Sponsor England's junior internationals

Thank you to everyone who made a donation.

To see a list of those sponsoring the squads, and the organisations which have made donations, please visit the Junior Squad page.

The teams
Under 16 Under 21 Under 26 Under 26 Women
Jasmine Bakhshi & Henry Rose; Jamie Fegarty & Liam Fegarty; Oscar Selby & Andy Cope; NPC: Giorgio Provenza; coach: Laura Porro Sam Anoyrkatis & Theo Anoyrkatis; Harry Madden & Kripa Panchagnula; Liam Sanderson & Daniel Winter; NPC: Michael Byrne; coach: Alex Roberts Michael Alishaw & Stephen Kennedy; Kyle Lam & Toby Nonnenmacher; Shahzaad Natt & Ben Norton; NPC: Paul Barden; coach: Graham Osborne Yvonne Wiseman & Liz Gahan; Olivia Bailey & Ewa Wieczorek; Laura Covill & Siyu Ren; NPC: Sally Brock; coach: David Burn

World Championships information: Venue: Li Ze Culture and Sports Palace, Wujiang, China. Dates: 8th - 18th August (play starts on 9th) Schedule: See here; Most days, most of the teams have matches starting at: 10.00 (3am BST), 13.30 (6:30am BST); 15.50 (8:50am BST); 18.10 (11:10am BST). The round robin for the U26 Women and U16s concludes on Monday 13th; for the U26s and U21s it finishes on Tuesday 14th. The eight qualifiers in each competition then enter a knock-out stage. Non-qualifiers, and teams when they are eliminated, play in a consolation Transnational BAM event. The finals take place on 17th-18th (except U16s on 15th). Event website News updates: 1st October, 24th November, 13th December, 11th January, 15th January, 19th February, 28th February, 29th March, 27th April, 14th May, 14th May, 21st May, 25th May, 11th June; 21st June; 2nd July; 6th July; 10th July; 16th July; 19th July; 27th July; 31st July; 14th August

14th August 2018 Despite some excellent performances at times, all four England teams at the World Youth Team Championships in China have missed out on qualifying for the knockout stages. The U16s narrowly missed out, finishing just outside the top eight in 9th place. The U26s and U26 Women both finished in 12th, and the U21s finished in 16th. That all four England teams qualified for the competition exceed all expectations, so their performances in competing among the elite of world junior bridge, against countries where bridge is given far more importance in the national curriculum, is a credit to the players and their coaches. Whilst there will be a sense of disappointment in the squad that none of the teams progressed to the quarter finals, we can all be proud of their efforts, and be confident that England has a bright future in international junior bridge. Only a few of those in China will be too old to play in the 2020 WYTC, so the squads will be looking to use this event as a springboard to compete for medals at future events. The NPCs have been writing blogs whilst in China, and these give an insight in to the highs and lows they experienced at the event - read them here. The event continues with consolation events for non-qualifiers, and the knockout stages for the top eight teams in each competition.

31st July 2018 The U16s have finished second in the World Youth Online Championships.

27th July 2018 Support for the teams has continued with fundraising events at Cambridge BC, and at various London clubs.

19th July 2018 Recent fundraising events organised by Warwickshire CBA, and by Gloucestershire CBA have boosted the total past £52,000. A 'grand' night in the West Midlands; Gloucestershire CBA sims supports Junior fundraising

16th July 2018 England's Juniors have enjoyed a successful trip to Croatia for the European Youth Pairs Championships, leaving with two bronze medals and a number of other good results. Tommy Brass & Ian Robson finished third in the U26 Pairs. Henry Rose and Oscar Selby (pictured right) claimed the bronze medal in the U16 Pairs. See here for more results.

10th July 2018 England's U16 have reached the final of the WBF Youth Teams Online Championships after a victory over the USA. Read Squad leader Giorgio Provenza's report here.

 

6th July 2018 England's U16 squad has continued its preparations for the World Youth Team Championships by progressing to the semifinals of the WBF Youth Teams Online Championships, after a narrow victory over France. We are also delighted that Tetragon will be sponsoring the U16 squad. We are very grateful for their donation, and this takes the fundraising through the £50,000 barrier. Giorgio Provenza, squad leader for the U16s, has written another blog with further news on the squad's activities - that can be read by clicking 'read more'.

 

2nd July 2018 England's U26 team had a good performance in the Tel Aviv International Bridge Festival, where they were narrowly defeated at the semi-final stage. The team was Michael Alishaw & Stephen Kennedy and Shahzaad Natt & Ben Norton.

