Bridging the gap to face-to-face play

THE Torquay Bridge Club’s membership base has almost tripled in the past year-and-a-half despite the pandemic, signalling a promising future for the club.

President Kym Fraser said the club’s membership numbers was around 29 as of December 2019, but has since grown to a modest total of 72 members today.

“Unlike many clubs in Australia, we have grown substantially in these last 18 to 20 months,” Ms Fraser said.

“That is specifically because we became concerned about the long-term prospects of the club and decided to do a lot of work in bringing people to the club and teaching people about bridge etc.”

Ms Fraser began her role as president at the start of this year, hardly a perfect time to take the reins of a community-based group, but she is very proud of what the group has become over the past year despite the difficulties.

“It’s certainly been challenging; we’ve had to be on top of everything as a committee with all the state government regulations, and as has been the case over time those regulations have changed which we’ve notified our members accordingly.

“But the club has definitely grown into something we can be proud of. I love the vibe of the club, it’s very friendly. Everyone puts in and does something, no matter how big or small the contribution is. There’s a real sense of the group being owned by the members and run by the members.”

Over the last 18 months, with the large demographic of the group being a little older, the Torquay Bridge Club has had to adapt to online play using a service called RealBridge.

The RealBridge platform allowed players to see and talk with each other just as they do over a real bridge table.

Last week, Ms Fraser sent an email out to club members stating that regular face-to-face play was to resume at Oak Tree Place on Anderson Street in Torquay.

Members will have a choice whether they would like to continue playing online bridge or they can participate in person two to three times per week.

The club meets for Bridge on Monday and Wednesday from 12pm and Friday afternoons from 2pm.

If the Torquay Bridge Club sounds of interest to you, head to the club’s website at torquay.bridgeaustralia.org or contact Ms Fraser at 0434 689 598.