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BGonline.org Forums
Atlanta Recap
Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Sunday, 21 May 2017, at 8:57 p.m.
A great, fun, well-run event. I was delighted to attend even though I didn't do much damage. Happy to say that one of my students and I won our first two rounds of doubles and lost in the semis, and we lost to a great player, Carol Cole, and some guy from Chicago.
Hat's off as usual to Karen Davis and Julius High for working so hard to encourage membership and support for the USBGF.
The only thing that disappointed me is that there were only 4 novice players. Come on, for a city the size of Atlanta, we can't find more beginners to show up? What about husbands, wives and girlfriends?
It's because we are doing something wrong, and we have been for many, many years. We are not "marketing" our game well to the general public. We are not making it easy and welcoming for new players to join us.
A beginner doesn't have the same commitment to the game as us seasoned players. We should not be offering them the chance to play in a tournament for 2 days. We should be offering them the chance to come and learn a little and play a little and have fun and watch a little if they want to. They should be able to have flexible schedules so they don't have to give up the whole weekend for a game they hardly know or care about (yet). And it should be a fun, inexpensive, and educational experience.
The USBGF proudly announced that it has give over $15,000 to tournaments. That's nice. How much of that was to Novices? How much of that was to bring in more players. Maybe give them some free lessons, a backgammon board, and a local "mentor" who promises to help them learn and encourage them to come to the local club? Hell, if a new player came, I would personally buy him breakfast or lunch. Instead we charge them to play in a tournament with little or no help and give them a free membership to an organization that means absolutely nothing to them if they are a beginner or new to the game.
I know, it's easy to be critical and say what people should do. So many sit on the outside and criticize. But these are not new ideas or suggestions. These are suggestions that I and others have been making for years. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that what we are doing isn't working and at least some of the above ideas, and others, are at least worth trying.
And my further defense to this rant is that I am not just someone who complains....have been and will continue to be willing to offer my time and money to help grow the game and the organization. I have never refused a chance to give free lessons to beginners and to help out, and I have often donated boards and books and other materials to newbies, and will continue to do so. I know there are many out there who would do the same, so it's up to us, as a group, to make these changes happen. Our tournament and organization leaders will do this if enough of us support those efforts and are willing to help.
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