I can, therefore, assure you that if nominated and elected as one of your Advisory Board Committee Members, I will faithfully and diligently execute the duties assigned me – to assist the Executive Committee to decide matters of policy and adjudicate appeals on decisions made by other committees of the Association. Hence, I am committed to ensuring that we not only professionally play the game, but find ways to continuously improve the game worldwide and encourage more people to join our endeavors.
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|class= name|'''[[Portia Zwicker]]'''
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Like many tournament SCRABBLE players I know, I’ve been enjoying SCRABBLE since I was a child. However, I didn’t discover NASPA, club, and tournament play until I moved to New York City in my 20s. I played one time in NASPA Club #56 (I remember playing in pairs, and my partner and I defeated Joel Sherman and his partner), but as a struggling 20-something, I couldn’t afford the weekly admission, not to mention tournament costs, so I remained with an informal SCRABBLE meetup.
After returning to my home town five years ago, I joined the Albany club and have participated in almost every Albany-area tournament since - including Lake George, Albany New Year’s, Albany 4th of July, and Saratoga Springs. As a full-time working mother of a young child, SCRABBLE club has been my one “night off” and I look forward to it every week. Tournaments are special occasions involving extra child care arrangements, sometimes limiting me to playing just the Early Birds, but somehow I make it work. I am looking forward to a time when I can attend more tournaments that are a bit farther away, including Nationals.
As a member of the AB, I’d hope to be able to continue an initiative I’ve already started implementing in the Albany area: zero waste tournaments. If you attend those, you may have noticed recycling and composting stations. I’d like to expand upon that as well as encourage and help other directors to implement zero waste tournaments.
I have found a home in SCRABBLE. My fellow club members are my friends, and I feel very welcomed at tournaments. I would be honored to be able to give back to NASPA for this by serving on the Advisory Board.
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