Amazingly, there were only 39 players that entered the 2000 World Veterans Championships in Vancouver from the US.  With such a major championship right in America's backdoor, what went wrong?

The tournament venue was very picturesque.  Set on the campus of UBC, it was spread throughout 3 playing halls.  A total of 1843 players competed on 66 tables for championships in age groups starting at 40 years old and going up to 80.  The entry fees were reasonable.  The accomodations ranged from inexpensive to deluxe depending on how much you wanted to spend.  Vancouver itself is beautiful and nearby for the US players to travel to.  Currency exchange rates greatly favored the US dollar.

All of these things should have led to several hundred entries from south of the border.  It did not..Only a 2% participation from USATT.  Shocking. Distressing.  No wonder the world does not respect us.  For heavens sake!  Hundreds of players travelled thousands of miles from Germany  Australia sent almost 100.  Even India, one of the most impoverished of all of the developed nations on earth, AND half way round the world sent more that the states.

Well, it was the US players loss as this was a terrific tournament.  Talk about a beautiful city and great people (aside from the occasional surly bus driver)!  66 tables and 5 full days of competition gave everyone plenty of matches.  One of the biggest things to do though was to go touring.  Everyone got a day off on Wednesday and took full advantage of the wonderful location.  Tour busses poured into and out of the UBC campus all week.