The fourth Bridge Unit 163 “Under 500” sectional tournament will be held in Waterloo this year, June 6-7. Our unit began having this tournament in 2012. The first was held in Cedar Rapids at the Longbranch hotel. The next year it moved to Hills and Iowa City hosted it. The third year, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids combined efforts and had the tournament at the Country Inn and Suites, in Cedar Rapids, handy for Iowa City, too. Waterloo wanted a chance to host it this year.
It has always been a fun, friendly and successful tournament. The first year the overall winners were a Cedar Rapids couple who had never played in a tournament. The woman came in and said, “We’ve never played in a tournament and this will determine if we ever do again.” They have played in several local tournaments, both under 500 and other sectionals, since. The second year, two ladies who had been regular tournament attendees won the overall point event. They were thrilled! They told us that they had played in many local tournaments, but never thought they had a chance to win until this tournament. The third year, the word got out and we had more players from outside our unit. About 1/3 of the players were from Cedar Rapids, 1/3 from Iowa City and 1/3 from other communities.
Janee Oleson is chairing this year’s tournament in Waterloo. Unit 163 is proud to be able to offer our Under 500 players a tournament just for them. It’s a great opportunity to win silver points, meet friendly players, and have a great time. Let’s keep this great tournament alive and well!