Ashby Bridge Club 

Team Matters

Philip Price submitted his resignation as Team Captain and Competitions Secretary which was accepted with regret.  Philip had held the position for eight years and with increasing pressures on his time he decided that he should opt out of the captaincy but will still be available to play for the team.  Thanks to Philip for all his hard work. 

Malcolm Dawson has agreed to be nominated to take over and this will be subject to a vote at the AGM. 

The team finished 5th in Division 2 of the County League and will play again in Division 2 next year.

Annual Subscription and Table Fees

The committee agreed that the annual subscription be maintained at £5 and the table fees at £1-50 for the coming year.  Members are reminded that the annual subscription becomes due immediately following the AGM.

Proposal by EBU for Pay2Play ( explained by George Strang)

From April 2010 the English Bridge Union is changing the ways it raises money from clubs and individual members.  The new system is known as Pay2Play.  This note describes the changes. 

Ashby Bridge Club is currently a member club of the EBU paying an annual subscription of £30.  The club also pays for masterpoints that are awarded on Thursday evenings at a cost of 40 pence per certificate.  This is equivalent to about 14 pence per person playing.  There are 16 members of the club who are members of the EBU paying an annual subscription of £23 (part of this goes to our county association).  Club members who play for the team in the Leicestershire League must be members of the EBU. 

From April 2010 the annual subscription for clubs will be unchanged at £30.  All recognised duplicate sessions of member clubs will attract masterpoints at a cost of 37 pence per player taking part.  This would cover our normal Monday and Thursday duplicate sessions but would exclude our Wednesday afternoon duplicate sessions which are deemed to be tutorial sessions and so exempt.  All players taking part in at least one Monday or Thursday duplicate session would automatically become a member of the EBU but would need to play at least 12 times per year to qualify for all membership benefits.   

We have made assumptions about the number of players taking part in duplicate sessions in season 2010/11 to calculate the impact of the suggested changes.  We estimate that under the current system the EBU would have received £200 from Ashby Bridge Club in 2010/11 comprising £170 for the cost of masterpoints and a club membership subscription of £30.  Under the proposed system we estimate that the EBU would receive £950 from the club comprising P2P fees of £920 and an annual subscription of £30.  No member would need to pay separately for EBU membership. 

From next year individuals can be members of the EBU either by being a member of a P2P club or by paying for direct membership.   

The committee has had a long discussion on whether Ashby Bridge Club should continue to be a member of the EBU after April 2010 or whether it should withdraw from membership.  One of the factors that has been taken into account is that the committee wants the club to continue to have a team in the Leicestershire Leagues.  This could still be achieved if the club withdraws from EBU membership by the team members joining the EBU as individual members.    

The committee recommends that the club:

1. withdraws from membership of the EBU
2. pays for team members to join the EBU for a trial period of twelve months
3. reviews this decision after twelve months of operation of the P2P system  

We have estimated that the costs of paying for EBU membership on behalf of team members to be about £400. 

If the club were to remain in the EBU next year the committee would recommend that the table fees for Monday and Thursday evenings be raised to £2 and the table fees for Wednesday afternoons remain at £1.50.  If the above recommendations are accepted by members the committee recommends no change in table fees. 

There will be a full discussion on the EBU proposals at the club AGM on 20 July.  This will be followed by a vote of the members present on whether the club should or should not opt out of the EBU. 

More information about the EBU’s proposals can be found on the EBU’s website at

http://www.ebu.co.uk/pay2play/default.htm 

Thanks to George for this.

Gordon Grimley Cup

Gordon’s family have generously financed the purchase of a commemorative trophy which will be known as the Gordon Grimley Cup and will be awarded annually to the winners of the Christmas Bridge Drive.

Monday Night Host Scheme

The scheme is working well but more volunteers are required.  Members who are prepared to take their turn as host are asked to add their names to the rota on the club notice board.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will take place on Monday 20th July.  Would members wishing to submit resolutions please hand them to a member of the committee not later than June 30th.  Time permitting, there will be a duplicate bridge session following the meeting and in accordance with custom and practice there will be no table fees. However, members are asked to pay their annual subscription in a named envelope on the night.

Annual Presentation Dinner

The annual presentation dinner will be held on Friday September 11th at Willesley Golf Club.  Bill Ball has very kindly agreed to present the trophies.  The ticket price will be £12 and members are reminded that their spouses are welcome.  

Ron Barker. 

23.06.09