9-High Corwen
In Hampshire we recently tried to run a heat of the 9-High Corwen.
The EBU provided over 800 e-mail addresses of eligible players.
We set a date for an On-Line heat, sent out the ~800 e-mails, and notified all the Club Secretaries.
Two pairs respond positively!
One other pair said they were interested, but on holiday that weekend.
And one player said 'Not for me'
But there was deafening silence from the other 800!
We didn't run a heat.
My perception, and the evidence from this venture, is that players graded 9 and below are just not very interested in competitive bridge.
(The positive responses were from players who have been more highly graded in the past.)
They like playing in their local club against people they know.
But getting bragging rites over their friends is about the limit of their competitiveness.
I would be interested to know the experience in other Counties.
Comments
In Staffs & Shrops. we encountered the same problem, bulk e-mails to the eligible players, publicity on the County website, two pairs entered so the event was cancelled.
I agree with many of the comments above, the majority of "9 high" players just want to play in their local clubs.
As the EBU Board member who has pressed most strongly for the creation of this competition and to improve the provision for 9-Highs I too would like to hear the experience of other counties. Yes most 9-Highs just want to play a couple of times a week in their local club and have a cup of tea and chat with their friends and this great. These are the people who pay the bills so things like this forum can exist. We need to do things for this group of players and be seen to do so. Perhaps part of the slow uptake is that the EBU has not provided this before.
In Kent we run a regular Saturday afternoon 9-High event on BBO which attracts 11 or 12 tables. Indeed at least one pair from Hampshire and Isle of Wight has paid their associate membership fee to Kent so that they can play in this event. 5 players from HIW also entered the BBO 9-High event at the Year-end Congress and 7 at the Easter Congress so there is some interest.
In Kent we also organise f2f 9-High events in different parts of the County which attract about 6 tables. Different players in different areas as there is definitely a reluctance to travel far. This events lose money but are subsidised by the surplus from the online games. It is also interesting that when we have organised events from ranks lower than a 9 those players have gravitated to the 9-High event and the lower ranking events have died out and that we have had more 9-Highs play in our main Corwen qualifiers than in our 9-High Corwen qualifiers.
It is also worth noting that in the bottom division of our teams-of-8 competition the 5th teams of large clubs and the 2nd or 3rd teams of smaller clubs contain a lot of 9-Highs.
It will only ever be a minority of this group of players who will engage with county competitions but perhaps if we are persistent with it it may be a larger minirity than is currently imagined.
This is probably an expectation and comfort level thing.
Most players of 9 and lower fall into 3 camps - those that are relatively new, those that are getting worse as they get older and those that were never any good.
For those new players, it probably comes down to the lessons they have and the expectations that they generate. At our club when I was in lessons quite a few years ago now there was an expectation that learners would go away and practice for some time and come back when they get good. My wife and I were the first 'graduates' from the lessons to actually play in the club for many years! Once we started we encouraged lots of learners to come and join us and so there was a large influx of new players.
When I took over the lessons for improvers and worked closely with another teacher that worked with beginners, we started with a goal of getting players for the club. We worked hard at breaking barriers and setting the expectation that you learn in the beginners and start playing when you are ready. The improvers continued that, encouraging people to play when they are ready and making it clear that they may never feel ready, but to start playing anyway.
This worked, the club was growing - our main session was gaining around 4 to 6 new members each year.
Things stagnated during covid, but we are now, finally, back on track.
Now, for me, when I was relatively new, I played locally in 4 different clubs, took part in clubs around the country when on holiday and we even played in a Scottish congress when we were just out of the beginners class (there was a no-fears session, but we were not interested in that). However, we had no idea of the scope of what was available at county level. Until about 6 years in I was asked to make up a team and subsequently asked to represent the county.
There was simply no interest at the club level membership to push and promote what was available. So there was no expectation.
Now, we promote this sort of thing as early as we can and we do have a reasonable number of our membership taking part in the 9-high and J-high events when they are held online.
So, long story short - lessons need to promote playing in clubs as soon as possible. Set the expectation that you learn and then play, remove barriers. They also need to set expectations so to what is available out there at a county/national level.
I would promote this sort of thing with registered teachers, rather than the players themselves - I think that is more likely to be successful. Perhaps a communication around September (when lessons seem to start) and a reminder around March. I would suggest that events be held in May - generally after the lessons have ended and before holiday season starts.
Welcome emails to the new members directly with what does the EBU do for you - 9-high events, J-High events, as you gain confidence, county pairs/teams championships etc... start setting expectations with new players that they should learn and then play.
As for those other 2 camps, I suspect that the interest will not really be there, as they are playing bridge for other, perhaps more social reasons.
Cambs and Hunts faced similar challenges, resulting in only three tables for our event, which is not ideal. At the end of last year, we organised a face-to-face event with ten tables, an improvement, but there is still room to increase participation.
An initial review shows that roughly 85% of our affiliated members have a rating of 9 or below. Interestingly, a portion of the participants in our 'Open' events come from this subset, indicating some members wish to compete in county competitions but are not inclined to join 9 High Events.
To address this, we need to implement strategies to encourage greater participation. Future initiatives include:
Enhancing the social aspect of our 9 High Face-to-Face event by scheduling a bridge session in the morning, followed by lunch, and another bridge session in the afternoon. A local club is trying this format and increased participation to 14 tables, mostly from the 9 High category.
Next year, we aim to run our 9 High events as Blue Pointed, as there are few such events currently available for 9 High players.
Jack High and 9 High pair of the year. The EBU may consider hosting a series of Jack High and 9 High competitions. This could involve 12 events, each managed by a different county, where participants' average scores from their top six sessions determine the winners who would be recognised as the Jack High or 9 High Pair of the year.
I'm sure Gordon will correct me if I am wrong, but I thought you can't restrict a field for a Blue Point event.
The instructions say "They cannot be restricted entry events (such as mixed
pairs)"
I have found this discussion interesting, as Surrey were also unable to find any particiapnts for a 9-High qualifier, so some of the alternative suggestions here have been very helpful.
The regulations say:
5.2 COUNTY EVENTS
5.2.1 County blue point events will usually be 1-day 2-session events and must be open to any EBU member and only to EBU members. They may place other restrictions on entry (e.g. mixed pairs) providing any EBU member is allowed to enter. A licence is required. At most half of the blue point events run by a county in a calendar year may be held online.
5.2.2 Counties may run 1-session blue point events if they are part of a congress that is otherwise green-pointed.
So you are correct that counties cannot run 9-high Blue Point events unless they are part of a congress. The only events of this type are those run on behalf of the EBU by counties.