[redwitch]

Sadly, that is the way with many clubs here -- either bring your own friends or don't play. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to make new friends. Since the club did not outright ban her, the odds are there is nothing the rec center/department could do. Stinks but it is what it is. To me, it is inexcusable to not welcome new players so long as they can be accommodated. I'm so glad your wife found a more welcoming group.

I'm a serious duplicate bridge player. We rarely have a spare player at our sessions to accommodate someone wanting to play without their partner (true even if a long-time player's partner doesn't show up). We do, however, go out of way to invite newcomers to call our partnership desks so they can play another time. (So long as they know bridge basics.) And, of course, they are always welcome to kibbutz.