[gprentice]

Do many Bridge clubs have reduced table fees for school pupils or fulltime university students? My club doesn't but I wish it did. School kids and students tend to have zero income and playing Bridge regularly is unaffordable for most or many of them. Is there a prevailing opinion on this?

[mike777]

 gprentice, on 2025-February-11, 19:34, said:

Do many Bridge clubs have reduced table fees for school pupils or fulltime university students? My club doesn't but I wish it did. School kids and students tend to have zero income and playing Bridge regularly is unaffordable for most or many of them. Is there a prevailing opinion on this?

JOB, you can work and be full time student, very common..

[jillybean]

The Vancouver Bridge Centre has a $5 table fee for students, regular fee $12

https://www2.cs.sfu....an-bc/index.htm

[DavidL321]

I honestly don't think it matters. Once they get exposed to the reality that bridge teachers aren't fully invested in their development because said teachers don't care about anyone who isn't already established, they'll move on to other games.

I should know because I have given up looking for a teacher who sincerely wants to work with a neurodivergent and teach on my terms (read: whiteboard lectures only, because I can't handle PowerPoint slides), and now I am reduced to just watching tables on BBO when I want my brain to be on autopilot.

David

[barmar]

DavidL321, on 2025-February-11, 21:50, said:

I honestly don't think it matters. Once they get exposed to the reality that bridge teachers aren't fully invested in their development because said teachers don't care about anyone who isn't already established, they'll move on to other games.

The question is about fees for playing, not classes.

When they said "students", did you think they meant bridge students? I think they meant students in primary school and college.

There are two purposes to giving them reduced fees: Accomodating the fact that they have little or no income, and attracting new players to the game so it doesn't die due to attrition.

The club I play in regularly is free for students. The regular table fee is also one of the cheapest around, $5/game (we just added a $1 surcharge for special games that ACBL charges higher table fees for).

[DavidL321]

barmar, on 2025-February-12, 11:27, said:

The question is about fees for playing, not classes.

When they said "students", did you think they meant bridge students? I think they meant students in primary school and college.

There are two purposes to giving them reduced fees: Accomodating the fact that they have little or no income, and attracting new players to the game so it doesn't die due to attrition.

The club I play in regularly is free for students. The regular table fee is also one of the cheapest around, $5/game (we just added a $1 surcharge for special games that ACBL charges higher table fees for).

The game is already dying due to attrition because new players are not being taught on their terms and teachers are not making an effort to make the game accessible to those who don't drive (like me) but MUST have whiteboard lectures, no exceptions, to be able to play. I stand by my position and make no apologies for it.

[blackshoe]

I gather you want a teacher to go to you and teach one-on-one. That may be doable, but more expensive than you going to a class with other bridge students.

Another thought: is a chalkboard an acceptable substitute for a whiteboard?

[DavidL321]

blackshoe, on 2025-February-12, 11:46, said:

I gather you want a teacher to go to you and teach one-on-one. That may be doable, but more expensive than you going to a class with other bridge students.

Another thought: is a chalkboard an acceptable substitute for a whiteboard?

Or online provided (s)he films in a classroom and uses the board. That post has been in the relevant forum section for a few days now with no hits even though I came out and said I would pay for the right fit. So I think I have made my point. Don't tell me to sign up for the ACBL's Intro to Bridge course because as a neurodivergent I am not taking a class with 23 neurotypicals under any circumstance, and especially one with no whiteboard lectures.

It is true that I would tolerate a chalkboard as a last resort.

[blackshoe]

I wouldn't tell you to do anything.

[pescetom]

gprentice, on 2025-February-11, 19:34, said:

Do many Bridge clubs have reduced table fees for school pupils or fulltime university students? My club doesn't but I wish it did. School kids and students tend to have zero income and playing Bridge regularly is unaffordable for most or many of them. Is there a prevailing opinion on this?

I didn't vote because I think the poll is both exaggeratedly detailed and somewhat illogical, but I fully agree with the idea that young people with no job should pay very little.
I am bemused by the table fees that some are paying, I trust they receive an excellent service (nice venue, good coffee, certified director) in return.

