Bridge players building on younger generation

Retired state District Judge M. Gay Conklin has been playing bridge since she was 7 years old. Eighty years later the Hono•lulu woman is still an avid fan of the card game, playing twice a week.

"I find it endlessly fascinating because there are almost an infinite number of possible hands to be played, and every hand is different," she said. (In fact, there are more than 53 octillion possible hands — that’s 53 followed by 27 zeroes.)

"I’ve played bridge on the beach — all you need is a blanket or mat and a deck of cards and at least one other person — and one hand only takes five minutes to play, so it’s fast."

The centuries-old game made the leap into the digital age via websites and apps for mobile devices but is still struggling to overcome its image as a sedate pastime for oldsters huddled around card tables at country clubs and senior centers.

To change that perception, Conklin and other enthusiasts have been making a bid to get younger generations to suit up. To that end, Conklin — educational liaison for Unit 470 of the Hawaiian Contract Bridge Units Association — will lead a "Learn Bridge in a Day" workshop at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday. The unit has more than 400 members on Oahu, Kauai and Guam.

Bridge fosters socialization and communication skills, Conklin said, and can help sharpen the mind in other ways.

"For young people, it teaches them math strategy and inference skills, which is not very easy to teach, because what’s important is not only what’s been bid, but also what’s not been bid," she said.

Since 2006 there’s been a concerted effort at local campuses and youth organizations to get young people hooked on bridge. Moanalua High School senior Farin Fuku•naga began playing in the seventh grade when he participated in an after-school bridge program taught by Unit 470 Vice President Busaba Williams and her late husband, Luke.

"I think young people don’t play bridge because they haven’t been exposed to it," said Fuku•naga, 17. "More kids would pick it up if they found out how fun it is and how much it helps you in critical thinking and strategy and learning about different personalities.

"Bridge-playing is a lifelong skill that keeps building on itself."

Rachel Tanoue, 18, who participated in the same Moanalua Middle School after-school program as Fuku•naga, said bridge "helped keep my mind active and to make connections between the cards and to understand the validity of the different options I could take.

"It gave me a different perspective to look at my schoolwork, specifically math."

Tanoue was one of about eight young players from Hawaii who participated in the National Youth Bridge Tournament in Atlanta in 2008. "There were about a hundred or so kids, ranging from 5 to 18 years old in the youth bracket, from all over the U.S., as well as some Canadian players. It was an amazing experience to play with our peers and to meet other student players from across the country," she said.

At its peak, before ending in 2011, Williams’ youth bridge initiative had engaged about 300 students at Moanalua Middle School, Washington Intermediate School and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hawaii.

Additional one-day workshops are planned for Oahu this year, and youth bridge classes will be offered at ‘Iolani School during the summer. Efforts also are underway to establish student bridge clubs at local college campuses.

In order to teach the game to young students, you don’t have to be a bridge expert, according to Conklin. Complete lesson plans can be downloaded from the American Contract Bridge League website (acbl.org). Schoolteachers who take Monday’s "Learn Bridge in a Day" workshop may qualify for a ACBL stipend to teach bridge to students, and the state Department of Education has approved the ACBL curriculum for use in class. (The $10 workshop fee is being waived for teachers and students.)

Participants will get to see expert players in action when the Hawaii Regional Bridge Tournament convenes that same night at the Hawaii Prince, where more than 5,000 games will be played between partners who have come in from all over the world.

"With bridge being taught to an estimated 200 million primary and secondary school students in China, and with bridge being part of the school curriculum in Scandinavia, Italy and France, I think the rest of the world is doing a lot more than we are here in the U.S. about keeping the game of bridge alive," Conklin said.

"It’s a great game, and I’m afraid it’ll die out if we don’t make an effort."