English Chess Forum

Tonight, I attended the Birmingham Junior League Lightning Tournament, to see a few friends from my old school.

One new team to the League, Windsor High, entered and did pretty well. I know one of the people in charge of it quite well. He has managed to build a club of 76 players in just two years! However, they're completely unsupported by the school. They have been prevented from buying enough sets to cope with demand, they do not pay for refreshments in home League matches anymore, and they aren't being given the £30 or so to enter the UKCC. This gentleman is having to fund most of their chess activity by himself. Conversely, they school saw a wiser investment was to spend money on individual, personally engraved medals to give to each member of a rugby team for winning some competition they entered.

Their players aren't that great; the gentleman is only about 100 standard, and isn't good enough himself to get them to a really high standard. Due to the lack of funding, they can't afford a coach to pop in, either.

All of which is really sad. Here is a situation where they've got 70+ children playing chess, but have no support from their school, and unable to really improve, despite a lot of enthusiasm from all concerned.

Alex Holowczak wrote:Tonight, I attended the Birmingham Junior League Lightning Tournament, to see a few friends from my old school.

One new team to the League, Windsor High, entered and did pretty well. I know one of the people in charge of it quite well. He has managed to build a club of 76 players in just two years! However, they're completely unsupported by the school. They have been prevented from buying enough sets to cope with demand, they do not pay for refreshments in home League matches anymore, and they aren't being given the £30 or so to enter the UKCC. This gentleman is having to fund most of their chess activity by himself. Conversely, they school saw a wiser investment was to spend money on individual, personally engraved medals to give to each member of a rugby team for winning some competition they entered.

Their players aren't that great; the gentleman is only about 100 standard, and isn't good enough himself to get them to a really high standard. Due to the lack of funding, they can't afford a coach to pop in, either.

All of which is really sad. Here is a situation where they've got 70+ children playing chess, but have no support from their school, and unable to really improve, despite a lot of enthusiasm from all concerned.

Charge the players a £1 membership fee, you would have enough money to buy a dozen sets. £1.50 and they can enter UKCC to boot.

Haven't Hollloid Plastics got a few spare sets?

I started a similar scheme in a local primary school. I have had 15 sets donated by the Welsh Chess Union (they're old sets that you'd find in analysis rooms not tournament standard sets but they're more than adequate for the job). Are there any clubs in the area with similar spare sets? Donating sets to schools is a good way of publicising your club or even your business.