Sam Goss wins ANC Player's Choice award and Jess He named ANC Rising Star

The ANC Interstate Teams Championship has a long tradition of recognising outstanding performances at the bridge table. This year, the Youth Championship introduced two new awards to celebrate something just as important: the qualities that make our community stronger.

ANC Youth ITC Players' Choice Award 

Recognises the player who best exemplifies the spirit of the ANC Youth ITC through outstanding sportsmanship, fair play, ethical conduct, respect for others and a consistently positive attitude, while helping foster an inclusive and welcoming environment for all participants.

ANC Rising Star Award 

recognises an emerging player who has delivered strong performances during the ANC Youth ITC qualifying stage while demonstrating exceptional potential for future success through their attitude, commitment to learning, rapid development and positive impact at the table.

The response was fantastic, with 12 different people nominated for the Players' Choice Award and nine players or partnerships nominated for the Rising Star Award, highlighting the depth of talent and character across the championship.

Congratulations to our inaugural winners:

• Players' Choice Award: Sam Goss

• Rising Star Award: Jess He

  
  

The nomination comments reflected exactly what these awards were designed to celebrate. Players recognised opponents who were improving rapidly, eager to learn, ethical, encouraging and a pleasure to play against. Many comments highlighted players who remained positive regardless of results, supported their teammates and opponents, and brought energy and enthusiasm to the event.

Some comments captured the spirit perfectly, even describing players as "really nice and great to lose to", and recognising those who showed great sportsmanship, integrity and a genuine desire to improve.

As part of their award, both winners receive three one-on-one development sessions with expert players, providing the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the game, including Kate McCallum, Sartaj Hans, Liam Milne, Barbara Travis, and 2025 Bermuda Bowl runner-up Dennis Bilde from Denmark.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and share thoughtful comments about their fellow competitors. AI summarised & anonomised comments about all nominees: Player's Choice Award

• Their attitude at the table is always positive and they’re fun to play against. They are an actively ethical player, which I would like to see more of in youth bridge.

• Always positive and trying to lift their game. Happy to assist others. A pleasure to play against. Amazing recent successes.

• Always extremely positive and optimistic at the table, cheering on everyone no matter which team they are playing for. A bright bubbly presence at and away from the table.

• They have improved a lot.

• They are just lovely at the table and away from the table.

• Always happy and always offering everyone a glass of water when they get up. We always had a laugh with them and had some of the most fun matches. If they had a bad or good board, their demeanour never changed! Also always happy to say hi or have a chat.

• This person can never have an uncheerful moment.

• They double squeeze me during our set.

• They produced some amazing bridge moments during the competition.

• They are very good-natured and fun no matter what happens at the table. They are really nice and are great to lose to 😜.

• Fun to play against and an amazing person all around.

• Friendly and good bridge player.

• They would be a great choice for Players’ Choice as they constantly show respect and integrity towards the other players at the table. They keep their cool and always have a smile, even if they have a bad set.

• Such a chill person — nice to lose to and nice to play against.

Rising Star Award

• I noticed they made some very good plays over the course of the competition.

• I heard they produced some very impressive tactical plays during the competition.

• I also talked to them about quite a few of the boards and they think about things well and are doing a lot to get better all the time, including getting advice from lots of different experienced players.

• They haven’t been playing that long and I think they’re improving a lot.

• Good results and play throughout the past week.

• Great personality and table manner. Clearly improving quickly. Played solidly with an experienced partner.

• Strong up-and-coming player, experienced beyond their years.

• They are the kindest person and have been playing very well this tournament.

• They have come out of nowhere and have played extremely well.

• Very fun partnership to play against but both are still very committed to bridge. They are super keen and have started developing a partnership. Had some of the most entertaining matches as they stayed calm and friendly no matter how the boards went.

• Great partnership. They were very kind to my very young partner. They were a major reason their team made it to the final.

• They turned their team into a demon.

• They are both great teammates and although they have both been playing for under a year, they are great bridge players.

• Demonstrated an exceptionally positive attitude throughout the week, lifting the spirits of other players and repeatedly showing an ambition to improve.

• Good sportsmanship and overall amazing people to play against.

• I felt that they are a friendly partnership who played well.

• I think they are a Rising Star because they are young, quite experienced and have a lot of potential.

• They are a really good partner and have been great to play with. They are learning bridge super fast.

• They have developed fast and are both respectful and great players to play with. I think they represent the award really well.