Panel 1 Learning and Teaching Bridge
Mary Sharp (Bridge Teacher, England)
Milan Macura (Bridge Player and Coach, Czech Republic) Slides
Akiko Yanagisawa (Research Institute for Sports Business, Waseda University, Japan) Slides
Stephanie Threlkeld (American Contract Bridge League)
Panel 2 School and Youth Bridge: Engaging and Retaining Learners
Advance Recorded Presentations
(Click green arrows to view recordings)
Mary Sharp (Bridge Teacher, England)
Mary Sharp will argue the importance of applying the methodology of classroom teaching to bridge lessons in order to promote resilience and resourcefulness in students. She will call for greater engagement and more open-mindedness in approaches to teaching standards and practices.
Promotion of Contract Bridge as a Mindsport: Learning from the World’s Expert Nations
Akiko Yanagisawa (Waseda University Graduate School of Sports Science, Japan)
Drawing on case studies from Poland, The Netherlands, England and China, Akiko Yanagisawa looks at how bridge is promoted as a mindsport and considers the implications for recruitment, learning and development.
BridgeWhiz: Teaching Young People Across North America to Play Bridge Online
American Contract Bridge League Educational Foundation
How can we best encourage youth students to play bridge virtually? How we can make learning accessible online, while continuing to promote face-to-face play? The ACBLEF describes BridgeWhiz, a new approach to teaching the game to school children.
Rob Barrington (Bridge Teacher, USA)
Rob Barrington discusses the benefits of online education and offers strategies for successful teaching programmes.
Top Tips for Teaching Bridge to Children
Patty Tucker (President and Founder, Atlanta Junior Bridge, USA)
For more than 15 years the most common question asked of Patty Tucker is: ‘How old does my child need to be before she (or he) can learn bridge?’ The second most asked question is: ‘Do kids really want to learn bridge, or do they just want to play cards?’ Patty’s presentation answers those questions and explores techniques to attract, engage and keep young players. Patty has also surveyed young bridge players between five and 11 years old, and interviewed three bridge advocates still in high school, Aaron, Jamie and Stephanie.
The Youth Bridge Association Enticing Young People to Learn Bridge
Michael Xu (Co-President, Youth Bridge Association, USA)
One good way to find out how to entice young people to learn bridge is to listen to a successful junior who’s been doing just that. Michael Xu is a member of the USA under-16 team that won bronze at the World Youth Team Championships in 2018, and co-founder of the pioneering Youth Bridge Association. Run entirely by students, the YBA promotes bridge to young people through interactive training sessions and inter-school competition.
Introducing Bridge into the School Curriculum
Norma Irwin and Norman Lacey (Northern Ireland Bridge Union)
Incorporating bridge classes into the school day is no small achievement. This presentation outlines the planning behind introducing bridge for Year 7 pupils to primary schools and after-school clubs in Northern Ireland. It covers recruitment of tutors, lesson delivery, feedback from tutors and schools, and future plans for this successful and inspiring project.
Sue Johnson (Chair and Trustee of New Tricks, England)
Sue Johnson founded New Tricks in 2019 to make great online bridge content available to the widest possible audience and to bring young players to the game. In this presentation, Sue describes the most recent step in this mission: the creation of a dedicated website for schools that plan to set up bridge clubs.
Online Bridge Education: Teaching Teachers and Beginner Students
Stephanie Threlkeld (Marketing and Education Manager, American Contract Bridge League)
ACBL Intro to Bridge: Teaching beginners is hard, especially online. One obstacle is students having to wait too long before actually playing bridge. With that in mind, ACBL has developed a 10-week highly interactive course, Intro to Bridge. Premiering in June, it will have students playing with friends and newcomer games in no time.
ACBL Online Teacher Training Workshop: When teachers pivoted online, many used face-to-face techniques without success. A lecture and slides don’t work well online. Online classes need to be highly engaging and keep students actively participating. Otherwise, they might start checking their social media. ACBL has developed techniques for online learning with the Online Teacher Workshop. Certification available.
Tools for Learning & Development
Scott Hoffer (Developer, Tricky Bridge, USA)
Tricky Bridge is a free iPhone app that teaches bridge basics to young beginners. The app was featured by Apple to millions of App Store gamers. This presentation will be a brief discussion of the app’s approach to onboarding new players to bridge and a summary of its results so far.
Road to Bridge: Nurturing Young Champions
Pritesh Chheda and Amaresh Deshpande (Adhyayan Education, India) and Deborah Drysdale (Planet Hool, USA)
Building on the work of Planet Hool in the USA, Adhyayan Education has been successfully enabling youngsters in India to experience the thrill, joy and challenge of playing bridge. These two videos follow the journey from demonstration to bridge table, with an overview of the two apps – Kida and Hool – and reflections on how this process can be scaled up across the globe to exponentially increase the pool of young bridge players.
Introducing the Bidding App bid72
Jan van Cleeff (Founder of bid72) and Team bid72 (Netherlands)
Young people love mobile technology, especially in a gaming and competitive format! This presentation demonstrates the bid72 app, a fun and addictive way of e-learning bridge bidding from scratch to expert level. By focusing on themed boards and partnership building, the app is a handy tool for coaches, and also offers the opportunity for national bidding contests.