About our Pizza Parties
Young bridge players enjoy challenging competition and good food at the monthly Silicon Valley Youth (SiVY) Bridge party.
Aspiring bridge players ages 10-25 are welcome – as long as they know just a little bit about bridge and want to learn more.
Upon arrival the kids play casually and enjoy snacks. After pizza is served many players enter a mini-tournament while others keep playing for fun. Brand new players are taught the basics of the game, learning as they play.
The pairs in the mini-tournament practice skills in bidding as well as play. Prizes are awarded to the winners.
Volunteers are available to help the kids who play for fun.
Near the end of each party, dessert is served, while tournament winners are announced and prizes are awarded
The SiVY monthly events are held to provide kids from our after school classes a chance to meet aspiring players from other schools and organizations. They are also a great way for kids who have learned from adult family to play bridge with other young people.
September 13, 2015
Youth Bridge is booming! Sixty youth players came out for the September Pizza Party Play event! This breaks our previous attendance record of 54, even though several college players who had attended events regularly all summer had already returned to their respective schools.
Two kids who were beginners at summer camp played in the section A duplicate!
Another 6 tables practiced and learned from SiVY volunteer mentors throughout the party. Some were brand new to bridge, including siblings or classmates of more experienced players, while others were students who have started learning bridge in one of SiVY's after school programs.
A total of nine students from Graham Elementary in Mountain View attended, most having learned bridge through the SiVY Friday afternoon class, either this school year or last. One Graham student wishes she could attend bridge club, but is committed to math club which conflict on Fridays. Instead Valerie came to learn the game at this party, where she made plans to play bridge at lunch with friends who are in the bridge class.
Many high school students turned out including friends of the Palo Alto HS bridge team. They came to learn this great game their friends are so excited about. Other high school students included Amanda Kerlee, who has just founded a bridge club at Los Gatos HS, and Ezra Mowbry of Menlo-Atherton HS, who, though an experienced bridge player, was a first timer at our SiVY events.
Two tables of parents enjoyed playing bridge together. Some had not played since high school or college.
As usual, pizza and cake was enjoyed. Prizes were awarded to the tournament winners.
The bridge games at our parties are American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) sanctioned awarding masterpoints (MP) to high scorers. ACBL membership is not required for our games but is strongly suggested. You can join online or at the Bridge Center on the night of an event. Adult membership is $29 for the first year and junior membership only $15 per year. Both include a monthly print magazine and registration of masterpoints (start earning towards becoming a Life Master!).