Almost 52% of active New Mexico USCF members are rated below 800! Almost all of these are young people – our future. Yet last year at the four big tournaments the NMCO sponsors they made up less than 14% of all the attendees. We are trying to change this, starting with the tournament on the 14th and 15th of January which is, ironically, the Senior/Memorial. If you have any suggestions on improving the participation rate please let us know. (Members with ratings between 800 and 1200 add another 17%, for almost 69% of our chess-playing population.)
Neglected!
by Peter Lattimore | Dec 18, 2016 | 3 comments
I will be giving away vouchers and holding more tournaments for kids. I plan on including lunch in these events.
Making it easier for parents to “click here” and get all the info they need about who what where when, and how to register. The website is better but it’s still not easy to find what you need, and there are still too many possible sources of information (facebook, individual clubs). It’s a human trait that hands on commitment to something, by filling out a form or paying money, makes the biggest difference, not mental commitment. I can imagine that as a parent of a younger child juggling multiple siblings and compicated schedules, and knowing that NMCO events rarely run smoothly, any barrier to commitment would be enough for me to decide to do something else.
Also include more “for fun” options. Very few kids are all that interested in adult style competition, and very few parents want their kids to see chess as only a win /lose contest. It needs to be enjoyable and the parent need to know that half of them won’t be taking home a kid who feels like a loser and that they’re no good. Giving every kid a trophy isn’t the answer, the kids need to know they’re playing a competitive game,but also rewards for good sportsmanship, most interesting game, biggest upset/ come from behind, and just for fun stuff like bug house or even an art show, would attract more kids.