RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL NOVICE/INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM AT A CLUB
The following are just my thoughts. Remember first and foremost that you have to be quite mad to even dream about running a bridge club in the first place; the revenue per square foot (and you need lots of space) never is enough, the expenses are high and the workload enormous. My husband and I each work 18 hours of every single day. The desks never clear! You will never get rich doing it but on a scale of job satisfaction, I reckon it's a 10 out of 10. I feel sure that most of you have thought of much of this already but I am just going to roll it into my nutshell anyway.
CLASSES & NOVICE DUPLICATE GAMES
I believe that without a successful bridge teaching program, it would be almost impossible to have a thriving bridge club. The source of new players is right in that classroom. We frequently have 24-35 signed up for each class in each session. At least eight courses every session and six lessons per each intermediate class and eight lessons for basic.
Some of the typical courses that we run are:
- Beginners' class
- Advanced beginners
- Intermediate I
- Intermediate II
- Intermediate III
- Defense seminar (4 weeks)
- 2 over 1 course (4 weeks)
- Advanced mini-seminars on Squeezes and counting
Of course, you can use the Audrey Grant ACBL materials as well. These are excellent materials, I am just more comfortable teaching and writing and using my own materials.
Duplicate Games
During the classes, students are encouraged to go out and play duplicate at their level. I tell them that if they are not going to practice, they are wasting their time, it is just like taking French lessons: you have to speak the language. We have real beginner introductory games for them once a week, where they can ask questions and have help on any hand. They play 10-12 hands and then the game is scored up and they are given results and MASTER POINTS!! These magnificent items are magic for a novice. We issue the PCON command on ACBL Score and it prints master point coupons for them. We cut them up and tell them that they must keep these in the safety deposit box at the bank until they are ready to join the ACBL. Many join after collecting two or three slips. If you are running a program that is not sanctioned by ACBL, I think you are missing a HUGE opportunity to "turn on" your students.
We have a saint who runs this game. Everyone loves him. Never a shred of impatience. The games run around 7-10 tables and can get up to 20 (rare!). These games are the key to getting these players into duplicate. They go and play after only two beginner lessons. They have no idea what they are doing but they wing it. It is NOT "Easy Bridge." They do get help. They can change their lead or change their bid or change their mind. They are comfortable, they get better and gain self confidence. Others would call this Bridge Plus or Supervised Play. We call it Introduction to Duplicate. (We think they really want Bridge Minus) You have to allow sometimes 15 minutes a hand. Nothing matters but that they have fun.
At the end of their lessons, all students in all classes are given five complimentary entries to go out and play duplicate in any game. This seems to bring out many also.
Lesson's by Kantar
When teaching "new territory" content, e.g. squeezes or counting or defense, I rely on Eddie Kantar's Lesson's by Kantar. This is the most marvellous collection of teaching material that I have ever laid eyes on. Hundreds of hands, each with something for the declarer, something for defender and something for bidding. They are wonderful and the students love the hands. There is a warm up section in each chapter. I do all of this using "cards on the table" and lay out a guide card in the centre of the table and make them put out the cards I call.
In my regular classes, boards are all pre-duped, in my mini seminars, I "call cards." They lay them out face-down and then we go over them after they have played them. The Defense Course (using Kantar hands a lot) really turns them on.
Selling Classes
I do not allow students to pay for part of a course. If they have to miss a few lessons, I tell them they can make up the classes anytime in the next five years. Same with the Seminars. Selling per class is not a good way to make money. I think that we as teachers undercharge. I have just raised all our prices and the turnout did not drop. Charge for the full course even if they have to miss. (You can make the occasional exception but I vow them to secrecy at that time!)
Cheat Sheets
Another "secret" for getting students out playing is to give them a crutch. I sell them cheat sheets for $10.00. I cannot begin to tell you how they cling to these. It becomes their security blanket but without it they are lost. We gradually ween them from using these but they are allowed to use it for the first year of playing in any game. No-one is allowed to say "that's not fair" in any game at our club, because students are using crib sheets. If they do, it is time for that upset person to move on to a tougher game.
Games
We have Novice games (0-20 points) then Advanced Novice (0-50), Intermediate (0-100) and Advanced Intermediate (0-200). Open games are stratified Open/0-300. These provide stepping stones for all players to keep moving up. Then they can move to open games.
Sometimes I think club owners kill a good thing. A group of 0-20 people start getting too experienced for that same game on let's say Tuesday evenings. They want to keep playing on that night but we tell them it is time to move to the Thursday evening game. They have grown to love Tuesday evenings and it fits with their schedule (Schedules are so overtaxed in today's society!) We tell these folk to move and we never see them again as Thursday evening is no good for them. I suggest if there are quite a few of such folk that you keep them on Tuesday night and make that game a 0-50 game and make another night your novice night. That has worked well for me in many games.
