SCA - SJCA Merger Update

The Councils of the Scottish Chess Association and Scottish Junior Chess Association have both resolved to embrace the concept of a merger from July 2001. A merger is seen by both Councils as the potentially best option for maximising development of chess in Scotland.

Update June 2001: Chess Scotland - embracing the 21st century

Update on the process The Councils of the Scottish Chess Association and Scottish Junior Chess Association have both now agreed to the merger document prepared by the Steering Group. The debate now moves on to the general meetings of both organisations (SJCA on 24th June and SCA on 9th July). Information has been issued from the Steering Group to members of both organisations, and this is repeated below.

Background The Councils of the Scottish Chess Association and Scottish Junior Chess Association resolved last year to embrace the concept of a merger from July 2001. A merger is seen by both Councils as the potentially best option for maximising development of chess in Scotland. Since then, individuals from both organisations have been putting together more detailed plans which would, if accepted, allow the merger to go ahead from August 2001. The proposals are set out below.

If you have any questions please ask any member of the SCA Board or SJCA Executive, or ask Sam Collins who will arrange for a reply. Frequently asked questions will be published on the SCA website, scottishchess.com. You can contact Sam by e-mailing him at Office@ChessScotland.com or calling 0141 221 6464.

What are the advantages of merging?

better focus on grass roots youth development

New opportunities are emerging as the climate for schools chess development improves, with the recognition that competitive sport in schools is fundamental to world class performance re-emerging. And there are no greater priorities to delivering future success to build on the strong foundations created during the 30 years or so which the SJCA has existed. Youth chess in Scotland is certainly down in activity, if not in the strength at the top. That feeds through to lower numbers of young people in congresses and clubs, and to a general weakening of the infrastructure of Scottish chess.

better alignment of key priorities

The strategy group will consult widely in reaching a view on Chess Scotland's approach and the key strategies to be adopted in developing chess

more efficient by combining similar functions eg membership processing

A merger will bring administrative improvements such as treating all membership together, with one membership database administered by one individual rather than the duplication of work and systems we have now.

better benefits eg family membership

Merging will allow packages to be offered for families e.g. father and son able to join as a group and enjoy a financial saving

removes inter association discussion and allows focus on deliverables

Discussion about who promotes any particular activity and whether there should be a financial transfer between the two organisations will help encourage better concentration on what we are trying to achieve within chess in Scotland

The organisation's name

The SCA Board and SJCA Executive recommend adopting a new name for the organisation, and prefer the modern Chess Scotland to the more traditional Scottish Chess Federation and the modern Chess Scotland. A fairly small poll of players at the Edinburgh Congress were in favour of Scottish Chess Federation, with a minority preferring to retain the name of the Scottish Chess Association. Chess Scotland may be more easily seen as a successor to both existing organisations, crucially able to maintain its status as founded in 1884.

In the report which follows, we use Chess Scotland to mean the new organisation created if the SCA and SJCA decide to merge.

How are members of both organisations affected

Very straightforwardly. Membership will carry over to the new organisation with exactly the same benefits as previously available from the SCA or SJCA respectively. When that membership expires, an invitation to renew would be issued by Chess Scotland.

The structure of the new organisation

Overview

The structure is designed to give greater emphasis to development than at present by the separation of development and mainstream Chess Scotland work. It achieves this by having the Strategic group set and monitor key developments, whilst the Executive group monitor mainstream activity. The key aspects of the different meetings or groups are:

AGM

The AGM would exist to approve the annual report and elect some of the Directors [and specific further posts such as FIDE Delegate]. It and an SGM would be the only forums with scope to change the constitution or remove officebearers appointed by the AGM. Members may serve in more than one officebearing capacity. The Executive and Strategic groups [see below] should have constitutional status.

All members (individuals of any age, club, league, congress etc) would have one vote. Proxies would be permitted if lodged in writing or by e-mail one week before meeting, and, in the case of people under 15, endorsed by the member's parent or guardian. The person receiving the proxy must be a member of Chess Scotland. A parent or guardian has a right to vote on behalf of his or her child if the child is under 15 and is not voting in his or her own right. Club, league and congress representatives should be nominated one week before the meeting.

Council

The Council would comprise key stakeholders eg leagues/regional associations, congresses, clubs, individuals and the elected officebearers. Selection of representatives for the membership categories above would be by ballot separately from the AGM or Council meetings. The Council will normally meet twice per annum. The Council will appoint the Membership, Grading and Publications Directors, which may or may not be remunerated posts.

The officebearers proposed for the constitution are suggested as:

President to chair general meetings and meetings of Council

Executive Director- to run the Executive group. The Executive group acts as the secretariat of the organisation delivering central support services and comprises the Executive, Membership, Grading and Publications Directors. Functionality of the group includes dealing with external contacts from other organisations, membership processing, response to enquiries, despatch of material to members or potential members. The group would monitor mainstream Chess Scotland activity for the Council and for publication on the internet. It would produce agreed management information. Also deals with grading.

