(Left) Margaret Spinks and Margaret Murray playing against Melva Howell and Alan Marriott.
Echuca-Moama is a thriving community that is only growing. One of the many reasons people love the region is the multitude of groups they can be part of.
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To help you find the right group, check out our ‘Why not join ...’ series, where we focus on different community groups.
In today’s edition, Emily Donohoe speaks to Echuca Bridge Club.
No matter your experience with bridge, the Echuca Bridge Club has a space for new members.
Formed in the 1970s, current member Chris Turner’s mother was one of the founders of the group, having played extensively with her husband.
A legacy of bridge followed, and Chris, along with his brother Steve, are now involved in the committee.
“My mother was giving lessons to people locally, and I kind of took over from her,” Chris said.
“I got a qualification in bridge teaching through the Australian Bridge Federation and also became a qualified director as well at local level.”
(Left) Nick Rolfe playing with Guy Galvin (opposite) against John Quayle and Ian Harrison (right).
Chris acts as the club’s only director, making him the first port-of-call when questions around rules and scoring are raised at tournaments.
There are opportunities for other members, including new additions, to complete their director training.
Chris’s teacher training also supports members to learn bridge from scratch.
“I have my structured course for six weeks,” he said.
“It takes two hours a week and at the end of that then people should be able to play bridge at the basic level.”
For those with existing bridge knowledge, there is support to challenge those skills through the club.
“Leigh runs on Monday nights a supervised bridge session,” Chris said.
“She has deals she thinks are going to be interesting, and that’s good for people who have been playing the game for a little bit and want to up their skills.”
Members often travel to competitions across the region and further afield.
“Right now, we do a club competition with Shepparton a few times a year,” Chris said.
“It’s very good fun.
“There’s a few people in the club who go to other clubs to play, like I go to Bendigo on Mondays fairly regularly and there’s a number of people who go to Deniliquin to play.”
(Left) Glenise Masters playing with Shirley Johnson (opposite) and Stephen Turner is playing with Sharon Hughes. Photo: Supplied.
Echuca also hosts its own bigger competitions, with teams from across the state gathering to play against one another.
The most recent tournament had a strong Shepparton contingent travel over.
“We have a kind of trophy in memory of a couple of bridge players, my mother was one of them,” Chris said
“We have some lunch after some bridge, and then we have some more bridge.
“It’s more along the lines of social, it’s not a heavy competition where we win at all costs.”
On a weekly basis, the club has the guided sessions on Monday nights at Echuca Neighbourhood House from 7pm, along with Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 4pm at ENH.
Chris’s lessons run on an as-needed basis, with four to five students per course.
“People... maybe find it overwhelming initially,” he said.
“But, that’s why it's important to have lessons for a lot of people and kind of have a structured approach to learning it.”
The club is welcoming new members to come and observe the Monday night supervised sessions before diving in or taking up Chris’s program.
While there is an element of competition like any card game, members enjoy the social aspect of playing together.
“It's a fun thing because we have a lot of laughs around the bridge table,” Chris said.
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