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Report at 31/12/2005
YOUTH SUB-COMMITTEE OF WESPA :
REPORT AS AT DECEMBER 31st 2005
The goals for this committee were to achieve the following
before the end 2005.
(a) Ratify the existence of the Youth Sub-committee
(b) Recruit a dynamic committee, where all members are committed to
promoting inclusion of more young players in Scrabble activities
worldwide.
(c) Determine the terms of reference for operation of this committee
(d) Develop a mission statement / goals or equivalent. (In our
case, this became, appropriately, a "Vision statement", since this
requires tremendous vision - to go where no-one has gone before!)
1. COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Karen Richards (Aust ) - Chair
Jason Katz-Brown (USA)
Radhika Mahalingaiah (India)
Rohaina Tanveer (Kuwait)
Chrys Placca (Ghana)
Ruth Groffman (NZ)
Shaila Amalean (Sri Lanka)
(Henry) Kien Yeo (Malaysia)
(Mrs Yap) Song Kim Lian (Malaysia)
WESPA Committee was consulted about the possibility of having two
members from one country, and agreed that we could not afford to
exclude either Henry or Mrs Yap
There may be one or more members added to this eventually, but this
committee is now functional, and working towards resolving issues.
2. AGE LIMIT:
Whilst I had originally visualised YOUTH to mean Under 16, I was
outvoted on this by the committee members, and so it is now UNDER 18.
This means that all initiatives will be aimed at including more players
aged 9 to 17 in regular Scrabble activities (and one way to do this
will be to provide age-protected events in which they may gain
confidence first). The lower age limit is flexible, so some
activities may include players younger than 9..
There was some discussion about using the name "Youth" (in preference
to "School", "Junior", or "Under 18"). The majority felt that it
is an adequate title, as long as the words "Under 18" are frequently
used in conjunction with the term "Youth". (WEPSA had earlier
given their tacit agreement to the use of "Youth"' to describe our
charter)
*...UNDER 18 * In January 2006, it was further resolved that the age cutoff for every year would be 31st December of the appropriate year, regardless of the timing of any youth event such as WYSC. That means, for example, that an event held in 2008 would only include young people born on and after 1st January 1991.
3. DICTIONARY:
This has not been discussed within the Youth Committee, for the main reason that it had already been discussed by WESPA committee.
For any youth events run by the Youth sub-Committee of WESPA, the dictionary will be the same as used for WSC (ie as determined by WESPA dictionary committee, from time to time)
The consensus of opinion (within WESPA) was that it would be too difficult to organise an expurgated dictionary for use by young players at international events. For many players (ie those who are competing in both normal and school events) it would mean learning two "dictionaries". This would actually increase the focus on "rude" words, as players would need to learn a list of words NOT allowed in youth events. The complexity of this would be made even worse by the fact that North America and Thailand already use a different dictionary from that proposed for any international youth events, so could effectively be required to remember THREE different sets of words - an impossible task for many adults, and completely unfair to ask o younger players.
4. SURVEY:
In order to assess the effectiveness of this committee, it is essential that we know the extent of inclusion of young players worldwide before we start (ie as at 31st December 2005). This is in hand - a questionnaire is being developed to forward to Cheah for distribution to ALL national Scrabble organisations, not only those committed to WESPA. It is not anticipated that every country will reply, although that would be ideal. Results received will be collated as a snapshot of the World Youth Scrabble scene. All countries who respond to this questionnaire will be resurveyed at annual intervals for approximately 3 or 4 years, to assess progress.
A quick perusal of Australia's figures, for instance, suggest that, of 1200 tournaments players, only 8 are under 18 (ie 0.7% of players). There is also a Junior rating system which includes 60 young players (plus school clubs who do not compete in rated tournaments). The thing which I found most interesting is that there is NO OVERLAP OR INTERCHANGE between those who play in normal tournaments and those who play in School events. It will be interesting to see whether other countries exhibit the same pattern.
