After reading this notification, if you and a partner wish to be slated, please respond by hitting reply to this e-mail completing the following:
__ and ____ wish to be slated and will play if selected.
The USBF has been asked to send its best Open team and Women’s team to the third SportAccord World Mind Games, to be held in Beijing, China from December 12th through the 18th, 2013. The Fall NABC in Phoenix ends on Dec. 8th. The USBF will follow the same procedure that was used to select our teams the last 2 years. Pairs are asked to nominate themselves for selection and the players who competed in the finals of the last five USBCs, for the Open Team, and the last five Women's USBCs, for the Women's Team, will rank those players. Click here to see the Open voters' list. Click here to see the Women's voters' list.
Four countries will participate in each event. The US and China have already been invited. We have been told that Israel has been invited for the Women's event. We do not yet know who the other teams will be. There will be a team event, a pair event and an individual event. Last year the US Women's team won silver and the Open team bronze in the team events; Joel Wooldridge won bronze in the Individual event. There is a substantial prize fund, as well as all expenses covered for the participants. Click here for more details of the event and the prize structure. Note that although this information says that the Opening Ceremony will be on Dec. 12th, we think that it is probably on Dec. 11th, since play starts on Dec. 12th. Click here for answers to some questions we have been asked.
Any interested pair, who feels there is any chance they may be considered by their peers as a potential representative, may request to be included on the slate. Both players must be USBF Active or Resident members and must have paid their 2013 USBF dues. There is no requirement that a player submit his or her regular partnership. However players should keep in mind that the voters will be ranking the best pairs, and a non-regular partnership may not be considered as highly as those players might be considered in their regular partnerships.
By choosing to slate your pair, you are indicating your willingness to play in the event, if invited. The polling will take place about a week after the deadline for slating, with both the individual voting and the ranking of pairs completely confidential.
If you would like to be added to the slate, you must respond by August 16. Just hit reply to this e-mail, enter your name & the name of your partner and say you wish to be slated.
Sincerely,
USBF Board of Directors