21st June 2018 Many of England's teams have been competing in the WBF Youth Teams Online Championships. The U16s have reached the quarterfinals. The U26 team lost only two matches, but missed out on qualification for the knockout stages. The teams were: U16 - Jasmine Bakhshi, Dido Coley, Roland Bourne, Henry Rose, Liam Fegarty & Andy Cope. U26 - Toby Nonnenmacher, Kyle Lam, Yvonne Wiseman, Will Roper, Ben Norton & Shahzaad Natt.

11th June 2018 As previously reported, Stansfield Bridge Club have been raising money to help our four junior teams go to China for the world championships in August. Local artist Rui Paes donated prints of his original artwork “Dr Double” to be sold with all proceeds going to the junior fund and the club presented the EBU with a cheque for £1300. Pictured are (L to R) Gordon Rainsford (EBU general manager), Richard Evans (club chairman), Rui Paes and Jerry Cope (EBU treasurer).

25th May 2018 Warwickshire CBA and West Midlands BC are holding a Swiss Pairs at WMBC in Solihull with proceeds going to support the Junior teams. The event is on Wednesday 18th July at 7pm. See here for more details.

21st May 2018 The team which will represent England in the U26 Women's competition at the World Youth Team Championships has been selected:

  • Yvonne Wiseman & Liz Gahan; Olivia Bailey & Ewa Wieczorek; Laura Covill & Siyu Ren; NPC: Sally Brock

Yvonne, Olivia, Ewa and Siyu were part of the medal winning team at the 2017 European Youth Team Championships. Liz played in the last World and European U16 events and is moving up to the U26 team this year. Laura has made numerous international appearances, dating back to 2013. Donations to support the teams continue to come in, with the total now reaching £37k.

14th May 2018 We are delighted to report that fundraising for the junior teams' participation in the World Youth Team Championships has passed £30,000. This means we are over halfway to our primary target, and we know of more donations which are still to come. Many thanks to everyone who has donated so far. See above for the most recent total

14th May 2018 The U26 team which will represent England in the World Youth Team Championships in China has been selected:

  • Michael Alishaw & Stephen Kennedy; Kyle Lam & Toby Nonnenmacher; Shahzaad Natt & Ben Norton; NPC: Paul Barden

For Michael, Toby and Ben this will be a second appearance at the World Youth Team Championships. The others will be making their debuts, though all are veterans of international bridge.

27th April 2018 The England U16 and U21 teams to compete in the 2018 World Youth Team Championships, in China in August, have been selected. The teams will be: U21s - Sam Anoyrkatis & Theo Anoyrkatis; Harry Madden & Kripa Panchagnula; Liam Sanderson & Daniel Winter; NPC Michael Byrne U16s - Jasmine Bakhshi & Henry Rose; Jamie Fegarty & Liam Fegarty; Oscar Selby & Andy Cope; NPC Giorgio Provenza; coach Laura Porro. You can read a blog from Giorgio here, with updates on the U16 squad's training and their participation in an online competition organised by the WBF.

29th March 2018 Two U26 teams took part in the White House Junior Internationals in the Netherlands as part of their preparation for the World Championships. More information is available here.

28th February 2018 The U16s have held a second training weekend to prepare for the Championships. You can read a blog from Giorgio Provenza, U16 squad leader, here. His first blog, from their training session in December, is here.

19th February 2018 The teams' preparations have continued with a great result in the Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer Trophies. Both the U26s and U21s retained the trophies, with an additional EBU team finishing in second place in the Junior Camrose.

15th January 2018 English Bridge Education & Development has offered its support to the ongoing fundraising efforts for the junior teams participating in the 2018 World Youth Team Championships. Not only will EBED be making a donation from its funds, but a page has been established on its website which allows individuals to make a donation to the fundraising effort through EBED, thereby allowing Gift Aid to be reclaimed. These donations will then be included as part of a larger donation by EBED to the EBU to support the junior teams. Part of EBED's remit is to promote and develop the playing of bridge by those in full time education, and its constitution makes specific provision for supporting junior involvement in events organised by the World Bridge Federation. The fundraising will not only contribute to the costs of participation, but also to the squad's training sessions in the build up to the event so they can perform as well as possible in the competition. EBED hopes that this may give further enthusiasm to youngsters who may just be starting to play; that it may motivate more to give bridge a try; and that it may encourage more people to set up bridge activities for young players. The EBU, and those involved in the squads are very grateful for EBED's contribution.

11th January 2018 Fundraising has got off to a good start, with a number of new donations received. To see a list of those who are sponsoring the squads, and who have made donations, please visit the Junior Squad page. Stansfield Bridge Club have found a novel way to support the efforts. Alongside a donation from the club they are also selling copies of the print you can see to the left, painted by club member, and esteemed artist, Rui Paes, with all proceeds going to the fundraising effort. See here for more information.

