By Jin Yi Lei (18S06M), Captain

Welcome initiates! Welcome to your training grounds and home for the next two years. Here, you will hone your minds and skills together with your peers. Here, you will train for upcoming competitions and participate in weekly tournaments. Here, most importantly, you will find yourselves amongst family.

Now before you begin, let me first clarify that Contract Bridge – the game that we play here –  is nothing like its counterpart, Floating Bridge. As those of you who have played it before will know, the element of luck in Floating Bridge heavily influences the outcome of the game. Contrast this with Contract Bridge, where a player and his/her partner’s skill level are the main determining factor of victory.

See the difference? Great! Let’s now head inside the training grounds. Just a heads up: do not make too much noise in here when there is an ongoing tournament. Loud noises may affect the players’ concentration and subsequently their performance. Such tournaments are usually held during our training days, which is every Wednesday and Friday, from 2.30pm to 6.30pm. Just a side note, friday trainings are only compulsory for J2s. However, as a J1, you can still come down and play!

Oh and here is our coach, Mr Liu. Mr Liu comes down every Wednesday to conduct lessons on bidding, declaring, and defending. Although these lessons sound dull and less exciting than tournaments, they are vital in creating a solid foundation and improving your skills.

What’s that? Worried that you might not be able to keep up during trainings? Fret not – your helpful and experienced seniors stand ready to assist. Whenever you feel lost and do not understand a certain concept, feel free to ask any of your seniors for help! We will gladly assist you. In fact, during Friday trainings – when our coach is not there – some of our seniors in NS will also come back and play the sport with you. These seniors will not only help you improve your skills at Bridge, they will also share with you some stories of their lives in NS. From personal experience, these stories are always hilarious and these sessions often create great opportunities for alumni members and new members to bond and have fun together as one Bridge family.

And… for those completely new to this sport, do not be put off by having to learn something completely new. In fact, most of your seniors started off on a blank slate as well. These seniors have gone on to compete in various inter-school competitions and have even represented Singapore overseas in the APBF (Asian Pacific Bridge Federation) championships and ASEAN Games! Thus, with passion, interest and hard work, anything is possible. You may even surpass the achievements of our seniors!

So what are you waiting for? Join our Bridge family, and start your journey in becoming a legendary Bridge player today!