We give bridge tips (15 minutes) prior to most novice and intermediate games. This is a big hit.
After each game, they are encouraged to lay out problem hands on a table and go over them with the Director who stays them and explains patiently what should have happened or how they could have made it etc.
GETTING NEW STUDENTS FOR CLASSES
Word of mouth is of course the best advertising. But for new programs, you have to start from scratch. There are so many local papers. I put in an ad in lots of papers reasonably cheaply. A typical ad would look like this:
BRIDGE: LEARN TO PLAY BRIDGE IN 4 WEEKS: LEARN TO PLAY BRIDGE: FREE BEGINNERS' BRIDGE LESSON: BARBARA SEAGRAM SCHOOL OF BRIDGE. Wed. 4 Sep 7.15-9.15 pm. Please pre-register. The most popular card game in the world. Fun, fascinating, exciting! We make it fun & easy to learn. Meet new & interesting people. Fall beginner classes commence late Sep & Oct. aft & eve. for 8 weeks. Free Beginner lesson: Wed. 4 Sep 7.15 pm. Must pre-register. Intermediate lessons: 6 weeks. Call 416-484-9447 (1-4 or 8-11 pm) or 416-484-6039. American Contract Bridge League. 808 Mt. Pleasant @ Eglinton. www.barbaraseagram.com
If you mention ACBL anywhere, ACBL will send you back some co-op advertising money (up to US$1000.00) when you send copies of ads and receipts. It helps. Contact ruth.francis@acbl.org for further information about this.
The free bridge lesson brings in large numbers of new students to my classes. It is tricks and trumps and a few bridge hands (rather like Club Series Lesson 1). Feed them afterwards. Tell them about the classes that will start in three weeks and they are signing up and giving you cheques like mad. Pre-enrol as much as possible, don't tell them they can bring their cheques to lesson # 1. You need commitment! If they have already paid, they are FAR more likely to show up. You must hold the free bridge lesson with lots of lead time before the course of lessons that is starting.
I used to have a decal on the back of my van advertising bridge lessons (rear window). It costs $85.00 only. I look like a plumber but what the heck! I think it is good advertising.
Posters in all grocery shopping stores, libraries etc. Focus on the free bridge lesson.
KEEPING THEM PLAYING DUPLICATE
We give them names of partners they can play with. Hand out telephone numbers of like-minded individuals. Approximately eight names per person and suggest that they call. We print names and numbers off ACBL Score of master point levels, and then customize a list. You can buy data bases of everyone in your area on disk (free once a year).
Be strict about Zero Tolerance. They respect it. Educate them constantly about the niceties of the game.
We run a mentor program frequently. The mentor plays free, the students pay $10.00. This covers partly the cost of both playing and we subsidize.
Birthday Parties
When I ran a large bridge club, we used to give each member a free game once a year in the month of their birthday. We have an afternoon birthday game and an evening one each month. They play free, receive an invitation in the mail with their newsletter and receive a gift and birthday cake that session. They love that.
We send our students to tournaments locally. When they come back with silver master points, there is a glow and the addiction is sealed! Encourage them to spread their wings. They will come back.
Memberships
Consider charging a membership in your bridge club. This gives a discount to anyone playing. There are many benefits of membership . It is a great source of revenue and breeds loyalty. Maybe try having a frequent player card that they have stamped. It must be used up within one month. Some days are double stamping.
Newsletters
I would suggest a monthly newsletter. See my website at www.barbaraseagram.com. My quarterly newsletter can be viewed there. A newsletter is an awesome way to get the word out. Students really like getting it. We hand them out at club and then mail those that have not been collected. They love seeing their names in print.
The abta
The ABTA (American Bridge Teachers Association) is a fantastic organization to belong to and they have a great magazine quarterly. Their convention is absolutely fantastic. Next year it will be in Washington, DC and I urge all of you to attend. You will come back filled with great ideas and a new enthusiasm for your career. Just meeting and talking with all these bridge teachers is truly a fun and great experience.
Plus, you will receive e mails of bridge tips and suggestions from lots of teachers if you sign up for these. They are great fun. You can listen to ideas from very experienced players regularly this way. You can also go for regular "chats" online with bridge teachers. The best asset is that you can obtain Master Teacher Status if you apply for it and are accepted. This is a nice perk.
I could go on and on. If you have questions or are interested in further information, feel free to e mail me at bseagram@ca.inter.net.
Best wishes to all of you.
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