05-05-2014, 08:28 PM
Linda McCusker Wrote:I agree with Mike that Hamish makes a lot of interesting and relevant points in his post.
' Not really sure if I'd have been too chuffed if I'd been asked to go and pay much more purely so that someone else can get a funded place mind!'
As a parent of a child who has worked hard to become the top player in their age group I would be non to chuffed to find that funding allocated to the age group for my child has been used for another player from another age group, albeit with a higher chess grade than my child. Juniors put a lot of hard work into their chess and parents give up a lot of their time and finances to support them. Many juniors strive to achieve the number one spot in their age group and to achieve that precious funded place to play for Scotland.
Where does the funding come from? If it is from Chess Scotland then surely it is down to them to apportion as see fit.
If my reading is correct and this is the places allocated by the tournament, I would question the legality of doing so. It would leave Chess Scotland open to the parent of any child who was due to get such a place and would have to pay a premium for their child to attend. Utterly disgraceful. Any parent who was like minded could surely take this to the Ethics Committee at FIDE and Chess Scotland would have the book thrown at them. Very ill thought out indeed!
Maybe someone would be as kind as to come on and confirm this to us all. Either way I think we should be voicing our displeasure if this is the case and contacting the relevant directors.