Author Topic: Proposed team competition structure for 2021/22 season  (Read 662 times)

Robin_Kneebone

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There's a lot to consider. Some of the issues are new, but the important ones are not.
Hardy perennials include: how to get females into the game; how to improve the current disgraceful, embarrassing, number of active juniors. And crucially how to recruit more players, of any age or gender. Most of the posts don't touch these.
FYI I'm steadily contacting schools and trying to find tutors to go in to schools. There are 300+ schools in the county, so, like Cap'n Oates, I may be some time.
I have proposed some sessions for totally new players - early club starts, informal chess evenings, coaching. Members of the Truro/Falmouth club have indicated a willingness to help with this.

I see the above as vastly more important than the points I'm going to mention below. I can scarcely be bothered with the rest of this, but here goes.
Some venues simply need to be larger. If there is space for 12 people, no newcomer will feel welcome.
Silent match sessions will almost never attract newbies.
We need more organisers. Even Ian G can't run any more stuff, surely; I'm focusing on juniors and the Truro/Fal club.
Ages ago, Devon organised their competitions into a mixture of weekend and evening matches: weekdays are used for local leagues, Saturdays (or Sundays) for whole-county events. Some of us are reluctant to do long evening drives (I could go on about my migraines but many of you already know).
As far as I know, nobody is suggesting a wholesale change to weekend play, and the number of weekend days IMHO would be small. Since OTB county matches may not resume (we are about the last team standing) we have a few days available annually without altering our lives much.

In all, I'm concerned that we may attempt too many competitions, online and OTB. Rationalising it will be hard. But we have financial resources like never before!

Again, how can we get more people into the game? There are some signs that online matches, and the Netflix Queens Gambit, are stimulating interest, both locally (at Camborne and Truro/Fal). I hope the same is happening elsewhere.
More players ...more players ...more players ....(cont p94)