The CBAI President’s Merit Award every year recognises the unsung heroes and heroines of Irish bridge – the volunteers without whom clubs or regions could not function, but who never seek acclaim or put themselves forward for formal office. We probably all know people like this. Well this is your chance to reward their contribution, by nominating them for the President’s Merit Award. A special form is required, which is available on request from Head Office; typically, the winners are nominated by more than one person – either several members of a single club, or several clubs, or a club and the region. The more we know about their activities, the better. They can be teachers, TDs, scorers, administrators, virtual club managers, fundraisers, people who set up and clean up the playing room, etc; in many cases our volunteers perform several of these roles all at once.
We noticed recently this very good article by Tihana Brkljacic, a Croatian international who may be remembered by Irish players as a part of the joint-winning team in the Coen Trophy in 2019, when she played as a guest of Thomas MacCormac, which sums up neatly the role played by these unsung heroes – the same is true all over the world, obviously – and captures nicely how difficult it would be for bridge to be played without their input.
The closing date for nominations is 28 February 2025, after which CBAI President Catherine Byrne will adjudicate on all the nominations. Anyone nominated previously but not chosen as a winner remains a candidate, so there is no need to nominate them again. There are always lots of deserving candidates, but we can only have one winner, so apologies in advance if your nominee is not chosen.