Oxfordshire Junior Bridge Club are holding a free Online Junior Competitions this Sunday 17th October on RealBridge, and all are welcome. Inexperienced junior players may play with a Teacher/Parent or Grandparent. If you would like to join, email juniorbridgeoxford@gmail.com
Oxfordshire Junior BC set up their online club last March in keeping with government guidelines. Not wanting to leave the dozens of juniors and families without their regular Sunday afternoon sessions the Oxfordshire BC moved online.
The first online competition was held on BBO in May 2020. Many of the youngsters had never heard of BBO but most managed to hunt down the site, dream up an appropriate username, find a partner and be ready to go.
The first competition was so successful that they decided to continue to organise these events on a monthly basis. Less than one year later, there was a switch to using RealBridge with the events continuing, free of charge. During the 15 months of online competitions junior players entered from all over the UK, including Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Wight. The best attended event had 30 pairs playing in two sections, experienced and intermediate.
Now that the juniors are back to a normal school routine, the online competitions will only run during school holidays and breaks. The next two such events will be held on Sundays 17th October and 12th December at 4.00pm on RealBridge
Meanwhile, the Oxford Junior Bridge Club re-opened its doors in September 2020, only to be closed again in November but has been permanently open, during term time, since April 2021. The Autumn Term has started well, with three new families enrolled to learn and everyone thrilled not to have to push four tables together anymore – nobody ever seemed to know who their partner was, least of all the adult volunteers!
The new term starts on Sunday 9th January – all juniors and their families are welcome on any Sunday, first visits are free of charge.