Connie Nelson from St. Cloud has been simply marvelous in sending us updates and photos about activity at the St. Cloud Bridge Club. Please join me in thanking Connie and all the others who are devoting time, effort and fun to players in their area!
Connie has offered to write future stories about bridge in St. Cloud. Please give her and everyone else doing their best to grow and improve Minnesota bridge!
And my best to all the players who are ramping up their games, learning and having a wonderful time with it all!
Do the best players at your Club partner with only other good players?
This seemed to be the norm at our St. Cloud Bridge Club – which meant that those players on a learning curve were left playing with others who were also learning. But earlier this year, we decided to shake that up a bit! “What if we intentionally paired the learners with more experienced players?”
That question became the impetus for six months of Mentoring Games that Wayne Reynolds has spearheaded since May. Wayne explains his original intentions, “We were hoping to improve the quality of our learners’ bridge play. Roger Melaas and I were already teaching lessons each Tuesday. With this new program, we hoped that an experienced player could help the learner apply those lessons and improve their skills as part and parcel of playing a sanctioned game.”
Shown here, from left: Sue Knauss, Wendy Hennes, Saundy Fedor and Wayne Reynolds.
How did Wayne and Roger go about organizing the initiative? People were first asked if they were interested in either being a mentor or being mentored. The learners were given the opportunity to request a particular mentor. Wayne and Roger then arranged all the partnerships, trying to match those requests whenever possible. The response was overwhelmingly positive! Wayne reflected: “I expected about 7 or 8 people to express an interest in being mentored, but the response was much greater. We ended up with twenty partnerships!”
Each pair was asked to make a six-month commitment - to play together at least once a month on the third Thursday. Six months of Mentor Games were then organized.
Each month’s Mentor Game started with a half-hour lesson. At the initial session of May 16, the first half hour was used by each partnership to complete their pair’s unique convention card. At each subsequent month, a singular topic was covered:
- June 20 John Koch IMP Strategies
- July 18 Dan Finn No-Trump Bids
- August 15 Kory Solarz Negative Doubles
- Sept 19 Roger Melaas Responses to Take Out Doubles
- October 17 Wayne Reynolds Planning Your No-Trump Play
The October 17th game will be the final game of this first six-month mentoring commitment. Wayne is eager to start the next six months! (Care to join us?) However, because the St. Cloud Club loses many of its members in the winter months, he knows the program will need to be reconfigured or taken to a smaller scale. He’d like to retain the six-month commitment of partnerships. He’d like to see the learners try out new mentors. Otherwise, he’s open to suggestions.
I decided to ask a sampling of both mentor and learner participants for their “lessons learned” (i.e. what they liked and what they’d like to see different). I wanted to capture ideas while they were fresh to both inform our club’s future program, and to possibly be useful to another MN club wishing to start a Mentor Game program.
Lessons Learned - What Worked Well?
People were universally positive. Following are the key themes of what was appreciated:
The dedication shown
- “This program proves the overwhelming interest and devotion to bridge in St. Cloud.”
- “The commitment! People made a six-month commitment. There was no turn-over.”
- “Marvelous that so many good players were willing to give their time so freely.”
Starting with a shared convention card at the level of the learner’s play – and then build!
- “A key to success was a “one step at a time” philosophy, where we added only one convention at a time from the initial level of the learner’s play.”
- “Avoid throwing too many things at a learner in a single game.”
The short, focused lessons
- “I loved having a lesson each time, and appreciated the hand-outs.”
- “Dan Finn’s No-Trump lesson was perfect.”
- “John Koch was instrumental behind the scenes, helping to prepare the lessons.”
The pairings
- “Pairing experienced players with less experienced was brilliant.”
- “I appreciated the “more balanced” pairings and a chance to win some master points!”
Teaching at the “instructional moment” in the play
- “I greatly appreciated my mentor’s approach: ‘let’s ask questions or explain as we go.’ Some of our opponents didn’t allow it, but others did. It was so helpful to process as the bidding and play was going on.”
- “I really liked hearing about strategies and techniques right at the moment when they came up in the play.”
Lessons Learned – Improvements To Consider
Points! - A “Point” of Tension
A difference of opinion surfaced over whether to sanction the game. Some thought that if the game was non-sanctioned (i.e. no master points), even more learning could occur because all tables would allow open, ongoing questions and discussion. Others thought if points weren’t awarded, we would lose some participants. One person suggested keeping the points, but playing fewer hands.
- “Play fewer hands, and add time to discuss the hands after each hand or set.”
Align the Lessons with the Play Even More
- “I would like to see pre-dealt boards prepared to coordinate with the lesson of the month. Have at least 4 hands where you know the lesson’s topic will arise.”
- “Go deep on one concept. In other words, talk about one convention for several sessions in a row – going deeper each time.”
- “Give us the lesson to read ahead of time so we will be ready with questions as we walk in the door.”
Have Both Mentors and Learners Teach
- “I would love to continue the half-hour lessons before a game each month – even if the mentoring program does not continue. I am sure each of us has a lesson we could share.”
- “Having the learners teach a lesson might be an idea. Sometimes teaching someone else is the best way to learn.”
And - For something completely different!
- “We’ll have a smaller crowd this winter. How about having four good players play four-six hands while everyone else watches? They could have a running commentary – ‘Why I am bidding what I am. Why I am stopping. Why I am making this lead. What I know about the other players’ hands at this moment, etc.”
In sum, while we already offered lessons coupled with “chat bridge” on Tuesdays, this was the first time we tried formal pairings of experienced players with learners – across a half year. To us, this has been one more example of the commitment to bridge excellence at the St. Cloud Bridge Club!
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The following picture shows mentors at the Sept 19th Mentor Game. Standing, front row: David Boushek, Char Thul, Roger Melaas, Kory Solarz, Sandy Hatch, Steve White, Joan Pickard, Jane Curtis and Sue Knauss. Standing, back row: Greg Nastrom, John Melancon, Jim Schnepf, and Wayne Reynolds. Sitting in front: Connie Nelson. Not pictured: Rick Bredlie, Dan Finn, Gloria Mize, Paul Sitz and Jerry Westby.
The following picture shows individuals being mentored. Standing, from the left: Ruth Sundby, Darlene Nastrom, Liz Hammer, Charlie Maternus, Amy Roske, Judy Mosford, Wendy Hennes, Ginger HInkemeyer, Bobbie Eich, Shari Pretzer, Saundy Fedor, and Marlene Schroeder. Not pictured: Mark Anderson, Tom Allen, David G. Hanson, Judy Knutson, John Mahowald, Tom Minor, Rhonda Rossman and Nancy Schnepf.