Following this national survey, it may be useful to survey some of the young players themselves, to find out why they first started playing, what attracted them, and what keeps them attracted to Scrabble. Also, we could perhaps explore why those who limit themselves to School competitions are not prepared to attempt a normal tournament. I have also approached the father of two young players who have ventured onto ISC, but as yet have shown no interest in either regular or school tournaments (despite playing at home for years). Such non-players may be able to help identify the factors inhibiting many potential players.
5. WORLD YOUTH SCRABBLE CHAMPIONSHIP:
Whilst this is still in the proposal stage, we have been throwing around ideas - such as trying to decide how often this should occur, and finding an inclusive format which will ensure all age groups are represented. It was suggested that there should be only one section, but that this could include prizes for the best finishers aged Under 16, 14, 12, and maybe 10, as well as the normal placings. Many other issues will need resolving, such as the need for escorts of all young players, the need to satisfy legal requirements when dealing with young players (eg "Blue Card" in Australia, media appearances etc). Cheah also raised a valid point (during WESPA discussions) regarding the potential for humiliation of younger players who are unadequately prepared to face competition of the calibre of David Eldar, Austin Shin and Ong Suanne. One issue which does need resolving is whether there should be a minimum qualifying standard, to protect such players. It would be tragic if a dismal performance in the WYSC resulted in a potential champion becoming discouraged. This may need some coordination with the ratings Sub-committee - for instance, if we fixed a minimum level of Ïnternational rating of, say, "1000/1200 or equivalent", then we may need some guidance to allow countries to calculate whether their young person had reached that level.
We will also need to specify the rules under which such a tournament is played – assumedly these will be the same as for WSC, with the exception of the penalty challenge (this has not been discussed yet, just my thoughts, and I have been known to be outvoted).
I am hoping to have better defined these and other issues, plus sketched a proposal to run the inaugural WYSC, by the time our next WESPA report is due (March 2006). Until we have a concrete proposal, we cannot approach Mattel for approval to run such an event, or other potential sponsors for financial assistance.
One thing which IS certain about the WYSC suggestion is that everyone wants it to happen!
6. NETWORKING:
One urgent need is to establish a "Youth" contact person within each nation. Hopefully the survey will help to identify such a person. In the absence of a specific "Youth Officer" in any country, all communications will be directed to the president of the national association. It would be a pleasing step forward to see more countries acknowledging the importance of youth, by nominating a particular officer responsible just for youth.
Interestingly, Australia does not, as yet, have such a person. However, since rumours erupted about the impending focus on Youth, I have had feedback from three of the seven Australian states that they are developing strategies especially to address the youth issue - visits to schools, organising youth tournaments etc. ... and it has been only two months since WESPA met in London! One state (NSW) had already been running regular school tournaments plus developing a growing network of school clubs, information/training sessions held in libraries etc.
I have been working with Edward on developing the website, particularly with regards a "bulletin board" where we may post regular up-dates of interest to youth. Prior to his being given permission to release this to the public, I would like to have included some details of our committee members. Most have already provided profiles. Some will be shortened somewhat before publication (fingers point at self!). We can also include our vision statement. Some committee members (eg Mrs Yap) have already provided me with URL's suitable for links from the WESPA site to national school scrabble organisations or similar.
One thing Edward could do for us very simply would be to extract details of all those under 18 who have a current International rating, and include these on WESPA website. It would be a great incentive for more young players to aim for an international rating of their own. Permission would need to be sought for their inclusion, probably (from the young person, or from their national association?). Perhaps the Ratings Sub-committee of WESPA could also advise a way to extrapolate national ratings of those young players who have national ratings, but not international ratings? (I must approach Sam re that suggestion)
There are many other things which could happen on the Youth section of the WESPA website, but I will be relying heavily on assistance in this area, particularly from the two younger committee members, Jason and Henry.
In summary, I can only say that we have achieved more than I had hoped for in a very short time, that I am delighted by the calibre and enthusiasm of the committee members, and that we will make a fantastic team.
KAREN RICHARDS