13-03-2014, 04:58 PM
Within the current debate it is important not to lose sight of the fact that a motion proposed on behalf of NEJCA by myself to bring adult and junior chess under one umbrella was overwhelmingly approved at the AGM and is therefore Chess Scotland policy. That motion and the brief associated notes were:
MOTION:
“This AGM supports the principle that all mainstream adult and junior chess in Scotland should be integrated within Chess Scotland. Therefore the President is instructed to establish a Working Party to determine how best to integrate the various junior chess organisations into Chess Scotland. The Working Party to report to Council before the end of 2013 for early implementation of their recommendations."
NOTES:
Currently none of the junior chess organisations (e.g. SJC, NEJCA, Lothians PSL) that support junior chess within Scotland are affiliated to, or come under the umbrella of, Chess Scotland. This leads to potential disharmony within the Scottish chess scene and creates the possibility of non-accountability. Importantly, we need to see adult and junior chess as part of a continuum and the need for Chess Scotland to speak for all aspects of chess at national level. This is vital at a time of financial constraint and the need to further encourage more players to both take up chess and continue playing throughout their lifetime. The Working Party will seek ways to use the very best of the current junior structures, strengthen those and address opportunities for future developments.
Council is obliged to support all initiatives that lead towards that goal and that needs to be remembered on Sunday. The President delegated the task of progressing this objective to the David Deary as Junior Home Director (JHD). He decided that a newly constituted Home Junior Board (HJB) with a representative from all regional and other junior organisations be invited to participate. The HJB would then potentially include most of the wisdom from junior organisations throughout Scotland and provide authoritative information to Council. No other grouping would have such a wide range of knowledge about junior chess. The HJB should deal with both current issues and tackle how best to progress the aims of the motion passed at the AGM.
Phil Thomas made a careful and reasoned statement on behalf of the SJC and the NEJCA had also informed David Deary that we would reserve our position on several of the issues raised within the various discussion documents presented to Council until we had more information and debated these matters within the HJB.
We should avoid revisiting historic reasons for the split between CS and the SJC. At that time the NEJCA was divided between the two parties and in the end we decided to emulate Switzerland and simply altered our Constitution to state we would ‘liaise with any appropriate body involved in the promotion of junior chess’. That has enabled us to accept invitations to run Chess Scotland national events but also provide heats in both the North and North-East of Scotland for the Chess For Kicks event run by SJC.
What we need to do is try and look forward. If all the junior organisations take up the offered positions on the HJB then we have a real opportunity to create an excellent working forum where problems and initiatives can be properly debated. It is important to recognise that each junior organisation is unique. For example, running events in the large urban areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh is different from competitions in the less populated but larger land areas north of the Tay.
Finally, on to the matter of affiliation and grading fees. The regional junior organisations are currently autonomous (and all outside of Chess Scotland). A large part of that autonomy would need to be retained for reasons described in the paragraph above. Nonetheless, some issues are common and we all have the same aim – to promote junior chess. Affiliation is a simple way of coming together and I would hope that the £40 affiliation fee would be balanced by a grant from Chess Scotland to the organisations towards their running costs. By this means affiliation would be cost-neutral. Obviously there have to be advantages to taking up affiliation and either free, or markedly reduced, grading fees, would be one bonus of joining. Again that, and other benefits or downsides, could be debated by the HJB who could then progress matters based on a consensus view. Therefore, NEJCA would hope that all the junior organisations will take up the offer of membership of the HJB as this offers the chance of a way forward for junior chess.
MOTION:
“This AGM supports the principle that all mainstream adult and junior chess in Scotland should be integrated within Chess Scotland. Therefore the President is instructed to establish a Working Party to determine how best to integrate the various junior chess organisations into Chess Scotland. The Working Party to report to Council before the end of 2013 for early implementation of their recommendations."
NOTES:
Currently none of the junior chess organisations (e.g. SJC, NEJCA, Lothians PSL) that support junior chess within Scotland are affiliated to, or come under the umbrella of, Chess Scotland. This leads to potential disharmony within the Scottish chess scene and creates the possibility of non-accountability. Importantly, we need to see adult and junior chess as part of a continuum and the need for Chess Scotland to speak for all aspects of chess at national level. This is vital at a time of financial constraint and the need to further encourage more players to both take up chess and continue playing throughout their lifetime. The Working Party will seek ways to use the very best of the current junior structures, strengthen those and address opportunities for future developments.
Council is obliged to support all initiatives that lead towards that goal and that needs to be remembered on Sunday. The President delegated the task of progressing this objective to the David Deary as Junior Home Director (JHD). He decided that a newly constituted Home Junior Board (HJB) with a representative from all regional and other junior organisations be invited to participate. The HJB would then potentially include most of the wisdom from junior organisations throughout Scotland and provide authoritative information to Council. No other grouping would have such a wide range of knowledge about junior chess. The HJB should deal with both current issues and tackle how best to progress the aims of the motion passed at the AGM.
Phil Thomas made a careful and reasoned statement on behalf of the SJC and the NEJCA had also informed David Deary that we would reserve our position on several of the issues raised within the various discussion documents presented to Council until we had more information and debated these matters within the HJB.
We should avoid revisiting historic reasons for the split between CS and the SJC. At that time the NEJCA was divided between the two parties and in the end we decided to emulate Switzerland and simply altered our Constitution to state we would ‘liaise with any appropriate body involved in the promotion of junior chess’. That has enabled us to accept invitations to run Chess Scotland national events but also provide heats in both the North and North-East of Scotland for the Chess For Kicks event run by SJC.
What we need to do is try and look forward. If all the junior organisations take up the offered positions on the HJB then we have a real opportunity to create an excellent working forum where problems and initiatives can be properly debated. It is important to recognise that each junior organisation is unique. For example, running events in the large urban areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh is different from competitions in the less populated but larger land areas north of the Tay.
Finally, on to the matter of affiliation and grading fees. The regional junior organisations are currently autonomous (and all outside of Chess Scotland). A large part of that autonomy would need to be retained for reasons described in the paragraph above. Nonetheless, some issues are common and we all have the same aim – to promote junior chess. Affiliation is a simple way of coming together and I would hope that the £40 affiliation fee would be balanced by a grant from Chess Scotland to the organisations towards their running costs. By this means affiliation would be cost-neutral. Obviously there have to be advantages to taking up affiliation and either free, or markedly reduced, grading fees, would be one bonus of joining. Again that, and other benefits or downsides, could be debated by the HJB who could then progress matters based on a consensus view. Therefore, NEJCA would hope that all the junior organisations will take up the offer of membership of the HJB as this offers the chance of a way forward for junior chess.