September 2022 - 34

Debut Single
L
grandmother's suggestion.
" At first I was unsure, but I knew
my grandma really
liked it, so I thought I'd
give it a try, " Lily said.
" And then I found out I
really liked it. " It took
her about three weeks
to get to that point.
BridgeWhiz is the
ACBL Educational
Foundation's nationwide
online youth
teaching program. Lily
was in a class taught
by Bernie Simkin
over Zoom and Shark
Bridge with about 40
kids from all over the
U.S.
Before starting
BridgeWhiz, Lily
had experience with
another trick-taking
game - euchre.
" Everyone in my
Lily Steck's grandma, Grace Sutherland, got her into bridge.
family plays euchre, "
she said. " I feel like that helped. I've
been playing euchre a very long time, "
since she was 6 or 7.
Grandmother Grace Sutherland
learned that game from her parents
and passed it on to her children and
grandchildren. She and Lily often
partner in their family games.
" She really loves to beat her dad, "
Sutherland said.
" I love to beat anyone, " Lily corrected.
Sutherland
noticed Lily making
sophisticated plays at euchre and realized
she was witnessing a budding
bridge player. When she saw the ad
for BridgeWhiz in the Bridge Bulletin,
she took a picture and texted it to
34 | Bridge Bulletin | September 2022
would be a huge advantage to me. "
Sutherland began learning bridge
in January 2009, a month after Lily
was born, taking a class at a community
college. She still plays party
bridge with the people from that
class, but she started playing duplicate
in 2014. She played in Gold Rush
events in Providence with a pickup
partner.
The BridgeWhiz program includes
two tournaments, one in the middle
and one at the end of the 12-week
class. Lily wasn't able to participate
in the final, but she won the midterm
event, scoring a 74% with first-time
partner Max Sullivan of Olathe KS.
They were recognized in the March
Online player gets first live bridge experience
ily Steck played bridge in person
for the first time ever at the
Youth NABC in Providence, in
July, after learning on BridgeWhiz
last fall. The 13-year-old from Bethlehem
PA entered the program at her
Lily, but she got no response. " I asked
her mom if that meant she wasn't
interested, " Sutherland said, and they
decided she should try again. The
second time, it worked.
" I love the game, " Sutherland said.
" I'm not a fantastic player. If I had
started when I was 13, I think that
By Chip Dombrowski
Bridge Bulletin.
" (BridgeWhiz teachers) Al Bender
and Bernie Simkin wrote glowing
emails about her, " Sutherland said.
Since her BridgeWhiz class ended,
Lily hasn't played much. Sometimes
she plays with Sutherland,
sometimes she
plays on the FunBridge
app. She jumped at the
chance when Sutherland
asked her to come
to Providence. It's not
just her first face-toface
bridge experience
but her second tournament
of any kind. She
came without a partner
and got matched
with Dora Jiang of
Oakville ON.
" I was so excited, "
she said. " It's so much
fun playing bridge
with other kids in
Rhode Island. There's
nothing you can do
with other kids in
Pennsylvania, not in
person anyway. I feel
like clicking a button
and staring at a screen for an hour is
not really as much fun. It's still fun,
but not the same. "
Hours earlier she was on the fence
about in-person bridge, but after two
sessions of it, the verdict was in: " I
like it more. "
Lily plans on taking additional
BridgeWhiz classes, starting with
intermediate next year. She hopes
more of her euchre-playing family
will learn the game.
" I think my youngest cousin wants
to do bridge, " she said. " I think she
wants to come to tournaments with
me and Grandma. "
September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2022
