online tournaments on the Funbridge platform.  The Board decided that this would be contrary to the ABF’s objectives and that it is not in the interest of states/territories and/or clubs for the ABF to run online events. The Funbridge platform potentially offers some benefits,  as such the ABF proposed to 52 Entertainment that they contact the States/Territories or clubs directly with their proposal.  The issuing of masterpoints for sessions run on the Funbridge platform would be subject to the same rules as other online platforms.

Mid-Term Meeting and Future Board Meetings

The Council will hold its mid-term meeting online on November 8^th. 

Over the next year the Board will meet in July, September, November, January and April with the next AGM to be held in Adelaide in late April, immediately prior to the Autumn Nationals.

ABF President

The incumbent ABF President, Allison Stralow, will be stepping down at next year’s Annual General Meeting in line with the constitutional requirement for a president’s term to be limited to no more than eight years.  A new president will be elected at the AGM with the current constitution requiring the President to be a Councillor (nominated by their State or Territory).

Posted in Latest News on June 10, 2025