Strategic Director to run the strategic group. Functionality of the group includes recommending strategic direction, main priorities and budgets to Council, and monitoring progress of strategic development issues

Finance Director to control the finances of the organisation and to produce annual accounts for audit and adoption by the AGM

Director of schools project - to run this project

Director of home chess - to run the co-ordinating group which runs the normal Chess Scotland tournaments (all ages)

Promotions Director - to run marketing issues, and seek sponsorship or Government based funding

Technical Director - to run arbiters group and input to FIDE on rules

International Director - to run the international group covering all ages, and including targeted training

Regional Director to liaise with regional associations and leagues, with a view to understanding and harmonising if appropriate each others key priorities, and to filling regional gaps where feasible

We believe that "Directors" is the optimal nomenclature largely on grounds of external perception.

In addition, a Junior Auditor would be appointed by the AGM during a transitional period of at least two years after the merger. The SJCA would be asked to nominate a candidate for the role to assist the AGM. The role of the Junior Auditor would be to ascertain how each Director was incorporating junior activity within their remit and flag to the Strategy Group and Council any concerns about inadequate plans.

Membership structure and fees

It is proposed that membership fees for Chess Scotland would be age based, with the basic membership fee for players aged 17 or below set at approximately 60% of the adult rate, and for players aged 14 or below set at approximately 40% of the adult rate. The additional cost for Scottish Chess would also be scaled down, subject to the additional cost being not less than the marginal cost of production and issue of the magazine. No reduction would apply to Patron or Life membership.

Annual family membership would be available with or without Scottish Chess. The fees would be set on the principle of a 25% reduction on the fees otherwise chargeable, though a pragmatic approach to simplify charges is also being considered.

Membership processing

In terms of organisation, there is a general agreement that one of the benefits of merger would be the ability to use a central database of members, facilitating family membership.

The SCA is developing a membership processing facility based on Microsoft Access databases. The system is being developed by George Anderson and is intended (for simplicity) to be a single user system (though access to the database may be made available either by email update or through a controlled part of the SCA website scottishchess.com. The database will also be used to allow a section of the website to be made available for members only. The software for this has already been developed by Donald Holmes, with the intention of making added value services [e.g. annotated games] available in the protected area of the site.

Work is being done in parallel with the Scottish Correspondence Chess Association who are also pursuing holding e-mail addresses which can be used for a future e-version of the bi-monthly magazine Scottish Chess.

International aspirations

International chess would be run by a group of about 6 people led by the International Director. The group - mixing strong players, organisers, and age groups - would be appointed by Council and be accountable to them. A key objective will be to encourage younger members of the group to take greater control over its running.

The International Liaison group would be a wider group of top players and organisers who should be informed and, where appropriate, consulted on proposed activity. In particular this group should be consulted on the plans for the forthcoming year (though decisions remain with the international group).

The FIDE/ECU delegate feeds into the international group with relevant information about future youth events for selection etc.

The international group will appoint groups to make selections for adult and junior events, and to run the youth squad. Once appointed they will be responsible for decision making within agreed plans and budgets. The plans put forward by each group would be put to the International Group for agreement, and would include broad details of the intended plans and events to be entered.

Selection groups would comprise either strong players [adult] or coaches [junior], with a chairman whose key objective is to ensure proper process is applied.

Shared objectives in the merged organisation

Our basic objective is to increase the number of strong players at each age from the current low levels. This can to some extent only be achieved when grass roots activity is greater.

We must work to make better information available to parents at an early stage. Feedback from top players and youth organisers will help in its construction and feedback has been instigated. The material must set guidance on aspirations, giving examples of the wider chess events available. It should include the international events we would normally commit to (e.g. tri nation, world youth, European youth, Glorney cup, and an international match against the Welsh or an alternative country). We should also widen scope for young players to go to weekend congresses in England, and in particular the BCF Youth Squad weekend [subject to BCF agreement] to help achieve a better balance and widen perspectives beyond simply junior events.

Summary of key financial information

The SCA accounts are audited up to year ending 30th April 2000. The SJCA accounts are audited up to the year ending 31st March 1999. The accounts for the year ending 31st March 2000 will be completed fairly soon. We propose the adoption of 30th April as the year end for Chess Scotland. A financial projection is being prepared.

Timetable to merger

We recommend that two separate AGMs are followed by a General Meeting for the new body. More specifically, we see the process as:

Scottish Junior Chess Association AGM - 24th June

Scottish Chess Association AGM - 9th July

Chess Scotland inaugural meeting 19th August

These meetings should discuss and vote on a motion on the lines of: "That this meeting agrees to merge the SCA/SJCA (as appropriate) into a successor body to be known as Chess Scotland on the basis of this merger document, and to transfer all funds and other assets to the new organisation within two weeks of its being formed". With a positive vote by both bodies, an inaugural general meeting of Chess Scotland would then be held at which the constitution would be approved.

The proposed Constitution would be displayed on the SCA website by mid July to allow members to propose amendments if they wish. Amendments must be proposed and seconded by members of either SCA or SJCA and be received by Sam Collins, 15 Hope Street, Glasgow, G2 6AQ (fax 0141 221 6464, e-mail Office@ChessScotland.com) by 1st August 2001. All amendments will be published on the website before inaugural meeting. Proposals for officebearers, proposed and seconded by SCA or SJCA members must also be received by Sam Collins by 1st August 2001.

SCA/SJCA Merger Steering Group John Glendinning Rod Tweedie Iain Mackintosh Ronnie Macdonald