13th December Fundraising to send our four Junior Teams (U26; U26 Women; U21; U16) to the World Youth Teams Championships next year has begun in earnest. EBU Vice-Chairman Ian Payn has taken responsibility for the campaign after the resignation of Darren Evetts from the EBU Board. He will be supported by the Chairman of the Selection Committee, Gillian Fawcett, Squad Leaders, players themselves and their parents, in his endeavours to engage counties clubs and individuals in raising funds for this worthwhile cause. County Chairmen have already been written to, and the response so far has been encouraging (Sussex having already raised funds well before the letters even went out), and we have also received a very generous donation from the Worshipful Company of Playing Card Makers. This campaign has only two rules:

  • 1. No contribution is too small. We are grateful for any effort.
  • 2. No hard sell: this is an entirely voluntary affair.

There is very exciting news on the major sponsor front, as well. Squad Leader for the Women’s U26 Sally Brock has managed to acquire a massive £10,000 donation from Touchlight to fund travel and, crucially, training for the U26 Women’s team. We are incredibly grateful to them.

"Touchlight is delighted to support the Under 26 Women’s Bridge team and look forward to seeing their progress throughout 2018. Touchlight was established on the conviction that our ever-increasing understanding of DNA would lead to its emergence as a material of the future. As such we have developed, patented, scaled and evidenced a revolutionary enzymatic platform to enable the new generation of DNA-based products."

But it’s not all about big packages – we want everyone who wants to, to feel a part of this, to feel they’re encouraging the future of the game. Thanks also to No Fear Bridge for their support of the U16s through the donation of free membership to their website to all the squad and coaches. To see a list of those who are sponsoring the squads, and who have made donations, please visit the Junior Squad page.

24th November 2017 Thank you to all those who have so far expressed an interest in sponsoring the junior teams. The question has been raised, shouldn’t funding International teams (including juniors) come from the EBU’s budget? The answer to this question is, of course, ‘Yes’. However, aside from the matter of balancing the budget in the wake of such an excellent, and admittedly unexpected, performance, such an unprecedented achievement for the junior teams provides an ideal opportunity for us to showcase their success by reaching out to Members, and the wider community, for support. By showcasing this accomplishment we not only raise awareness of bridge in the wider community - and some positive news on the back of recent disappointments is welcome - but also brings the Junior Teams to the centre of activity within our Clubs and Counties. This alone may be enough to inspire young people to take an interest in the game, and see that there is a great opportunity to be had from learning at a young age and, potentially, representing their country! To bring you up to date, we have received some interest in sponsoring one or more of the teams. If you would like to receive our information pack on the sponsorship opportunities which are available then please contact us. We have also started collating ideas of how Clubs and Counties might find ways to contribute. Some ideas so far are:

  • That clubs could, for an agreed period, add a voluntary premium to the Universal Membership fee. This provides local communities with the opportunity to contribute without the need for organising fundraisers. Interestingly, if every affiliated club added £1 per player to its table money for one week we would raise around £39,000 – the job would be almost done. We have already received interest from one club who are keen to engage with this idea. If you would like to discuss this option in more detail please do not hesitate to contact us.
  • Play with a Junior International – We could arrange for one or more of the junior squad to attend a session at your club where members could ‘bid’ to play a session of bridge with a Junior International (conditions will apply).
  • Bridge Drives
  • Raffles, etc

If you would like to discuss any aspect of sponsorship/fund raising further, please do not hesitate to contact us on postmaster@ebu.co.uk, or 01296 317200. Thank you for your interest, and support.

1st October 2017

SPONSOR ENGLAND’S JUNIOR INTERNATIONALS!

This is your opportunity to help our young players take part in the 2018 World Youth Team Championships

The superb and unprecedented performance by all our junior teams in the 2017 European Championships means every team has qualified to play in the 2018 World Youth Team Championships in China. This outstanding achievement by the U26s, U26 Women, U21s and U16s, means that England will be the only European country represented in all four competitions in Suzhou, from 9th to 18th August.

From top, members of the U26 team, the U26 Women’s team, the U21s and the U16s who powered through the European Youth Championships (teams may change for 2018)

Together we can give our support and sponsorship to these talented youngsters. We are sure that members, clubs and Counties will be keen to help with fundraising. The Bridge community worldwide will be able to see the support and encouragement that English bridge players have given to their junior teams. If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions for fundraising, or can offer personal sponsorship, please email - postmaster@ebu.co.uk - or call the EBU on 01296 317200. Thank you very much for your support.

This fundraising was originally being coordinated by Darren Evetts, though he has since resigned from the EBU Board. It is now being coordinated by Ian Payn, EBU Vice Chairman. Ian can be contacted on Ian.Payn@ebu.co.uk.

August 18, 2018