Host a heat of the Masters Pairs
About the Masters Pairs competition
The Masters Pairs is a two-session competition exclusively for players below a certain Master Point rank. Players must be below the rank of Regional Master, which includes: Local Masters, Club Masters, Area Masters, District Masters, County Masters, Masters, Advanced Masters, Star Masters, Tournament Masters or Premier Masters.
The competition is held at multiple venues around the country, and scored nationally to give overall results.
The competition therefore gives an opportunity for less experienced players to play in a national event, without having to travel too far, and allows them to play against players of their standard rather than entering an event with an ‘open’ field.
It will be held on Sunday 24th February 2019.
Restructuring the competition for 2019
Previously the EBU has rented venues, and has been responsible for running each heat, providing TDs, preparing the boards, etc. This has led to high costs, and thus higher entry fees than the target audience has commonly paid for games of bridge, deterring them from entering. In addition, the target audience is often not connected with the EBU, and therefore is unaware of the competition and efforts to market the competition and encourage participation have not been successful. These combined factors have led to a declining entry.
In 2019, following the success of a similar initiative during the Summer Festival, the EBU is asking clubs to undertake the running of individual heats of the competition. This will have two immediate benefits: the costs will be reduced, allowing the entry fees to be reduced; those running the heats have more direct contact with the target audience, and these players feel more connection to the hosts of the heat, thereby allowing improved opportunities to promote the competition. It is therefore hoped that this will increase participation.
Hosting a heat
If your club would be interested in hosting a heat of the competition please contact
comps@ebu.co.uk and we will send you more detailed information. Please note that we may not accept all applications to host a heat – the most likely reason for declining being if there is already a hosting club in your local area.
The key details are:
- The competition must be held on Sunday 24th February, and played over two sessions, but the host club will have the option to start at whatever time they wish between 11am and 2pm.
- Host clubs may charge whatever entry fee they choose, however after the event the club must remit to the EBU £5 per player (to cover both sessions of the competition). The club then retains the remainder of the entry fee, whatever that may be. There will be no UMS in addition to this and it includes VAT as usual so VAT registered clubs can get the VAT element back.
- Clubs should take all entries, and collect all money from the participants.
- The EBU will provide the deal files but clubs will be responsible for dealing boards and printing hand records.
- Clubs will need to provide to the EBU an EBUScore dat file, or a bws (Bridgemate) file from another scoring programme.
- Clubs will be responsible for organising and paying an appropriate TD.
- The EBU will undertake promotion of the competition, and can assist host clubs in promoting the event to a suitable audience in the area, however it is expected that the host club should undertake sufficient promotion itself – whether amongst its own membership or to local players – to ensure that there is an adequate number of participants. Seven tables is considered the minimum for the heat to be viable.
Benefits for clubs and members
The competition provides an opportunity for less experienced players to compete in a national event without having to travel too far from home.
Players have the opportunity to earn Green Points playing in an event at their club.
Prizes will be awarded nationally, including stratified prizes.
We expect extra players to be attracted to the games, including visitors paying visitors’ rates (if deemed appropriate by the host club), so the club should get increased income and save on UMS.
As the competition is played over two sessions there is an opportunity for those clubs with catering facilities to offer refreshments during the break, thus increasing potential revenue. We will ask all clubs to provide details on how participants can obtain refreshments during the interval – whether on site, or information on local eateries – and this will be posted on the competition webpage on the EBU website.
