We are going to give the JTP membership option a try. My question is this? How do the players that have played as JTP players know their USCF ID # for future tournaments? If they haven’t played we simply go online and create a number to use for them. But say it is the 2nd or 3rd tournament of the year, how to we know if Jimmy Smith has already been assigned an ID #? We can track those that we sign up but what if he played elsewhere?
Thanks
The organizer of the previous event should have given him a temporary card with his id printed on it.
If he fails to give you his number and you try to process a new membership, the membership system should prompt you as a result of a data match to his file.
I envision the IDs with numbers not being done until after the tournament is over and Internet access is available. You could give the kid a card but that is no guarantee that he or she will bring it to the next tournament.
I can see when you try to enter John Smith at 222 Main Steet, Peoria that if there already is a John Smith in the data base that lives at 222 Main Street that it would warn you. But if it is a year later and they have moved?
I’m just trying to get a handle on the best way to implement this.
I prefer to do memberships prior to the first round so that I can chase after any missing memberships during the tournament. To have a complete file we process the JTP’s in the days leading up to the tournament as well.
It is more likely that John Smith who played as a JTP a year ago is no longer playing chess or has converted to a regular membership than it is that he had changed addresses. Even if he has moved the date of birth match should alert you that he already has an ID number.
We use SwissSys so if the Membership comes up out of date it gives a warning. Then I double check that against the MSA area to see if it has been updated or renewed since the last update. So going into the tournament itself we usually have a good handle on who needs to renew.
There are always a few at the door entries even though offically you are suspose to enter in advance. So anyway the JTP advance entries could be handled along with the other advance entries. Those entries could even be given the temporary membership card that the USCF puts out.
It might be nice if the other local organizers running these created a shareable file of JTP members. It would just require their offical name and ID number.
We’ll be running our first scholastic Oct 14th so we will see how it goes.
Wayne, FYI… In Bloomington we have created a form that I believe has all the information required for JTP or Membership.
I believe after the first tournament, those your affiliate has registered should show up in MSA for validation. Another thing that can be done if you have an internet connection, I believe you can submit the tournament sections during the tournament to check registration. We too are going to experiment with this option.
Keep in mind that JTPs are NOT USCF members. They may play in exempt events (such as JTP events) only, to play in ANY OTHER USCF RATED EVENTS they will need to pay dues.
Regardless of when the TD/organizer puts in the JTPs, we need addresses and birthdates when assigning new USCF IDs, even for those playing in exempt events, so be sure to collect that information before or during your event.
Additional question. In advance of the tournament I get USCF # for JTP player. At the tournament they decide to join USCF. Do I simply choose Renewal along with the USCF # that was assigned them before the tournament?
Yes, because you’ve already got a USCF ID.
I think most of these issues are covered in the FAQ on the TD/Affiliate Support Area.
I figured as much. Got my first advance entry and realize the way we are set up we don’t ask for address info in advance entrys. We do get the birthdate but it looks like I will have to get all the info after check in.
This being the first JTP experiment in the area I don’t really have to worry too much about duplicating someone yet.
My long range concern is the added time in registering kids in advance in the future. Say we get a kid that was going by Elliot and now goes by Mike (It happens) When I look up Mike Chessplayer who has already played beore as Elliot Chessplayer how do I know if he is new or not?
I think the check in form is going to need a check box like
____ I have played in an USCF event before.
My experience has been that many kids DO NOT REMEMBER having played in USCF rated events before, or may not have known that the event was being rated. (This is especialy true if a school is running ‘in-school’ JTP events.)
I’ve also been at the registration desk at several local and national events where I’ve seen a young player’s mother or father who was absolutely sure than their son had never played in a USCF rated event before and never been a USCF member, though when we checked we found the exact name, address and birthdate in USCF records, sometimes as a JTP, but just as likely as a former Scholastic or Economy Scholastic member.
Well we had the October 14th Scholastic tournament that we were going to try out the JTP option. We had 78 players. 0 of which took advantage of the JTP option. I think we had 26 new or renewals and 1 family of 3 membership.
I can’t decide if that’s a good result or a bad one. 
How was the JTP option presented? What other options/sections were available?
I took the Bloomington form and added descriptions to each part. The JTP option wasn’t pushed but was available. The coaches seemed to feel it was better for the kids to be members.
Membership Type (Circle) Price Reflect Affiliate Discounted Fees Passed on to member.
Scholastic age 12 and under $17 Includes 6 issues per year of Chess Life for Kids
Youth ages 13 - 15 $19 Includes 6 issues per year of Chess Life
Young Adult ages 16 - 25 $25 Includes 12 issues per year of Chess Life
JTP Grades K-3 $0 Games played today will be rated. USCF # will be assigned.
We will probably let the Bloomington people run with this in the future.
So you had a K-3 section, but everyone in it had or purchased a USCF membership?
It’s not perfectly on target, but this does run counter to the claim that potential members are very sensitive to the price of the membership.
We had 4 sections. K-1 2-3 4-5 and 6-8
There were 19 in the K-1 section and 22 in the 2-3 section. 15 new or renewals in the K-1 section mostly new and 5 new or renewals in the 2-3 section.
I’m going to be inputing those tonight. We have to send in a check for memberships because some parents made checks out to the USCF. ( We had requested checks be made to the GPCF but things happen) So I’m going to enter the memberships tonight and Monday night will get the USCF checks and we’ll add the difference and mail in the membership fees. Then as soon as the memberships hit the MSA area I will put the ID’s into Swiss-Sys and submit the tournament online.
With the local coaches supporting USCF membership this probably wasn’t the best test of the JTP option. The real test will be in Bloomington where they have schedule their whole season. Will their number rise for the year?
Will there prove to be a malstrom of young kids just waiting to play chess but unable to because of the USCF membership fee?
In retrospect if parents didn’t want to put out 17 dollars to join the USCF why would they spend 10 or 15 dollars to drive to Peoria to play in a tournament?
Maybe the best use of the JTP program is within the schools themselves??
Just an update on how JTP chess is going in Bloomington/Normal
We have run 2 tournaments with JTP sections so far and will be holding one tomorrow. So far, here is comparison to last years numbers.
MLK 2007 - 374 players
MLK 2006 - 296 players
Thats plus 78 players for a 26% increase in attendance
Another factor here was 2 additional “novice” sections for 2-3 and 4-5
Tri-Valley 2007 - 252 players
Tri-Valley 2006 - 225 players
Thats plus 27 players for a 12% increase in attendance
We are holding a tournament tomorrow
Colene Hoose 2007 - 295 pre-registered
Colene Hoose 2006 - 264
Thats plus 31 players for an 11% increase.
I would say moderately successful, although the longer trend is what we are seeking.
Actually two other tournaments have been held, but both had caps for maximum participation both years so comparison is not valid. In both cases, tournaments met maximum participation limits.
When I get the duplicate menber warning, I will check the MSA history on that player. If I see that he’s played in other tournaments in the past that either I’v run or other organixers have run it’s usually pretty easy to figure out if it’s the same player or not.
I got a player that I thought was new, but got the possible duplicate member error. The number was clearly an older number, but it turned out he had played in our tournaments when we had rated K-1 sections so that explained the older number. The DOB and town came up as a match so it safe to assume this was the same player returning to tournaments 4 years later as a 5th grader.
A little research on the MSA saves a lot of headaches down the road.
Just out of curosity how what was the breakdown of uscf members to jtp members per tournament?