Saturday, June 1st at 9:30AM, Reno Youth Bridge Students will congregate at the Reno Bridge Center, where at 10:00AM, the final tournament of the Year will be held. The format is pairs and the competition will be to win the Year End Pairs Championship Trophy shown here. Last year this prestigeous trophy was won by Henry Weisberg and Mathew McKinley shown holding renoyouthbridge.com/wp-adminthe trpophy. Also determined at this tournament will be the rankings in the Reno YHouth Bridge Achievement Plan competition. First place wins a $1000 College Scholarship and $250 worth in Merchant gift certificates. Second place wins $500 in Gift Certificates and the n ext 18 students will receive gift certificates in decendikng amoujnts based on their final position in the RYBAP rankikngs. At May 15th the leading student is Henry Weisberg followed by Arsh Bhardwaj of Sparks, Brenna Spackman of Depoali, and Mathew Longlend also of Sparks Middle School. Middle School tgeachers are also in the competition and the teacher whose team wins the Silver Cup and the Teacher who had the most students attend the three Major Tournaments each receive $250 Merchant Gift Certificates.
The Year end Pirs Championships will be held at the Reno Bridge Center located at 2850 Wrondel Way. Wrondel Way runs parallel to South Virgnia Street one block east at aboout the location olf the Peppermill Hotel and Casino. Teachers should inquire of the members olf their class who will attend and if any of them need transportation.
Learn MoreA strong team of four from Shaw Middle School played solid bridge and scored a narrow victory over Sparks Middle School’s Team #2 Saturday April 27th at the John Ascuagas Nugget Hotel. Shaw’s winning 
team was composed of Zachary Foster, Davis Troyer ,Andrew Wishcher and Joseph Hogan. Shaw scored 53 total Liberty Points to win by two points over the second place team, Sparks #2 which scored 51 Liberty points. Sparks #2 was composed of Yash Shah, Smit Shah, Trace Turner and Susie Davenport. In 3rd place was the HDMS Charter School Team of Harley DeGuzman, Alex Woods, Kat Kallas and Kolton Kallas. The match came right down to the last session when Sparks was only 2 Victory points behind and if they could have a good round they had a chance to catch or even overtake Shaw #2. But as it turned our both teams could manage only a four imp win in the last session so each was awarded 12 Victory points and the 2 point differential became the margin of victory for Shaw# 2. Each team did quite well as there was only a 10 VP point difference between the leading team and the team finishing in 5th place. Ten VPs 
is relatively small number to overcome in a team game. It is effectively the difference a team would score if when vulnerable, one team bid game and the opposing team fail to get the game bonus. over 20 or so hands this little 300 point difference was what would 
have won the tournament by anyone in the top five finishing positions. Members of the Shaw Team #2 received a total of 70 RYBAP Points for attending and winning the Spring Team Game Championship. But more important, Shaw #2 won the RYB-WCSD Silver Cup Perpetual Trophy or at least its possession for their school to display in their Trophy case. Shaw Middle School was one of the first schools to join Reno Youth Bridge Middle School program and the winning of this trophy is dedicated to the several Principals who have been so supportive of the Shaw Bridge Class.
April 14, 2013: Erin Walsh is a student at The Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology (AACT) High School. In addition to being proficient in academics, Erin is a member of the AACT Bridge Team. Last fall she suffered a mysterious malady which caused the loss of her sight. As a result, while she continues able to audit her high school classes, she was restricted from unaccompanied access to the campus after school activities. This caused her to have to be picked up from school by her mother at the end of the day’s regular curriculum classes and prevented her free access to the library or study areas during that period between her last class and the participation in her passion, learning contract bridge as a member of the school’s Bridge team. The Directors of Reno Youth Bridge, Inc. the non-profit organization responsible for teaching and administering interscholastic bridge competition in the Washoe County School District, met with Erin’s mother and worked out a plan that was approved by the school’s Principal, Robert Sullivan, whereby Dan Green, the RYB teacher and AACT volunteer Bridge Coach, was approved to act as concierge for Erin during the period between her final class and the beginning of the after school bridge club. Hopefully, Erin’s sight is going to be restored in the near future but the temporary loss doesn’t prevent her from actively playing the game and in competition too. Seen here playing in a recent Member Guest tournament at the Reno Bridge Center, Erin’s eyes are provided by her mother, Susan, who whispers the specific cards in her hand and those on the board and she memorizes them so thereafter she can verbally select and call out her bids or which card to play at any specific trick. The game of bridge is fast becoming a challenging competitive sport played by more and more young people in WCSD after school activity classes. Reno Youth Bridge, with support from the American Contract Bridge League Education Foundation, and the United Way of Northern Nevada and The Sierra, provides all the playing equipment, teaching material and instructors for the eleven participating Middle Schools and High Schools. RYB also sponsors three major interscholastic tournaments each year, the next being the Spring Team Game Championships which will be held on April 27th at the John Ascuagas Nugget Hotel in Sparks, Nevada. At this event, bridge teams from AACT High School, Davidson Academy, Hillside Elementary and HDMS Charter school will join Billinghurst, Cold Springs, Depoali, O’Brien, Pine, Shaw and Sparks Middle Schools in competition to win possession of the RYB-WCSD “Silver Cup” perpetual Team Trophy. 
The game has fascinated many youngsters as it helps them learn critical thinking and inferential analysis, something that can’t be taught from text books. Playing bridge is a mental exercise that enhances academic proficiencies. Susan Davenport, a WCSD-RYB middle school teacher and coach of the Sparks MS Bridge team describes it as being “something like basketball for the brain without ever having to endure the pain of a sprained ankle”.
