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My kids' first bridge camp

#1 User is offline   diana_eva 

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Posted 2017-July-27, 05:21

Last week I took my twin daughters to a bridge camp organized by the Romanian Bridge Federation. The camp is organized every year, but until now I wasn't sure the organizers are serious enough, my daughters seemed to young and uninterested in bridge, and we had other plans for the summer.

However, this year I learned about the camp months in advance, the location is gorgeous, the price was a bargain and my kids had no other camp scheduled. So I decided to give it a go. My girls are 11 years old now, definitely old enough to be able to count points and cards and not feel like it's school. The camp cost half of what the cheapest camp would have been, and it was 7 nights/8 days all inclusive, as opposed to the usual format of 5 nights/6 days. I admit the price was the deal breaker for me. I could send two kids for the price of one lol

The schedule was intense: 9AM breakfast, 11AM to 1PM bridge lesson, 2PM lunch, 4 to 6PM bridge lesson, 7.30 dinner, 8.30 evening tournament. Not much time to do anything in between, but we managed to take a couple of trips around the camp. The location is beautiful and there were plenty amazing places to visit nearby even for a lazy fat-ass anti-sports person like myself.

Much to my surprise the camp was full of kids, some younger than my girls. The vast majority were somewhere around 14 year old though, but it was close enough for my kids to make friends and not feel excluded. I brought 5 children to this camp: my two daughters, a brother and sister friends with my daughter and a boy from another town friends with a friend of a friend... There I was in charge of 5 kids, 3 of them mostly unknown to me. It was pretty scary but I managed, got them back home safe and sound.

The lessons were split by groups: beginners (3 groups), intermediates (2 groups I think, not sure, haven't attended those) and advanced (one group, mostly adults). I took the advanced classes since I was there anyway and I did not regret it. Learned a lot, from a strong Romanian player with a drinking habit (which only made the lessons more fun)

The teachers for the beginner groups were dedicated and careful with the children - this was what I dreaded the most, what if I send the kids there and the lessons are a joke. They taught mini-bridge, with mini-bridge contests and tournaments in the evening. At the end of the week my girls were familiar with the concept of counting tricks before they start playing, establishing long suits, using trumps and had a bit of an idea about how to bid. They were able to play Just Play Bridge and get the bidding right most of the times, even though they weren't specifically taught how to bid.

Many of Romania's best players joined as well, and played with the juniors. Most pairs at the evening tournaments were expert - beginner, but there were also pairs of juniors or established partnerships.

Late at night, after the evening tourney was over, adults would gather at the bar and play social games (not bridge), drink and chat till morning. It was fun and I met a lot of people that I only knew from BBO or Facebook but had never seen face to face. Unfortunately, since I had to look after 5 kids, I had to behave somewhat responsibly, but it was fun to be with the gang even sober.

To top it all, at the end the kids received prizes and there was a graduation ceremony. Yeah, another meaningless diploma, but they actually appreciated it and wanted to keep it. Thought it means more than the usual "participant" diploma from other camps.

My girls loved the camp, including the bridge, because they had an adorable young teacher and they were in a group of children of the same age. They want to come back next year and they want to go to the club to take more lessons (with THAT teacher only!!!) So, we're going to book next year as well, and I'm taking the whole family with me (hubby and reluctant teenager son).


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#2 User is offline   MrAce 

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Posted 2017-July-27, 16:52

Thanks for sharing Diana, they look great!Posted Image
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#3 User is offline   Mkgnao 

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Posted 2017-July-27, 17:44

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The schedule of two long lessons plus a tournament each day sounds gruelling for juvenile newcomers but I'm glad to hear it turned out well. Thank you for your part in reviving the comatose patient.

By the way, they're trying to revive an ancient tradition of youth camps in The Netherlands this year. The problem is that they made the camp insanely overpriced: €195 for barely 3.5 days which explains the title of the following link ("inschrijving jeugdkamp nog steeds geopend wacht niet langer"; in translation "enrollment youth camp still opened, don't wait any longer").

http://www.jeugdbrid...cht-niet-langer
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#4 User is offline   diana_eva 

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Posted 2017-July-27, 18:01

View PostMkgnao, on 2017-July-27, 17:44, said:

I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The schedule of two long lessons plus a tournament each day sounds gruelling for juvenile newcomers but I'm glad to hear it turned out well. Thank you for your part in reviving the comatose patient.

By the way, they're trying to revive an ancient tradition of youth camps in The Netherlands this year. The problem is that they made the camp insanely overpriced: €195 for barely 3.5 days which explains the title of the following link ("inschrijving jeugdkamp nog steeds geopend wacht niet langer"; in translation "enrollment youth camp still opened, don't wait any longer").

http://www.jeugdbrid...cht-niet-langer


The price mattered a lot, like I said. I was determined to go to one of these camps at some point regardless of the price because I love bridge. But thanks to the heavily discounted price I got two of my own kids, I attended myself (normally I wouldn't have afforded it), and I brought three more kids who had no connection with bridge whatsoever. It was $167 for us, travel not included. With travel for us, who live far away from that location, it was a little over $200 per person - still a great deal.

The schedule was not set in stone. Logic of 2-hour long lessons was to get some theory in for about 20-30 minutes then give kids the cards and let them play, which worked wonders. Younger kids were excused after an hour if they got bored. Cards were available at all times. The photo I posted was between lesson and lunch, where my group of children wanted to play by themselves, it wasn't part of a lesson.

For adults, who would typically stay up late at night, the first advanced lesson was moved to noon :) The only thing that was fix schedule was the evening tournament for juniors, which was already a bit too late, so that one couldn't start any later than 8.30 PM.

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