District Director's Report
March 2004

Reno NABC

Attendance at the Reno NABC was 14,955 tables, which makes this tournament the largest Spring NABC in history. The previous record was 13,996 tables at the last Reno NABC in 1998. There were fewer District 25 players at this NABC than usual but 148 New England players did win masterpoints. The playing conditions were excellent with ample space between tables and good lighting. On the negative side, the Reno Hilton is showing signs of age and there were generally long lines for the restaurants in the hotel, some of which had excellent food. The hotel is located outside of town so the only alternative to eating there was to take a cab ride to town. Overall, the Reno NABC was a huge success and most of our players had a great time.

TOP 10 FINISHERS IN NABC EVENTS - DISTRICT 25

OPEN PAIRS I

VANDERBILT

SILVER RIBBON PAIRS

OPEN PAIRS II

RED RIBBON PAIRS

OPEN SWISS TEAMS

NORTH AMERICAN PAIRS - B

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACBL BOARD MEETING

As is often the case at the Spring NABC, the Board agenda was fairly light with no major motions being passed.

Financial Status

For calendar year 2003, the ACBL had a deficit of $203,000. This is $89,000 better than the budgeted deficit of $292,000. Despite the deficit, the overall financial status of the ACBL remains well within the guidelines previously established for our organization, primarily due to the large gains we realized in calendar years 2001 and 2002. Overall, the financial status of the ACBL continues to be excellent. For 2004, we have budgeted for a $29,000 gain.

CEO Report

CEO Jay Baum reported that membership increased by almost 1,200 players during 2003. In addition, tournament participation was up over 2002: 3% for Regionals; 2% for Sectionals; and, 17% for STAC’s. For 2003, there were approximately 160,300 tables at Regionals (average 1,394), 156,400 tables at Sectionals (average 207) and 91,300 tables at STAC’s.

Age For Senior Events

A motion was made to increase the minimum age for Senior Events, currently age 55, to age 60 in one-year increments starting on January 1, 2005 and ending on January 1, 2009. This is the second time in the past year that this motion has been presented.

The motion failed 14-11. I voted against the motion, both because passage of this motion would hurt our Senior Regional in Falmouth and because many now playing in these events who are between 55 and 60 are doing so because they perceive the events to be less competitive or because of earlier starting times for Senior Events at many tournaments.

Stratified Swiss Team Games

A motion was passed to allow sponsoring organizations the option, in Stratified Swiss Team games, of determining the stratification level of a team based on the average masterpoint holding of all players on the team rather than by the masterpoint holding of the top player on the team.

NABC Schedule

A Committee has been formed to review the schedule of NABC and NABC+ events to determine if any changes are desirable at this time. (The schedule of Regional events at NABC’s is at the discretion of the host District.) Should any of you have suggestions or opinions on this subject, please let me know.

As usual, the complete minutes of the Board Meeting will be posted on the ACBL Website within the next few weeks.

TOP 25 MASTERPOINT WINNERS –RENO NABC

I encourage all of our players, clubs and units to make every effort to support the North American Pairs this year. The ACBL is making a strong effort to revitalize this event. One important change is that the additional card fee for NAP club qualifying games is being reduced from $1.75 to $1.00. Hopefully, this will encourage our clubs to hold more games and our players to participate more. The NAP’s is a great event so I would hate to see it discontinued by the ACBL Board because of lack of participation.

The Summer NABC is in New York City from July 8 through July 18. This will be the first NABC in New York City in over 30 years and I know the District 3/District 24 Committee is hard at work to make this a memorable NABC. Hope to see you there.

Rich DeMartino
District Director