Reported Country by Country
By
Irena Chodorowska
The
scope and level of bridge in eastern countries is not at its best
and nothing indicates that the situation is about to change. There
are many reasons for this, one of the most important is living conditions;
average salaries range from below 100 dollars in Belarus or Russia
to about 300 - 350 in Poland, Czech Republic or Hungary. It accounts
for hardly 30% salary in EC countries. The so-called middle class
is paving its way to society. Women for economic reasons have to
work, and adding to that, sponsors of Ladies Bridge are not easy
to be found either. All these factors account for a low percentage
of ladies players in relation to men. Less than a few percent of
bridge players are women. Below follows brief information regarding
Ladies Bridge in specific countries:
Bulgaria
Very few women play bridge here, despite a good beginning in 1987
in Brighton, where the ladies representative team made such a success.
After Lorer and Deleva had left, Ladies Bridge practically ceased
to exist. There is one pair from Varna that counts, so there is
no chance of seeing a Bulgarian ladies team during the championship.
The
Czech Republic
Czechs have 5 pairs coached by Bahnik, that are potential candidates
for a representative team. They do not have regular bridge events
there, no classification trials and no championship of the Republic.
It seems, however, that a team from the Czech Republic will come
to Malta.
Latvia
Latvia could send a ladies team to Malta, and could also earmark
money for that specific purpose, but due to organisational hardships
and some outstanding obligations of the Latvian Federation, the
situation is out of their control.
Poland
Several hundred women are members of the Polish Bridge Union. This
number accounts for 10% of all registered players. The PBU organises
various kinds of training, trials and championships. The development
of bridge among school children inspires some hope. The Polish team
for Malta includes young Anna Szczepanska who won a medal in the
Junior European Championship held in Vienna in 1998. Montecatini
remembers her as the youngest player on the field.
Belarus
The country is going through a hard economic crisis. The crisis
has affected both, open and ladies bridge. Until the situation changes
there is no hope for improvement in this field.
Hungary
Hungarian ladies usually take part in various championships. Hungary
belongs to the most developed countries of former eastern block.
They have always been active, two ladies jamboree events were organised
in Budapest.
Estonia
Ladies Bridge has now almost ceased to exist in Estonia, despite
the fact that during the former regime, it was Estonia which first
initialled bridge activities.
Lithuania
Many women played bridge in Lithuania, but any attempts have been
jeopardised by major economic difficulties.
Russia
Relatively, Russia is in the best situation. Practically, however,
whenever something important is going on, like Championships of
sorts, one can always see Russian ladies. They find sponsors or
are enough well off to sponsor themselves. Such a situation has
resulted from enormous differences in people's financial standing.
You can find truly rich people, not well-off, not wealthy, just
rich who are ready to invest money in something which contributes
to, so fashionable nowadays, "company image". Besides, bridge flourishes
in big urban areas, like the Moscow region, for example. They play
regular bridge events, hold championships, organise training, keep
players' ranking, and travel abroad. They make up for the time when
bridge was underground and they are truly active.
Conclusions
I am boring in repeating the same thing over and over again but
economic situation will not change all of a sudden. The average
salary will not change overnight and so nothing can be done here.
To
promote bridge and help eastern ladies in acquiring more routine,
maybe it would be possible to invite them to some bridge events
on, for instance, reciprocity basis. They organise plenty events
there and are very keen on invitations based on exchange. In my
opinion, a lot would help if in major events, like the European
Team Championship, ladies teams of the countries that suffer the
most acute currency problems would be relieved from the entry fee.
It is generally known that due to economic situation players from
eastern countries travel cheap, they take the cheapest possible
accommodation and to reduce expenses to a maximum, they travel with
their own food. So food and accommodation is not a major issue.
They usually travel by cars or buses to share expenses and, despite
travelling far (it is always far from this part of the world to
reach a bridge venue wherever), they are tough enough and dedicated
enough to do so. Entry
fee, however, is an obstacle that they sometimes cannot overcome
(as, for instance, in Montecatini when Belorussian ladies played
pairs but not teams because of the entry fee).
To
wind up my report with an optimistic note I must say that since
the day when the EBL Ladies Committee was set up, we have gained
a number of countries from that part of the world. Instead of just
3 members like Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria of 1987, we now have
many former Soviet republics, plus the Czech Republic and the former
Yugoslav countries.
Let's be optimists and hope for the better in future.
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