Finding a Partner

I'd like to start a discussion on the best arrangements to find a partner when your regular partner is unavailable.

There are various options. One is to 'ring around'. This can often work and has the advantage that you get to choose who to ask! The other is to have a designated person for people to ring to find who is available. Still another is to announce in advance at the club when you know partner is going to be unavailable.

Those of us who are also members at Leigh can often find a partner from there (not a Daten) member by using the Leigh contact list.

I sometimes think that none of these work as well as they could and wonder if there are any better alternatives.

Larger clubs have someone who turns up each session as a host for anyone turning up without a partner. This would have to be done on a rota and it may be that we are not a big enough club to organise this.

One final point is that sometimes people who don't have a partner simply decide not to play. This is, obviously, up to them but reduces our average attendance and is something we should think about when we grumble about low attendance and lack of competition.

Any comments or ideas on the above?