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I do not believe that the Provincial Associations will let the clubs choose the Governors because after that, those Association would be far less powerful.
Provincial Associations could hardly be weaker that they are now. They would not have much to loose in a club based system. But the clubs would have much to gain. We need to move away from a week-end swiss based system to a club system that makes a much better entry point for the new player. And we need the leagues that only a healthy club network can provide.
Then there's the fact that the RACC Prez, at least in the past year or so, liked to meet with potential new members to decide whether they were ready to play in a serious club. Particularly if they were very young juniors.
What's wrong with that?
I have no idea who the "Prez" was and am only discussing the practice.
I have no idea who the "Prez" was and am only discussing the practice.
The practice of the past Prez casually screening potential club members may have worked okay in practice (I can't know for sure if it did), though I could see how future club presidents might make borderline calls the wrong way in deciding who should and shouldn't be discouraged from joining the club for the time being.
The past Prez may have based such screening simply on the knowledge of how to play chess, but I believe assessing playing strength played a role too. So, if a newbie was deemed too weak compared to everyone else in the club, they may have been gently discouraged to join for the time being.
The club does have a policy in print on who can join. I think it's that anyone 14 or over may join, with exceptions for promising serious juniors below 14, who must have a guardian/parent at the club. The casual screening process wasn't explicitly mentioned in the RA's literature.
However, adult newbies were being screened as well as juniors, the wisdom of which could be debated in at least some people's eyes, and thus POSSIBLY such screening could be described as a barrier to increasing club membership as much as possible/desirable.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
However, adult newbies were being screened as well as juniors, the wisdom of which could be debated in at least some people's eyes, and thus POSSIBLY such screening could be described as a barrier to increasing club membership as much as possible/desirable.
I don't know what the screening was. I used to do what you might refer to as "screening" before people joined. The tournaments ran weekly and I didn't want people being paired an not being able to show up on a regular basis. Not fair to the opponents. Some people have obligations which only allow them to show up around once a month.
There were some people who were only interested in casual and speed chess which was no problem.
I can't recall refusing anyone membership but I did talk to people. No point in them paying their money if they don't understand the format of the events.
I can't recall many juniors but the event ran to 11 or midnight. Only one comes to mind.
The club ran up to around 2200 in strength so weak players were not an issue. The stronger players went to the Toronto Chess Club.
....I do not believe that the Provincial Associations will let the clubs choose the Governors because after that, those Association would be far less powerful.
I have a hard time understanding your use of the word 'powerful' in the chess world. Supposing I personally had the power to appoint every single CFC governer in Canada and I, for some reason, hated everything about some particular club in Ontario. Could I stop or force them to do anything different from what they do now? No, I don't think so. Nor could they force me to do anything different if they had the 'power' to appoint all CFC governers.
As for some kind of conflict between clubs and the provincial association, it's absurd. First, they are the same people. It would be like my left arm trying to overpower my right arm. Second, I can't find enough willing bodies to fill the CFC governer slots as it is. Third, the provincial associations, if we ignore that the CFC governers are by and large the same people again, have no power over the CFC governers they nominate - they are free agents.
It should be noted that Scarborough C.C. has less competition in the formal club space now that Dutton Chess and Bayview Chess are closed down. So a proper study of chess in Toronto would need to look at overall club membership and associated fees for the whole city. My sense is overall chess interest is down significantly from 10-12 years ago.
Scarborough C.C. has obviously done well for itself irregardless of Toronto chess as a whole.
Scarborough C.C. has obviously done well for itself irregardless of Toronto chess as a whole.
I attended the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Scarborough C.C. a few weeks ago. It was nice. It was a nice feeling to see the club doing so well after all these years.
There was a nice summary of the club over the decades, right down to the case of beer on Sunday afternoons.
They awarded trophies to event winners. I always liked trophy rather than money prizes for such club events.
Maybe I'll show up for their 60th Anniversary celebrations.
SCC was glad you could come. If I knew how to post pictures here I'd post the nice one of past members, you, Gord Blackman and Nasim Nazir that was in the SCC newsletter, reporting on the anniversary party.
SCC was glad you could come. If I knew how to post pictures here I'd post the nice one of past members, you, Gord Blackman and Nasim Nazir that was in the SCC newsletter, reporting on the anniversary party.
Hope to see you in 2020 !
Bob
Hi Bob,
I just tried to dload the issue from the web site but for some reason it won't come. Could you send me a copy at g.ruben at earthlink.net if you have it handy.
"Membership: Open to any member of the RA Centre who is age 14 or older and, at the club’s discretion, persons younger than 14 who demonstrate chess ability and social maturity. [N.B. Persons younger than 14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.]".
For 2007-2009 "Prez" was me. Actually, I'm still filling the role of screening potential new members. I talk with the parents, and I often play against the child in question to evaluate his strength. I'm looking for basic tactical strength. The child has to play well enough to give at least our weaker adult members a competitive game, and has to be mature enough to not be a disruptive presence in the club. It's not a high barrier. If they don't meet it I recommend to the parent to see Chess and Math, to improve their game.
Just his week in the theme tournament we played, a potential new member arrived Jerry (sp) Yang. he was 8. He won all three games he played. He's in.
Three years ago we let one child join at the age of 6. I think that that was too young. Definitely we had at least one situation afterwards with the child, and his play was really weak, so many people including myself thought that was a mistake.
On the other hand that child is now tops in his age group and was at the WYCC, so maybe the decision was a good one. Borderline calls work both ways. I believe I turned down 2-3 kids over 2 years, and don't regret any of my decisions.
Yes, so I Did recall the club's Written policy for joining the club correctly.
However, unless my memory fails me (which it does once in a while), weren't you screening the odd Adult (besides U14 juniors, as I indicated Too), as my prior post indicates? In your post, you didn't seem to question my recollection that Adults have been screened.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
Ten to twelve years ago coincides with with a period in which I was inactive so I can't really say what was going on then. It seems to me that in the last three years or so that things have been trending up with more and larger tournaments in Toronto.
In Windsor, I am cautiously optimistic. Activity is increasing, there are a lot of young players coming up who seem to have a love for the game. New organizers (Denton Cockburn and Fazle Baki) are stepping forward to add to the great job that John Coleman is doing. Some of the middle aged players are coming back and playing again. Despite the absence of a high school league, we are getting a few high school players who seem to be intent on getting better.
You have the CYCC in Windsor with a strong organizer and a fairly short distance from Toronto. So I would invite you to study the Toronto contingent going to Windsor this year ( I'm not all that familiar with the group myself ). Compare to say the local teams we used to send to say Edmonton in 2000 or Victoria in 2005. Criteria could include numbers of players, playing strength, FIDE titles/ratings, and potential contribution to the WYCC team.
Last edited by Duncan Smith; Sunday, 20th June, 2010, 02:50 PM.
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