[jdiana]

I vote for senior citizen discounts. Oh, wait . . . that would bankrupt every bridge club in the world.

[mike777]

If you are young and have time to play bridge, you have time for a job or two jobs..

I mean you don't go to to school for free..books, supplies ,clothes, that stuff is not free..
College is even more stuff, food, rent etc..

If you can afford a phone you can pay the minimum cost for bridge, geez..

If you are traveling to your local bridge club buses are not free..

[pescetom]

mike777, on 2025-February-12, 14:33, said:

If you are young and have time to play bridge, you have time for a job or two jobs..

I mean you don't go to to school for free..books, supplies ,clothes, that stuff is not free..
College is even more stuff, food, rent etc..

If you can afford a phone you can pay the minimum cost for bridge, geez..

If you are traveling to your local bridge club buses are not free..

I can relate to that with our fees, and also in comparison to alternative pastimes of students (making breweries prosperous).
But 12 dollars just to play bridge once, plus travel?
In my club you can play an entry level tournament for the equivalent of 2.6 dollars, with free tuition and a decent venue.

[mikl_plkcc]

 pescetom, on 2025-February-12, 15:40, said:

I can relate to that with our fees, and also in comparison to alternative pastimes of students (making breweries prosperous).
But 12 dollars just to play bridge once, plus travel?
In my club you can play an entry level tournament for the equivalent of 2.6 dollars, with free tuition and a decent venue.

My club is charging £10 per session for members, I think a few years ago when I played elsewhere the fee was somewhere between £2 and £5.

Unfortunately my club is the closest EBU club to where I live and it is the only one which offers IMP pairs sessions on a weekday convenient to me (Friday) in London and, at such a table fee, I can't really afford 2 sessions per week (and my club doesn't have another pair sessions at a convenient time to me - I don't really have a team to play team sessions).

[pescetom]

mikl_plkcc, on 2025-February-12, 16:23, said:

My club is charging £10 per session for members, I think a few years ago when I played elsewhere the fee was somewhere between £2 and £5.

Unfortunately my club is the closest EBU club to where I live and it is the only one which offers IMP pairs sessions on a weekday convenient to me (Friday) in London and, at such a table fee, I can't really afford 2 sessions per week (and my club doesn't have another pair sessions at a convenient time to me - I don't really have a team to play team sessions).

To be fair, we do have an annual subscription fee of 100 Euros, although that is considerably reduced for those just starting with bridge.

[gprentice]

mike777, on 2025-February-12, 14:33, said:

If you are young and have time to play bridge, you have time for a job or two jobs..

I mean you don't go to to school for free..books, supplies ,clothes, that stuff is not free..
College is even more stuff, food, rent etc..

If you can afford a phone you can pay the minimum cost for bridge, geez..

If you are traveling to your local bridge club buses are not free..

Where I live, bus fares are half price for under 25 year olds. You can buy two or three phones per year for the cost of playing one session of Bridge per week per year so your comment about phones couldn't be more wrong. Not everyone lives in the USA where half the population have expensive iPhones. Food isn't free because it costs money to make and businesses have to make a profit. A Bridge club is not a business, it has no need to make money out of students and reducing the fees might even be a gain due to more students playing and the incremental cost increase for those extra people is less than the table fees they pay. Lighting, heating Director's fees, rates, property maintenance - these costs do not increase if there's an increase in the number of students playing.

[mycroft]

Many clubs in the ACBL are in fact businesses (sole proprietorships), and they do intend to make a (small) profit. There's a lot of money that goes into a club (mostly inventory) just to start, never mind finding a place to rent to play (and store that inventory).

And the costs do go up per table (not much, mind you, but they do). Back in the Martinique days, a bigger game paid bigger directors' fees (which, given the fact that the session was "yours" for at least months at a time, gave you an incentive to grow "your" game).

But discounts for students is a very good way for people to get hooked on bridge, which we frankly need. And some might still play, if the club offers an after-work or weekend game, after they leave school/university and start earning the money they need to pay full rates. If there's a way to get them in the door without losing money or making the game unenjoyable for the normal punters, I'm all for it.