University Bridge Clubs

[mr1303]

Having been partly involved with running a university bridge club, with ever dwindling memberships and a usual maximum of 2 tables every week, we are desperately seeking new ideas with which to stop the rot. Next year looks like being a serious struggle since most of our membership this year is set to graduate and there are not many members with the ability to run the society for next year.

 

One idea has been to turn the society into Card Games Soc with less of an emphasis on bridge. Whilst poker and other casino type games are expressly forbidden by the Students Union, anything non-gambling would be permitted.

 

What do people think of this idea?

 

Any other suggestions to help save our society?

 

Is this symptomatic of an aging bridge playing population?

[el mister]

Don't much rate the idea of a card games soc tbh. It seems too generalised and unappealing. For better or worse, bridge has an identity and people are passionate about it - just not enough people.

 

What would be the point in any case? I imagine it's hard enough getting strong student players to play with total beginners, why would they want to turn up and play gin rummy? Sounds like you have the possibility of alienating the core bridge players, who would surely be the people keeping the whole thing going.

 

I drop into my uni bridge club once in a while - I'm a member of staff though, not a student. So I don't really know what they do to keep vibrant - I can ask, they seem to do alright.

 

I have friends who, whilst not playing currently, understand bridge because it was offered as an activity in school. They're mainly public school types - I wonder if that still goes on? It's certainly a mechanism to get the game introduced at an earlier age.

[Rossoneri]

IMO, changing it to a card games soc will just make the situation worse. Not quite sure about the situation at your uni, but in mine (and most of the other UK unis), poker has a huge foothold already so you're more likely to just end up getting a high membership but a low proportion genuinely interested in bridge.

 

The approach we've tried so far, facing the same problems as you mentioned, is to start off with minibridge - we did almost a whole 10 weeks worth of minibridge at the start of the academic year, and we're planning to do so again next academic year.

 

It is indeed tough to get new students to play bridge, the learning curve is one major drawback as compared to poker. However, my experience has been that most of those who have a genuine interest in bridge will end up staying as they want to learn more. This can be an advantage as you will have a stable membership as well as a higher proportion of active members - not much use having 100 members on paper if only 10 of them turns up?

[billw55]

I have some sort of related experience. I have played Go for years, and the club sometimes has difficulty attracting players. The top priority for us is visibility - play out in the open where many passersby can see us. Some will stop and ask what the game is; others may have heard of it and want to try; some have played before but didn't know there was a club here; a few think it is othello, we educate them; but in all cases, there is a chance for them to tell people about it.

 

Are you playing in a common room or such, or a reserved private room? The former is much better IMO.

[NickRW]

I think too few younger people even know what it is. Gotta offer beginner courses and even minibridge IMO.

 

The above suggestion about getting visible (common room environment or similar) if at all possible is not a bad idea either.

 

Nick

[Hanoi5]

Offer something in return for playing (travelling to Tawan to represent your University!) and LOTS of publicity.

 

And the CS is a TERRIBLE idea.

[uday]

Is the club subsidized at all, to the extent of (say) free soda/cookies or small prizes or anything else the students might want ?

 

Do they come to the club to play , or to learn the game? Do they pay?

 

What has your experience been with the retention rate of minibridge?

 

any chance of college credit for this?

[h2osmom]

I would suggest trying to find community members who are interested in playing at the university once or twice a month. Hand pick people who would be tolerant of slow plays, experimental bidding systems, and changing formats. Maybe publicize a spades tournament sponsored by the bridge club, to attract people who have a few basic card play skills. Provide free snacks; if you can convince someone to bake brownies or something it could help. If the college can't sponsor the club to this level, it's likely some bridge players can do it. It;s finding them that's the problem.

[jjbrr]

Pizza + don't stop posting fliers/advertisements in high-traffic areas around campus.

[kayin801]

Pizza + don't stop posting fliers/advertisements in high-traffic areas around campus.

Party hat +1. Though we usually just stole pizza from nearby seminars being held. In absence of this, set up somewhere that has access to food nearby, so people can get up and get a drink/snack when they need to. A lot of students go for late night food for a break, so why not play bridge while you're at it?

 

Go to activity fairs, and then just yell at everyone that comes by to come play, have them write their names on a mailing list, etc. You'll get at least 20 names (and I went to a small school) and you'll retain some of them.

 

Also, word of mouth and strong-arming might be best. Tell your members to bring friends to try it out. This one worked the best for the club at my past school, as some people we addicted started playing in their dorms as well and brought more people in. Drag your roommates with you, and even if only 1 out of 10 who gets brought along stays on, you're still adding people.

 

EDIT: Events too! We had parties centered around bridge (lame?) and made drinking games out of it. All 21 or older, of course. Incidentally these events had the highest attendance... hmmm...

