23-04-2014, 02:09 PM
Ian,
Perhaps, to be clearer, I should have said older juniors who are actively playing are being well supported.
Establishing a chess club from scratch at a secondary school is tough without really enthusiastic folk. I liked the idea suggested on another thread that if clubs could be established at primary "feeder" schools, there would be a much better chance of maintaining a successful secondary school club.
There is some great work being done at primary school level by the organisations you mention and others in various areas of the country. However, we don't seem to be able to consistently find players at Under 8 and Under 10 level that would be considered strong enough to play at events such as the World Youth or Euroyouth.
The fear of course is that CS select a young player to play at that level, they are completely outclassed, perhaps feel isolated that there is no-one else of their own age group attending and consequently give up the game. Similar has happened before. Nobody wants to see a scenario like that but I would be interested to hear any thoughts on how CS may move forward in that direction.
Perhaps, to be clearer, I should have said older juniors who are actively playing are being well supported.
Establishing a chess club from scratch at a secondary school is tough without really enthusiastic folk. I liked the idea suggested on another thread that if clubs could be established at primary "feeder" schools, there would be a much better chance of maintaining a successful secondary school club.
There is some great work being done at primary school level by the organisations you mention and others in various areas of the country. However, we don't seem to be able to consistently find players at Under 8 and Under 10 level that would be considered strong enough to play at events such as the World Youth or Euroyouth.
The fear of course is that CS select a young player to play at that level, they are completely outclassed, perhaps feel isolated that there is no-one else of their own age group attending and consequently give up the game. Similar has happened before. Nobody wants to see a scenario like that but I would be interested to hear any thoughts on how CS may move forward in that direction.