Fran Cowie
I started playing bridge in South Africa in 1970 when my husband, Les and I were sought out by friends as “party bridge” partners. We had no formal bridge training and despite playing “seat of the pants” bridge, I fell in love with the game. During the next 37 years we raised a family and delighted in many hours of social bridge both in South Africa and after our emigration to the United States. Bridge was a means of making and keeping friends. When we moved to Orlando in 2007 I decided to try duplicate bridge and discovered how little I knew about this fascinating game. Through many lessons with Martha McGhee and reading anything I could lay my hands on I struggled to undo all the bad habits I had acquired, and finally made Life Master in 2011, and Bronze Life Master in 2013.
One of my greatest regrets was that I did not have formal lessons as a beginner bridge player. For this reason I decided to put something back into the game and became an ACBL accredited teacher at the 2013 Orlando Regional. I have now formed a club focused purely on the new player and recently became a director with the sole purpose of being able to offer a game limited to beginner players. I hope in this way to smooth the path for new players so that they can enjoy the same passion for the game as I do.