September 2019 - 30

For the Record
BY ROBB GORDON | ACBL National Recorder

Have you hugged your
ACBL volunteer lately?

It is often easy to forget that while
the ACBL employs over 200 people, including more than 50 at Headquarters,
almost all the other duties are handled
by volunteers, who freely give their
time. If we didn't have that cadre of
volunteers, providing the tournaments
and services that our members expect
would become prohibitively expensive,
if they could be offered at all.
I have been your recorder for almost
two years. but as an ACBL member for
almost 50 years, most of my activities
have been as a volunteer in various
capacities. Because bridge was my
avocation and not my job, and because
the game has given me so much, I was
happy to give back and even found it
fulfilling.
Nevertheless, there are volunteer
jobs that are mostly thankless. Among
them are unit and district recorders
and disciplinary chairs.
It isn't always fun to have to deal
with players who misbehave or who
have "ethical lapses," especially when
they are your friends and neighbors.
To properly do these jobs, you must
have some bridge experience and ability (not necessarily expert), and more
importantly, you have to be known as
someone who is ethical and a tough
but friendly competitor. In short, these
people must have the respect of their
peers.
To make matters even tougher, we
are guided by a document known as

30 Bridge Bulletin September 2019

the Code of Disciplinary Regulations.
Including two appendices, this document is 90 pages. It certainly doesn't
have to be memorized, but having an
idea where to find particular topics is
essential.
Many times, these tasks are hardest
for those who have been doing them for
a long time. In the good old days, these
issues would be handled by a C&E
(Conduct & Ethics) committee who
usually dealt out rough justice, because the ACBL didn't have the precise
guidelines of today, and, for some, it's
hard to absorb the changes.
But the system has been modernized
and standardized to provide as much
clarity and transparency as possible,
and to make the process more uniform. To help our volunteers, we have
provided a treasure trove of checklists,
forms and flowcharts to aid them in
their tasks.
We also monitor our phones and our
recorder@acbl.org mailbox. We return
all calls and emails, and always stand
ready to assist our volunteers!
If you haven't been a volunteer in
your unit or district, give it a try. There
are jobs for almost all talents and skill
sets, and I can promise that your participation will be welcome.

Unit recorder/disciplinary
positions to be phased out

At the ACBL Board meetings in
Las Vegas, the Board passed a motion
that restructures the unit and district
disciplinary apparatus. The positions

of unit recorder and unit disciplinary
chair will be eliminated, and responsibility for these functions will rest at
the district level. Why is this change
being made? Several reasons:
1.

Many units are small and don't
have enough volunteers (or they
don't have people willing to take on
these tasks).

2. We have 25 districts and about
300 units. We want to have all
disciplinary actions handled in a
way consistent with our Code of
Disciplinary Regulations. It is very
difficult to keep 600 unit officials
trained and current, especially
with turnover that the Office of
National Recorder might not even
be aware of.
3. Units are sometimes so close-knit
that it can be hard to find a panel
that has no conflicts with either
side.
4. There are so few cases, it is almost
impossible for disciplinary personnel to remain "current." During
2018, for example, unit recorders
dealt with 55 cases total ACBLwide. Of course, there are larger
units with an effective recorder.
Those units can keep their recorder by petitioning the district
to make that person an assistant
district recorder. Such requests
may not be unreasonably refused.
This change will take effect Jan. 1,
2020.
◾
September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2019
