Young Players Take Full Advantage of 2019 Youth NABC Sponsorships and Training

By Lynn Johannesen

The Youth North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are the premier events for young players in the NABC calendar. They offer players a chance to meet other youth from around the world and to hone their bridge skills playing against others at similar experience levels. Young players can also win scholarships and other prizes.

Each year, SiVY offers sponsorships to help players under 21 years of age offset the cost of travel expenses associated with the event, which will be held at the end of July in Las Vegas. This year, SiVY offered $500 to 20 young players. District 21 of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) has approved matching grants for all players.

As part of the sponsorship program, SiVY also offers training for young players who wish to enhance their skills before participating. Organizing the program, which this year served players ranging in age from 7 to 19, is a challenge. The participants also range widely in experience levels. For 2019, some participants, such as Olivia Schireson, age 14, have already attended several Youth NABCs, but about half are planning their first event.

This year, the program was conducted as a formal “mentoring week.” Sponsored players were invited to play at the Palo Alto Bridge Center, in limited games if they chose and the games were available. Mentors also competed in the (open) events, and then went over the boards with small groups of players at the conclusion of play. Max Schireson offered one amusing aside. In one session, no limited game was available, so everyone played in the open game. The young players as a group outscored the mentors who played that day!

According to Olivia, this group approach seemed to work better for most than the individual mentors assigned in years past. All of the sponsored players attended at least one session, and many came to most of them. The more experienced players were pleased to receive expert tips on strategy, while the less experienced players were able to ask questions suitable for their own levels of expertise. Most participants seemed fully engaged with the mentoring sessions. Brian Zhang, who is almost 9 years old, emailed Max Schireson and Debbie and Michael Rosenberg to say, “Hi Debbie, Michael, and Max.  Just to let you know, I enjoyed what happened on mentoring week. I had fun listening about how to play bridge and I also had fun playing bridge.  Thank you for providing a wonderful week for me learning how to play bridge.”

The success of the mentoring program depended not only on planning and preparation, but also on the willingness of the following expert players to offer their time as mentors, including two who served as mentors during a non-Life Master sectional:

Ed Barlow, Steve Chen, Xin Ge, Gary Macgregor, John Miller, Robert Ng, Debbie Rosenberg, Michael Rosenberg, Max Schireson, Mukund Thapa, Will Watson

  Many thanks are due to all of them!