02-08-2012, 07:28 PM
Angus McDonald Wrote:Some though appear to be saying that Chess is not worthy and The Scottish Juniors are not worthy.
I don't agree with that at all. As far as I can see, nobody has been against juniors receiving more money, but have expressed that government funding could be a very tricky route. Governments will have a fixed pot of money to be divided, and getting a larger share could prove difficult, but of course everyone would like to see it happen. In fact, there have been some very interesting ideas put forward as alternatives, all aimed at improving the junior chess issue. Jamie's post was very fresh, and hopefully it can be discussed, although as my name crops up in it, I don't think I am in a position to comment.
While watching the Olympics today, I saw team GB pick up a gold in the men's double trap, and something interesting arose about the winner. To quote: "Great Britain’s Peter Wilson won gold in the men’s double trap shooting event by two shots over Sweden’s Hakan Dahlby. After Britain’s poor shooting performance in 2008, UK Sport cut all of Wilson’s funding, but his parents funded his training until he could raise enough money through fundraising events." I think there are two points to take away from this. Firstly this is somebody at the very top of his sport in the world, and has received nothing, which incidentally I am sure will be looked into. Secondly, the way that he managed to raise money to pay for things was through fundraising. There is surely a parallel here to chess, so why can't we try that route too?