[Aberlour10]

I think this issue is maybe only an advertising problem, There are probably enough people who would teoretically join, but your offer is "lost" between 1001 other academic recreational activities. University bridge in Poland is very strong organized with a lot of advertisment for new members among new students.

There are surely Open Days at your University. What about a small info-stand of your club there for example? I think it is worth a try.

 

Robert

[jjbrr]

All 21 or older, of course. Incidentally these events had the highest attendance... hmmm...

 

of course lol.

 

Yeah, I taught classes to high school students (all 16-18) and it was pretty hard to get them coming back, but I had the most success with "Hey, everyone bring a friend next week. So and so is making cookies, I'm bringing soda, if everyone pitches in a few bucks we'll get pizza." So I spent a couple bucks on soda, but instead of 1-2 tables we had 4-5. I'm sure with an entire university campus available to you, you can get much better results.

 

In other words, the priorities of a bridge club should be 1) to socialize and a distant 2) learn bridge.

[jjbrr]

Pizza + don't stop posting fliers/advertisements in high-traffic areas around campus.

Party hat +1.

It's a sombrero :)

[kayin801]

Pizza + don't stop posting fliers/advertisements in high-traffic areas around campus.

Party hat +1.

It's a sombrero :)

Preemptive retribution for your snarky comment that was coming about underage drinking :D

 

AND YES OF COURSE... *cough*

[vuroth]

In other words, the priorities of a bridge club should be 1) to socialize and a distant 2) learn bridge.

Hey, I like duplicate as much as the next poster here, but competition is NOT why bridge is so popular. It's still one of the most common ways for certain parts of my family and circle of friends to socialize.

 

Also, why can't a sombrero be a party hat? It's certainly festive.

[NickRW]

OMG. I just remembered a drinking song from Uni days about a sombrero. Not to repeated in polite company - ooh errrr.

 

Nick

[Bbradley62]

If your U has a strong intramural program, see if you can get bridge listed as an intramural sport. It was at my school, so each house put up a team in order to get intramural points, which allowed bridge players to meet each other and then keep a club active.

[barmar]

If you go the intramural route, doesn't that cause other problems? You can't have non-students in the club, you can only play team games, each house can only field one team, etc.? How would you have a normal pair session that way?

 

My weekly club game is at a college, but at least half the members are non-students. These days we're at 6-7 tables, down from 10-11 a few years ago.

[Rossoneri]

I kind of suspect OP is not studying in a US university.

[Bbradley62]

If you go the intramural route, doesn't that cause other problems? You can't have non-students in the club, you can only play team games, each house can only field one team, etc.? How would you have a normal pair session that way?

 

My weekly club game is at a college, but at least half the members are non-students. These days we're at 6-7 tables, down from 10-11 a few years ago.

I simply meant for the intramural program to be a way to meet potential student players, who might be interested in going to the club game.

[mr1303]

Well, from what I can tell from touring the local bridge clubs round here, there aren't any students who are playing outside of university who aren't playing at university.

 

We do hold a stall at the Fresher's Fayre every year, and get around 20-30 people sign up, of which about 10-12 come along for the first week or two, or which between 6-8 turn up regularly.

 

I do like the ideas of maybe playing in the bar area (on a quieter night, otherwise no-one would be able to concentrate), and clubbing together to get take-away pizza. I'll suggest these at the next committee meeting.

 

Any further ideas are welcome.

[Rossoneri]

Any campus wide sports/games events where you can possibly have a mini-bridge tournament? We tried doing one during One World Week this year, not that it was very successful though!

[ClaceyJ]

Hey Mark

 

I have spent the last 6 years as tournament directtor/chairman/captain of my university bridge club (yes, studying medicine takes a long time)

 

We typically get 8 tables in our first term and 5-7 then onwards, with about another 6-8 who play competitively for the university but not at the club. This is more than we got about 5 years ago.

 

Our organisation is such- We go all out to sign people up during freshers fair. We try to get around 100 sign-ups, of whom around 30-40 come along at the beginning. We then try to keep ahold of them by doing seperate free lessons during our first term, and running a club night in a seperate venue. We try to persuade about 12 or so to carry on attending, thus maintaining out membership.

 

What does this suggest- go all out during freshers. If freshers fair is badly organised, find other ways to approach players during the beginning- if other societies get to them first you've already lost.

 

Have access to beer etc during the night- it doesnt effect the game in general, and adds to a relaxed feeling.

 

Find a way to play competitively- getting peoples winning desires involved is a good way to keep people you get along.

 

Ill see if I think of anything else.

[CSGibson]

Another thought - switch to rubber bridge, and offer duplicate as a occasional special event. Put some sort of small stake on it, if allowed. Rubber bridge is much more flexible, allowing people to come in & drop out as needed, which is a big deal at university IMO, since there are so many competing activities and schedules.