| Betty Ann KENNEDY |
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Nata nel 1930 a Shreveport in Louisiana dove viveva con il marito Jack, è una Woman World Women Grand Master ed una ACBL Grand Life Master, che ha ricoperto molte cariche federali, otre ad essere stata una delle più forti bridgiste del mondo.
L'aspetto molto particolare del suo incontro con il Bridge e che le venne prescritto dal medico quando aveva venti anni per curare alcuni disturbi di memoria successivi ad una misteriosa malattia.
Ha quattro figli che l'anno tenuta lontana dal bridge fino al 1970 ma da quando ha ripreso a giocare ha collezionato nel suo prestigioso palmares, 3 Venice Cup (1974, 1976, 2003), il Mondiale Femminile del 1982 e le Olimpiadi femminili del 1984.
Dopo aver formato per oltre 20 anni una delle più forti coppie di Categoria con Carol Sanders, ha cominciato a giocare con Kathie Wei Sender.
Sul piano nazionale la Kennedy ha vinto molti titoli regionali e 16 NABC tra i quali ricordiamo gli Sternberg del 1993/5 ed il Whitehead del 1993 anno in cui è stata insignita nella Hall of Fame della Louisiana, seconda donna della storia a maturare questo onore.
Betty è anche una delle sole 7 atlete al mondo che si sono potute fregiare della prestigiosa Triple Crown (Venice Cup, Olimpiadi Femminili e Mondiale a Coppie Femminili).
Nel 2005 ha ricevuto l'onore di far parte della Hall of Fame del bridge e nel 2011 ha ricevuto il Sidney H. Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship Award.
Ha giocato con passione fin poco prima della sua scomparsa avvenuta il 30 ottobre del 2016.
Betty Ann Kennedy of Shreveport LA, USA - 1930. Glamorous, daring,
skillful, aggressive — Betty Ann Kennedy announced her arrival on the national
bridge scene in 1960 with a victory in the National Mixed Teams and a
second-place finish in the Women’s Pairs.
The game was “prescribed” to her to cure memory difficulties after a most serious illness in her early twenties.
Taking time from her bridge activities over the next decade to marry and raise children, she returned to championship play in 1970, with the specific intent of winning a world championship.
She formed a partnership with Carol Sanders, which was among the longest and most successful partnerships in bridge history. Over the course of their 26-year reign, they stood in the forefront of women’s bridge, winning 16 NABC titles and four world championships. Betty Ann attempted a retirement from top-level competition in 1995, but she was lured back in 1999 by Kathie Wei-Sender, with whom she had a successful second career — winning four additional NABC titles and the 2003 Venice Cup.
Evaluating her performance in the final of the Venice Cup, Eric Kokish wrote in 2003 World Bridge Championships — Monte Carlo, "Kennedy was a standout, doing virtually nothing wrong." In 2000, she made a successful debut as a non-playing captain, piloting the U.S. Senior Team, to victory at the inaugural World Senior Championship in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
A resident of Shreveport LA, Betty Ann is a recipient of the Louisiana Hall of Fame Award in 1993 (the second woman to be chosen). Kennedy and her late husband, John (Jack), also are members of the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Hall of Fame. Jack was a leading player in his own right. They have four children and a grandson.
When not traveling the bridge world, Kennedy teaches bridge at her church, First United Methodist Church in Downtown Shreveport. She also plays weekly at the Shreveport Bridge Association.
Whether at a world championship or during a weekly game at the Shreveport Bridge Association, Betty Ann has retained the glamour and daring and skill that have been her hallmark. She is equally well known for her unfailing graciousness and charm at the table — to partners and opponents alike.
In 2005 received the honor of being part of the Bridge Hall of Fame and in 2011 she received the Sidney H. Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship Award.
She played with passion since shortly before his death on October 30, 2016.