Major Items and Decisions

Retiring and new ABF Councillor

ABF Councillors are an integral part of the administration of Australian bridge. Thank you to retiring councillor, Therese Tully for her service to the Queensland Bridge Association and the ABF. We welcome Charles Page who is the new QBA member to Council and we look forward to his contributions in the year to come.

Remuneration for Tournament Officials at ABF and other National Events

Following a review of the 2017 policy on baseline remuneration for tournament officials at ABF and ABF Licensed events, the ABF Management Committee agreed to update the policy. The recommended increases in remuneration will take effect from January 2021.

ABF BBO Games

In response to player feedback the ABF has decided to run a second Nationwide Online Pairs session each week.

The new session on Friday evenings at 7:30pm AEST commenced on August 14th.

The Nationwide sessions continue on Sunday afternoon beginning at 2.30pm AEST. The Management Committee is pleased to see 600+ players, playing in either the Open, Restricted or Novice event. ABF Youth BBO sessions will begin shortly and all youth players are encouraged to participate.

Plans for ABF and ABF Licensed Events to September 2020 – February 2021

The resumption of national events remains uncertain and we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

A decision on the Summer Festival of Bridge and Youth Week 2021 will be made at the MC meeting in September. It was also decided to set the 31st December as the date to determine if planning for the ANC, 2021 in Orange, N.S.W. will proceed.

Cancelled events; Swan River Swiss Pairs 2020, Spring Nationals 2020, Gold Coast Congress 2021.

Connecting Teachers during Covid-19.

The Management Committee thanks the ABF National Teaching Coordinator Joan Butts for keeping teachers connected during lockdown and isolation as she continues to run Zoom meetings for teachers. The meetings are proving popular, as they offer online resources for teachers, are easy to administer, and are geographically diverse. Six more Education programmes including a TTP are planned until end November and are currently being advertised.

Joan will be offering, a free weekly email for players (novice and intermediate) that contains tips, a hand with video review, and is based on a spiral approach to learning.

Ron Klinger Daily Column

The Management Committee thanks Ron for his offer to continue to write the Daily Column. We appreciate his kindness in offering this service to players.

Feedback & Future Meetings

The Management Committee welcomes feedback and suggestions on the above matters or other subjects.

» Feedback

The next ABFMC Meeting will be held on the 25th September.

2020- 2022 ABF Management Committee

Allison Stralow (President), Kim Frazer (Secretary), Ian Thomson, (Treasurer), Adel Abdelhamid, Rob Ward

Jane Rasmussen (Executive Secretary), Geoff Chettle (Legal Counsel), Michael Bryan (Deputy Legal Counsel)