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HELMAN KLINGER AWARDS
In 1999 Rabbi Helman, an American lawyer, prominent bridge enthusiast and philanthropist made a substantial donation to establish a prize to honour Ron and Suzie Klinger's outstanding contribution to bridge in Australia which was augmented by the Australian Bridge Federation to create two awards annual awards.
The first award of $400 aims at honouring ability, achievement, sportsmanship, attitude, contribution and commitment to bridge among youth players.
There is an additional prize of $200 for the youth player who had earned the most masterpoints during the year.
2008 Achievement Award - Nye Griffiths
Nye's performance record in 2008 speaks for itself.
He won the 2008 Australian Youth Teams Championship as well as qualifying as a member of the 2008 International Youth team competing in Beijing where the team finished third in the qualifying phase of the Under 26 year old teams.
His excellent commitment to practice and preparation made his partnership with Paul Gosney an exceptionally solid partnership with excellent results throughout.
He made the quarter-finals of the National Open Teams after running third in his qualifying section. Playing with Peter Gill he followed by being a member of the winning NSW teams at the Australian National Championships and, with Paul Gosney ran fourth in Open Butler. He then went on to win the youth Triathlon and Grand National Open Teams Consolation Pairs.
Nye has a long-standing commitment to bridge, and displays enviable sportsmanship. His continued friendship has been greatly valued by Michael Delivera during his long recuperation period, his mentoring of the up-and-coming pairs of Harrison-Shulz, and Edgtton-Morris has been invaluable and he has a commitment to bridge and youth bridge as demonstrated by his subsequent membership of the ABF Youth Committee and the New South Wales Bridge Association.
2008 Masterpoint Award - Justin Howard
2009 Joint Achievement Award - Rebecca Thornberry and Justin Howard
The committee were pleased to have two such worthy candidates during 2009 and after much debate amongst the awards committee it was agreed that two full awards would be made in 2009. Both winners have excellent performance records in 2009
In 2009 Bec participated with a number of partners in a variety of tournaments in Australia and overseas.
Bec qualified for the 2009 NOT in only her second outing in the event and finished second in the ACT State Teams. Bec has been active in the support of youth bridge in the ACT and is constantly seeking to expand the participation of youth in the game of bridge. To this end she has established and runs a successful weekly Friday afternoon youth game for high-school and university students at the Canberra Bridge Club and serves BFACT in a dual capacity of Secretary and Youth Councillor. Her table manner and sportsmanship are exemplary.
2009 Masterpoint Award - Pete Hollands
The ABF Youth Committee is pleased to announce that the award levels have been increased from 2010 onwards to $500 and $250 per annum.
THE HILLS-HURLEY TROPHY
This annual trophy, donated by Richard Hills and Steve Hurley, is intended to encourage talented young bridge players to form long-standing partnerships and reward a successful pair who have epitomised the principles of working on and developing a well-organised partnership, and harness their full potential.
2008 Hills Hurley Partnership Award - Leigh Matheson and Ming Chan
Leigh Matheson and Hoi-Ming Chan made their mark in the 2008 Australian Youth Championship, qualifying for the Pairs Final and qualifying fifth for the Playoff for the Australian Youth team that year.
They continued to work hard on their partnership playing a complex system which of itself required a substantial commitment to the partnership.
They were a key part of the 2008 NSW Youth Team which made the Australian National Youth Teams Championships final.
Their 2008 effort was well rewarded with success in the 2009 Australian Youth Championship, running second in the Youth Butler, winning the subsequent playoff to join the Australian International Youth Team which went on to win the 2009 Under 26 PABF teams in Macau.
2009 Hills-Hurley Partnership Award - Pete Hollands and Justin Howard
Pete Hollands and Justin Howard were head-and-shoulders the best-performing Australian Youth pair in 2009, in fact their success in both youth events and open company was nothing short of remarkable, in fact their performances established their credentials as an open and youth pair to be respected.
As a result of their fine performance in the Youth Butler Trials they were members of the Australian International Youth Team which went on to win the Under 26 PABF teams in Macau.
As part of a invited youth team to participate in the 2009 Yeh Cup they proved their credentials finishing positive on datums as well as making the semi-finals of the pairs competing with some of the finest players in world of bridge. They then went on to become part of the 2009 Championship Victorian Australian National Championship Youth Team also completing the quinella by winning the Youth Pairs at the same event. In addition they were members of the successful Victorian Pennant Winners and GNOT Semi-finalists.
Their stated philosophy is that they must stay friends and be able to laugh about their mistakes as well as talk about them. They always try to have fun at the table, keep things simple focusing their energies on card play. As friends they spend a lot of time discussing bridge and random ideas on the game.
More recently they have turned their hand to ensuring the endurance of the game by encouraging more young people to learn bridge, participating in the teaching programs and organising a pro-am tournament to give many of these newer players vital experience.