26-07-2013, 01:13 PM
I thought the three girls who represented Scotland in this year’s Jessica Gilbert Cup performed exceptionally well against very tough opposition. The coaching from Matthew Turner and Heather Lang undoubtedly contributed to the girl’s performance and confidence over the three days.
However, there is only so much that can be done at an event like this and while I understand that much of the work between events has to be done by players themselves I think it would be beneficial for a number of reasons to see regular get togethers for coaching and events throughout the year for girls.
I read with interest a paper that Heather Lang wrote and forwarded to me regarding her experience of what worked and what didn’t with the junior team she runs in Oxfordshire. One observation particularly caught my interest.
Although this was written with local clubs in mind I wonder if creating a kind of national girls club where the top x players regularly meet for coaching or are invited to participate in special girls only events would sustain the interest of those currently playing at the higher level and be an incentive for those below this level to aspire to.
Further observations made by Heather would lead me initially to invite players aged 11 or 12 and upwards to participate.
I agree that getting twenty four players to regularly turn up throughout the year, may indeed be a problem. This combined with the point Matthew makes regarding devious draws puts a giant hole in the all play all league series idea and sinks it to the bottom of the Loch of Ideas.
However, I don’t think an event or two, combined with coaching, for the top twenty four (or so) players is completely outside the realms of possibilities in the short to medium term. The difficulty is designing an event that would allow all the participants to enjoy five or six competitive games, hence the all play all idea, with players grouped according to grade.
Perhaps the starting point could be an all play all tournament/coaching event run over two weekends, with groups of four players (up to a maximum of 24) playing each other twice, once with each colour. There would be two games on the Saturday, with coaching between rounds and after. Sunday could begin with opponent preparation followed by round 3 (or 6).
The events would be free and funded from outside Chess Scotland.
As a further thought, I have (I think) previously aired the idea of an all junior girls team particpating in the SNCL. If five girls wished to get together and form a team I would be happy to pay their entry fee for the event.
However, there is only so much that can be done at an event like this and while I understand that much of the work between events has to be done by players themselves I think it would be beneficial for a number of reasons to see regular get togethers for coaching and events throughout the year for girls.
I read with interest a paper that Heather Lang wrote and forwarded to me regarding her experience of what worked and what didn’t with the junior team she runs in Oxfordshire. One observation particularly caught my interest.
Quote:“'Number-density' - if you have four or more girls there, then more just keep on coming, especially if they already know each other from tournaments.”
Although this was written with local clubs in mind I wonder if creating a kind of national girls club where the top x players regularly meet for coaching or are invited to participate in special girls only events would sustain the interest of those currently playing at the higher level and be an incentive for those below this level to aspire to.
Further observations made by Heather would lead me initially to invite players aged 11 or 12 and upwards to participate.
I agree that getting twenty four players to regularly turn up throughout the year, may indeed be a problem. This combined with the point Matthew makes regarding devious draws puts a giant hole in the all play all league series idea and sinks it to the bottom of the Loch of Ideas.
However, I don’t think an event or two, combined with coaching, for the top twenty four (or so) players is completely outside the realms of possibilities in the short to medium term. The difficulty is designing an event that would allow all the participants to enjoy five or six competitive games, hence the all play all idea, with players grouped according to grade.
Perhaps the starting point could be an all play all tournament/coaching event run over two weekends, with groups of four players (up to a maximum of 24) playing each other twice, once with each colour. There would be two games on the Saturday, with coaching between rounds and after. Sunday could begin with opponent preparation followed by round 3 (or 6).
The events would be free and funded from outside Chess Scotland.
As a further thought, I have (I think) previously aired the idea of an all junior girls team particpating in the SNCL. If five girls wished to get together and form a team I would be happy to pay their entry fee for the event.
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