Bridge Teachers and Coaches Conference

RealBridge and BAMSA (Bridge: A MindSport for All) have arranged a short online conference on 7/8 October 2023 for bridge teachers, coaches and mentors.

The speakers are from around the world. Some material will be pre-recorded and subtitled. The entire conference will be recorded and made available subsequently.

The list of presenters is growing. As of today, 24 September 2023, these are confirmed.

Australia: Joan Butts, Paul Marston. Canada: Kathie Macnab. Czech Republic: Milan Macura. Denmark: Morten Bilde. France: Jean-Pierre Desmoulins. Germany: Ulrich Bongartz.  Iceland: Matthías Imsland. Ireland: Dermot O’Brien. Italy: Benedetta Ragazzi.  New Zealand/UK: Lyn Fry. Norway: Ane Haaland, Marianne Harding. Singapore: Gary Yee, Kelvin Ong. Sweden: Linnea Edlund. Tunisia: Meriem Daldoul Dorai. UK: Alan Shillitoe, Michael Rushworth, Sam Knox, Sam Punch. USA: Bronia Jenkins, David Loeb, Deborah Drysdale, Allison Evans, Patty Tucker, Rob Barrington, Robert Todd, Michael Berkowitz, Tracey Bauer. USA/Canada: Gavin Wolpert.

What is it all about?

The last 5 years have seen a decline in newcomers to the game, and also a drop in participation by existing players. There are a number of reasons for this.

But the last few years have also shown that there are many new opportunities. Communication is easier, faster, and more affordable. Engagement channels such as Facebook, Zoom and Twitch are readily available and better understood. Practitioners are more open to hearing ideas from other people. There is more understanding of, and openness to, collaboration and cooperation.

Topics

• Information on new approaches to teaching
• Channels, ideas and tools to market the game and the services
• Benefits of providing or earning accreditation
• How teachers can become the best version of themselves through personal development
• Youth players: organizational considerations, successes, issues, attitudes of schools
• Best ways to teach children and youth: practices, techniques, interactions, differences from adult teaching
• Approaches to coaching: supporting and overseeing the entire development of a player (as distinct from instructional teaching)

The presentations will mainly be case studies.

What do we hope you will achieve by taking part in this event?

• Obtain insights into latest trends, to inspire you
• Recognize opportunities and pitfalls
• Exchange views on shared challenges
• Network and collaborate
• Meet people you have heard about
• Understanding what can be achieved within typical budgets and timescales

Out of scope

• Demonstrations of bridge-specific software
• Fundraising

Practicalities

Where and when?

Dates: 7 & 8 October 2023, depending on time zones. Each session is 3 hours.

This conference is online, on Zoom. This is a free conference. Anyone can attend.

Live presentations will typically be 20 minutes long, with an additional 5 minutes for Q&A. Pre-recorded and subtitled presentations may be a little longer than that, and will be available for view in advance of the conference. The provisional plan is that there are 5 presentations per session. So, in total 15 live presentation over all three sessions, and a further 10+ pre-recorded presentations.  Some of them will be translated to French, Italian and Spanish.

How to take part?

Please complete this form so that we can send you more information about the event, pre-conference material, and joining link. The information we collect from you is solely related to this conference.

What to do now?

As an NBO or teaching association: please announce this to your teacher community. Let the conference organizers know if you would like to propose speakers. Ask people if they want to be on the mailing list.

As a practitioner: publicize this to your colleagues, or the club you teach at. Ask people if they want to be on the mailing list.

As a prospective presenter: Please contact us, submitting a short abstract (we suggest about 100 words). We now have 15 live presenters allocated to all the slots. We very much welcome presenters who can pre-record their presentations so that we can add them to the conference website.

As an interested person (researcher, journalist): let us know if you would like to be involved in the organization of the conference. Are you willing to help with writing a press release, previewing presentations, or other assistance?

To contact the event organizers: please email events@realbridge.online

Where to get more information?

Please continue to visit the conference website, here. We will be adding material to the site as the conference date approaches.

The conference is organized by RealBridge and BAMSA. We are grateful for the publicity provided by the NBOs and Zonal organisations.

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