I have been very busy preparing for the holidays. Now that I have had my turkey and before I fall asleep, I want to report on the NJ K-12 Championship from last Sunday…
NJSCF has had this event for the last five or six years. Entries has been stable from around 280 to 300 during this time, holding the event always on the same weekend. Sunday we almost broke 400 (398)! We were running around looking for tables, chairs and sets: a problem no organizer really minds!
My personal business is expanding greatly. From what I heard from the other coaches there, they had the same problem: too much work!
At least in New York/New Jersey area chess is expanding scholastically. what is the story in other areas?
I suspect that middle class parents that are going to spend money on their kid’s activities are finding chess cheaper than other sports, like hockey or baseball.
Things are also going well in the Illinois area. Wayne Clark and Chris Merli held the Illinois K-12 in Palatine IL (Chicago area) on November 8 with 485 players in attendance.
Our Local NFP in Bloomington IL, having many of the same problems as you Joe, not enough teachers. In our twin Cities of Bloomington/Normal IL we work in about 20 Elementary and Jr. High schools. Just starting out local tournament season. I’m personally looking for 400+ players at the MLK day tournament I will be holding on January 19. I’ve been fortunate to receive $3000 in donations for the hosting School allowing us to lower registration to $10 for the 5 SS day of chess. The school I run the tournament for (free) uses all proceeds to pay entry fees for all children tournament entry fees for the season.
Our 2nd Kentucky grade level championship had 240 players 2 weeks ago.
And our population is much smaller than either of the states mentioned.
Our state individual chamionship will be about that same size in the spring.
We regularly have scholastic events with 200-250 players - at least one per month somewhere in Louisville or Lexington during the scholastic season.
Our largest scholastic tournament is the state team tournament. That has averaged around 365 players the last 4 years. It cannot get much bigger because the entries are limited to 16 teams in 4 sections with a maximum of 6 per team.
In our twin Cities of Bloomington/Normal IL we work in about 20 Elementary and Jr. High schools. Just starting out local tournament season. I’m personally looking for 400+ players at the MLK day tournament I will be holding on January 19. I’ve been fortunate to receive $3000 in donations for the hosting School allowing us to lower registration to $10 for the 5 SS day of chess. The school I run the tournament for (free) uses all proceeds to pay entry fees for all children tournament entry fees for the season.