The Knights of Castle Kimbark: Chess Matters
Good find Tom. I read about this, and it was good that the parents fought back. I would have a hard time believing that parents in CPS would do it for one simple reason: NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE DARN BUDGET IS! Chess is rolled up into the Sports Dept, and the only money supposedly given is for the city tournament. The person over chess gets $58K/year as salary, but the majority of his work is processing paperwork for the other sports; only a fraction of his time is spent on actual CHESS development.
There needs to be a person in each Area that is a chess coordinator and sets up events. I've been pushing for this idea for years. They can have a season within their area, and the top 2-3 teams from each area will compete at the city level. I don't know what's so hard about this. You can get a chess coach within the area a small stipend to be the coordinator and run the events. Even if there are only a few schools in each area to start, at least you have someone close enough who can work to get programs in each of the schools.
That's my blabber for today. :)
I would very much like to see CPS hold a series tournaments in each area or region as qualifiers leading up to the championship meet. It would make that final tournament more like a real championship if you had to beat your local schools to get there. I would also like to see CPS do more to help and encourage schools to start and develop their chess programs.
I'm glad we're on the same page. I think the format of the Youth Chess Foundation is ideal for this. This truly isn't a hard thing to do if people would just simply do their job and be committed to it. I hope this happens soon!
The Knights of Castle Kimbark: Chess Matters
Good find Tom. I read about this, and it was good that the parents fought back. I would have a hard time believing that parents in CPS would do it for one simple reason: NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE DARN BUDGET IS! Chess is rolled up into the Sports Dept, and the only money supposedly given is for the city tournament. The person over chess gets $58K/year as salary, but the majority of his work is processing paperwork for the other sports; only a fraction of his time is spent on actual CHESS development.
There needs to be a person in each Area that is a chess coordinator and sets up events. I've been pushing for this idea for years. They can have a season within their area, and the top 2-3 teams from each area will compete at the city level. I don't know what's so hard about this. You can get a chess co
ach within the area a small stipend to be the coordinator and run the events. Even if there are only a few schools in each area to start, at least you have someone close enough who can work to get programs in each of the schools.
That's my blabber for today. :)
I would very much like to see CPS hold a series tournaments in each area or region as qualifiers leading up to the championship meet. It would make that final tournament more like a real championship if you had to beat your local schools to get there. I would also like to see CPS do more to help and encourage schools to start and develop their chess programs.
I'm glad we're on the same page. I think the format of the Youth Chess Foundation is ideal for this. This truly isn't a hard thing to do if people would just simply do their job and be committed to it. I hope this happens soon!