WBF Youth Committee Chairman's Closing Address

Mr President
Mr President Emeritus
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dearest Juniors,

	Panos Gerontopoulos Youth Cmte Chairman

It is so pleasing to have such a large number of important people among us tonight, and we are very happy that we are adding together another golden page to the history book of our sport as we come to the close of our top event, the World Youth Team Championship.

The presence of our sport’s highest authorities here, speaks for itself as it indicates the great interest that is given to the young players. Bridge is conscious that the young players carry the vitality of our sport, and young people should be conscious that bridge offers them a constructive alternative to today’s video nonsense and provides an answer to some of the most painful social problems.

The support offered to Junior bridge is not just words but materializes in a specific programme that addresses all categories of players. The World Youth Team Championship is the flagship of our programme. It covers the world’s top players, and is the end of a long process of selection and qualification. Here we get the answer to who is the world’s best, and here we see who is going to reign in bridge heaven over the coming decades.

A few weeks ago, in Hungary, we concluded another competition, much more massive and diverse, the World Junior Pairs Championship. Nearly 400 young players from almost 30 countries gathered there, in a great bridge event that brought together players of all categories and offered everybody a great satisfaction through tough competition for the top, opportunity for meeting and weighting one’s ability for the average, and participation for the weak.

Immediately afterwards, the World Junior Camp proved that we do care for all young players, not just the top and privileged. In the Camps, bridge shines mainly through its social aspect which makes it so unique among most sports. This is evident when we see that all categories of players can indeed mix together and help one another flawlessly. And we have the opportunity to demonstrate that indeed bridge complements rather than competes with physical sports for a place in the life of a young person.

Now, I am pleased to announce a new event which will become part of our programme as from next year. The World Junior Individual Championship comes to complete the cycle of events that we offer in order to stimulate youth bridge development. Some people are not happy because in the Individual you do not choose your partner but have to team up with many different people. However, those who are able to function in a diverse environment have a great advantage in life. The inaugural event will take place in New York next July, and it is open to all young players from around the world. The Individual will be followed by a World Junior Camp. The two events together will, I am sure, be the year’s top attraction for all Juniors!

Planning and running a programme like the World Junior Programme is not an easy job and requires a lot of time and effort by many people. I would not have had the privilege of presenting this programme to you, if we were not fortunate enough to have a wonderful group of dedicated people working for you on the WBF Youth Committee. I am sure that I would be speaking for all of you if I asked the Committee members present to stand up and receive your applause; Stefan Back, Jean-Claude Beineix, Charlotte Blaiss, Joan Gerard, Barbara Nudelman, Andrea Pagani.

Speaking about such a diverse programme, we should not forget that the situation was not always as positive as it is today. It is therefore our duty to always remember and pay tribute to those who were instrumental in the establishment of Junior bridge.

The pioneer of Junior bridge was undoubtedly André Boekhorst of the Netherlands, who unfortunately is no longer with us. André fought for Junior bridge at a time when most people were even opposed to the idea itself, not to speak of any kind of support. Despite all difficulties, André managed to get Junior bridge off the ground when representative teams from 10 countries met in the first ever international competition for young players in 1968.

The development of Junior bridge in Europe went from strength to strength. Twenty years later, it was time for the WBF to follow suit. This would probably not have happened if Jaime Ortiz-Patiño was not at the helm. As President of the World Bridge Federation in 1986, he established a WBF Youth Committee, and one year later the 1st World Youth Team Championship was launched in Amsterdam, having the Ortiz-Patiño Trophy at stake. As WBF President Emeritus since then, Mr Patiño has hardly missed an opportunity for visiting the Championship and presenting his Trophy. This year was no exception, and we are very glad to have him tonight with us.

At the end of the eighties, Junior bridge saw another advance with its introduction in the schools. The idea was simple but most hopeful: if young people can learn bridge when they are very young and have plenty of free time, they will remain in the sport even if life forces them to abandon it temporarily. The pioneer of this idea was José Damiani, President of the European Bridge League at that time and of the World Bridge Federation today, who a few years later donated the José Damiani Trophy, awarded to the European Schools Champions today.

Finally, I would like to mention two other personalities of the game who have supported Junior bridge actively and with great enthusiasm for many years, and who are with us tonight for this very reason: former WBF President Ernesto d’Orsi of Brazil and EBL President Gianarrigo Rona of Italy.

This year we were fortunate enough to have our top competition held in Paris. At the opening ceremony I mentioned that no one should miss the opportunity of seeing the beauty of Paris and enjoy its cultural treasures. I hope that you did so but, if not, that you took a taste that will guide you to come back here again and again.

Holding the championship in Paris was made possible thanks to the generosity of our sponsor, Société Générale, and the French Bridge Federation who, among all other support, allowed us to use their wonderful headquarters at St.Cloud. I would like to thank the French Bridge Federation and its President Maurice Panis most heartily for that.

Deciding a championship is one thing; organizing it, another – and there is a long way in between. The fact that we have reached the end so successfully is the result of a combined effort by many people whom we should now thank.

Let me start with two ladies who did their utmost to ensure that we would receive proper hospitality in Paris: Christine Francin and France Fiastre.

A person who was instrumental in the preparations, the running and took great care to secure that we had a great time at the FFB headquarters and therefore deserves our gratitude was FFB General Manager Jean-Claude Thuillier.

The technical genius behind the tournament planning was Claude Dadoun. He was ably assisted by Fadéla, Lakdar & Mohamed Brahmi, François Evrard, Frédéric Reaux, with Vincent Lamaire in the Computer Services, Annie Chekroun in the duplication, and the indefatigable caddy Sebastien Evrard.

Our team of Tournament Directors who ensured a flawless tournament and left the Appeals Committee practically unemployed consisted of Chief Bertrand Gignoux and Assistant Chief Marc van Beijsterveldt.

The excellent Vugraph show owes a lot to Chief Commentator Barry Rigal, ably assisted by the extraordinary Paul Chemla and, of course, to the team that run it, Elisabethe Antelme, Jean-François Chevalier and Elisabeth Piganeau.

If you enjoyed the Daily Bulletin, and I am sure that you did, then please show your appreciation to Editor Brian Senior, Co-Editor Peter Ventura and Layout Editor George Hadjidakis. And, of course, to our Internet staff George Georgopoulos and Marco Marin.

Last but not least, the person who is at fault when nobody else is and carries overall responsibility for the smooth running of the tournament, the Director of Operations Dimitri Ballas.

I would only like to add just a few words in order to thank you, the young players, for making this championship possible with your participation and crowning it with such a success with your good ethics and excellent sportsmanship. It is on these values that Junior bridge has always relied. You have continued the tradition. In this way, you are paving the future and give us a good reason to continue servicing this most important section of our sport.

Thank you for this, and thank you for a wonderful time in Paris.
Have a safe journey back home, and see you soon in one of future events.

Panos Gerontopoulos
WBF Youth Committee Chairman