Bristol Backgammon Sponsored Awards
Bristol Backgammon is fortunate that over the past few years various generous benefactors have made offers -- which have been gratefully accepted, of course -- to sponsor some special awards.
1000 to 1 award
The first of these was the 1000 to 1 award -- for a player winning ten successive matches in Bristol competition -- first sponsored by John Slattery late in 2001, later sponsored by Roland Herrera, and now sponsored by Andy Boysan.
Most Improved Player award
In 2002 Martin Hemming came up with the idea of an award for the player who had made the biggest improvement during the calendar year, and he was kind enough to sponsor this for eight successive years.
From 2010, however, Gaz Owen, with support from eXtreme Gammon, took over the sponsorship.
Rookie of the Year award
And then, for the first time in 2003, we had the award for the debut player making the most impact during the calendar year. This was initially sponsored by Gammonitis, and we were honoured to be the first club in the UK (and probably the only one?) to take advantage of this initiative.
Since Gammonitis has ceased to exist, the award has continued, and for the first time in 2009 was sponsored by Paul Gilbertson, initially with support from BIBA.
The Handicap Trophy
From 2005 Ed Turner has sponsored the Handicap Trophy, giving trophies to the two players gaining the most grand prix points in the year's series of six Handicap Knock-outs.
From the 2014 season he increased his outlay to give cash prizes, too, increasing these even further in 2015.
Sportsperson of the Year award
Starting in 2010, Blaine Buchanan set up an annual sportsmanship award, initially with a liquid prize from the Merchants Arms, Hotwells, provided by our good friend John Sprague, and later funded by Blaine himself.
From 2016 Simonetta Herrera has taken up the mantle and provides a bottle of bubbly for the deserving recipient.
Raising our Profile
Gaz has also provided a generous sum of money to be used for Raising our Profile.
Rankings Jump award
Marcus Wrinch was also providing a high quality bottle of bubbly as the Rankings Jump award, for the player whose Bristol Ranking score rises the most during the calendar year.
After this initiative petered out Shadow Hamilton took on the mantle, as a more simplified format was used.
Christmas Tournament
Steve Morris used to provide a bottle of bubbly to the year's winner of the Intermediates Trophy. More recently, he has switched his attention to our Christmas Tournament where, from 2011 he has provided four winners with different kinds of bubbly.
The Brunel Trophy
In May 2013 an anonymous sponsor came up with an idea for a scheme to increase Thursday activity levels at the BCSC. This is taking the form of an all year round double elimination knock-out event, entitled "The Brunel Trophy", with a total boost in excess of £250 per year.
Starter for 10 award
Announced in January 2011 was a new "free entry" scheme, also instigated by Gaz Owen, to sponsor an entry fee of up to £10 for any new "Thursday" player entering one of our events.
After three successful years, this sponsorship was taken over by Nick Barham, who continued the sponsorship until July 2019.
The sponsorship is now vacant.
Monday Intermediate Awards
From 2014 Roland Herrera started giving a boost to prize money for intermediates in our Monday competitions, while John Curran has added further money for top intermediate performers from the second half of 2016.
From 2017 Roland and John's sponsorships have been combined to effectively continue and enhance John's contribution.
Monday Nackgammon prizes
In 2015 Drew Caudwell decided to sponsor the Nackgammon element of Monday competition.
GP30 added money
Also in 2015, as a one-off sponsorship, Paul Gilbertson contributed £200, which went to the top three GP30 2015 finishers, who received £100, £65 and £35 respectively.
To find out about these awards, click on any of the links above.
And if you are interested in any further sponsorship ideas, please contact Ian Tarr.
Intermediate Trophy/GP5 sponsorship
In 2016 the reigning Intermediate Trophy champion Ian Hedges hit on a sponsorship scheme to boost participation in both that event and the GP5 series.
Conference League related sponsorships
Cliff Blofield and Mathew Nicholls have agreed to sponsorships surounding the Conference League.
To find out about these awards, click on any of the links above.
And if you are interested in any further sponsorship ideas, please contact Ian Tarr.
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