| Bridge club recruits students |
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| Written by Sarah Richmond | |
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The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a nationwide association of Bridge players. The St. Louis League, run by President Jennifer Lune, has over a thousand members who play for fun and participate in tournaments. Many people associate Bridge with retired people who want to stave off Alzheimer’s, but the ACBL is now trying to reach out to a younger group. As Lune put it, “to share the passion of what [the members of the ACBL] are passionate about.” The University of Missouri Rolla does not currently have a bridge club. However, Daryl Fisher and Ed Hale, both former professors at UMR, are attempting the impossible: luring UMR students out of their dorm rooms, away from their X-Boxes and to the Bridge tables. “We challenge the students to come over here and beat these old fogies. When I started playing there were lots of older people and half of the fun was beating those old turkeys,” said Hale. Fisher and Hale run the Rolla chapter of the American Chapter Bridge League, which has over a thousand members in the St. Louis area. The league holds meetings every Tuesday at 6:45 and Friday at 12:30, with an open invitation to anyone who would like to play bridge. Now, Hale is offering classes to UMR students who would like to learn how to play. The lessons are going to be held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the Holloway House, located at 10th and Holloway. All UMR students are encouraged to join; Fisher and Hale stand by their bridge lessons. “If students keep up the lessons for a semester, they’ll be better than half the Bridge players in the country,” said Hale. As an extra incentive to attract young people to Bridge, the ACBL is offering a five hundred dollar scholarship to any student who teaches a group of students how to play bridge. Hale and Fisher both started playing Bridge in college. “It was the standard Student Union activity. There was always a bridge game going, always a chance to earn a little money,” they explained. “When I went to high school, there wasn’t anybody who didn’t know how to play Spades. No one plays Spades anymore. Now everyone knows about the latest computer stuff,” said Hale. Rolla had a Bridge club in 1969 that lasted for ten years. The club re-started in 1991, but it struggled to keep members and eventually failed. “It’s not easy to get students to come,” said Hale. “You can’t learn bridge in an evening, then again, you can’t learn Dungeons and Dragons in an evening either.” Fisher countered that those who stick with Bridge become lifelong players. “It’s a trick game like Spades or Hearts. It’s very addicting,” he said. “For a computer person, this game is ideal because the use of artificial language is just like programming,” said Fisher. “This game is good for engineers too, because of the good logic exercises. But it’s also the kind of game that a beginner could go up against a world champion in and beat him. Every time I play it, I learn a little something that I didn’t know before,” added Hale. Overall, Bridge is both a challenging and fun. And with a five hundred dollar scholarship available, UMR students may find that playing card games is time well spent. |
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