Reno Youth Bridge, Inc. is a Nevada non-profit corporation qualified as a tax exempt entity under section 501c.3 of the Internal Revenue Code. RYB was founded in 2008 and current directors are: Kathy Lane, President, Bud Brewer, Treasurer, Molly Rakestraw, Secretary, David Weinberg, VP, Dan Green, VP and John Barber, VP.
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Reno, Nev. April 2, 2013: United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra (UWNNS) announced its funded partners, embracing a strategic and broad based approach for funding non-profit organizations and partnerships in their community.
With this announcement, UWNNS allocated $429,000, to Grantees among which was- $12,000 to the Partnership between Reno Youth Bridge and Washoe County School District to enable Middle School and High School youth to participate in a program designed to enhance academic skills and increase students’ ability to reason and exercise critical thinking through a strenuous program to help them learn how to play and compete at Bridge, the most popular card game in the world.
In this process, UWNNS researched critical needs within its three areas of focus: education, financial stability and health. The organization then established regional needs with area volunteer experts to review research and determine focused priorities to guide decisions.
These same volunteers reviewed each of the partner agencies to ensure adherence to United Way’s Standards of Excellence. “Community volunteer councils put an even greater emphasis on partnerships and collaborations among our partner agencies,” said Karen Barsell, CEO and president of UWNNS. “These types of partnerships tackle those particular issues identified by the people who live in our community.”
Reno Youth Bridge and WCSD, working together in after school activity classes at the 14 middle schools and 12 high schools in the region, offer students the opportunity to engage in a “sport” that exercises the brain and reasoning abilities of the participants. In the spring of each year, Bridge teams representing each participating middle school in the District meet to determine which school will have the next year’s possession of the Reno Youth Bridge WCSD “Silver Cup”, a perpetual trophy awarded to the school whose bridge team wins the Championship. A second perpetual Trophy, the RYB-WCSD “Gold Cup”, is awarded to the High School whose Team wins the High School Team Championships.
UWNNS used a “when cash is in hand” philosophy as the cornerstone of sound fiscal strategy and the organization hopes that if additional donations are received in-house by June 30, further allocations may be possible.
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Reno Youth Bridge is sponsoring a Special Member Guest Tournament for its WCSD after school activity Bridge class members during their Spring Break on Wednesday April 10th at the Reno Bridge Center located at 2850 Wrondel Way, in Reno. In this event, Middle School Students will play as partners with Life Masters and Club Masters who are regular members of the Reno Unit of the America Contract Bridge League. This opportunity is like being able to go to the local golf course and tee it up with Tiger Woods. What fun to play and learn from an expert. All the adult participants are either Life Masters or Club Masters of the ACBL and are enthusiastic supporters of the Reno Youth Bridge teaching program for Middle School students here in Northern Nevada.
The WCSD Spring Break has been a period when both students and teachers get an opportunity to rest up from serious classroom teaching and take part in vocational training or other activities programmed to help them gear up for the final half of the Spring Semester. This brief but welcome recess for teachers allows them to take special training and deal with administrative needs. It also is a welcomed opportunity for students who are preparing to compete in the Reno Youth Bridge Spring Team Game Championships scheduled for April 27th at the John Ascuagas Hotel in Sparks. Each RYB Student will be assigned to an experienced bridge player who has volunteered to participate as a playing partner with one of the RYB school students. This event is similar to those you read about in the paper that precede a major Golf Tournament when Amateurs are able to play a round of golf with a working professional. Like those events, the Reno Youth Bridge Member Guest will provide great fun and valuable experience too. In addition to earning master points, the students finishing high in the rankings at the tournament will receive RYBAP achievement points toward the winning of Merchant gift certificates at the end of the Semester. The tournament will begin at 11:45 AM and conclude by 3:30 PM. Some light snacks will be served during the game. Reservations are required so pairings can be prepared. Students are requested to advise their teacher of their plan to participate.
Learn MoreFebruary 28, 2013: Bud Brewer announced that on March 16th his regular Saturday Morning Bridge Base Online Teaching Table will offer Reno Youth Bridge members an opportunity to gain experience in team play competition. To participate, students may either preregister a team from their own school by emailing the names of their team to budbrewer@budor.com by 8:00 PM Friday evening, or by just coming onto BBO and being seated as part of a make up team Saturday morning. Washoe County School District middle school student members of the Reno Youth Bridge after school activity Bridge program will be competing to win RYBAP achievement points toward the award of a $1000 College or Trade School Scholarship among other prizes to be awarded at the end of the school year valued up to $3000.00 . The members of each winning team shall be credited with 20 RYBAP achievement points for their victory.
The event will begin at about 10:00 AM so Bud has asked that all participants arrive on BBO by 9:45 AM to allow time to set up and seat all the players. It is expected to play 8 hands with International Match Point Scoring (IMPS). After each duplicated hand is played at both tables, the contract score made by each of the North South pairs will be aggregated with that of their East West Partners and the net difference converted to plus or minus IMPs. The Saturday team game is being provided to give middle school students the opportunity to play in a team format in preparation for their school’s entry into the Spring Team Game Championship Tournament scheduled for April 27th at the John Ascuagas Hotel in Sparks NV where they will be competing for the possession of the RYB-WCSD Silver Cup Team Game Perpetual Trophy.
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Reno Youth Bridge, a 501(c)(3) non profit Nevada Corporation, is funded by the generous contributions from individuals, families and charitable foundations here in the Reno Community. None of the RYB Directors or Officers receive compensation for their services. WCSD Certified teachers at each of the participating schools do receive a stipend for their volunteer efforts to teach the game of Bridge to WCSD Middle School Students. If you would like to help us fund our program we have provided the convenience of Pay Pal Credit card services. Just click on the Donate Button on any page or call Bud Brewer at 775-849-4113. Thank You!