5.1 Junior chess issues and participation in world events like WYCC/WCCC/U16 Olympiad

[Lyle Craver]

Discussion of Junior issues

[Michael Barron]

Do we have CFC Youth Committee?

[Michael Lo]

Was there one before?

Michael Lo

[Vladimir Drkulec]

There has been a bit of a reset with a new youth coordinator but I have noticed that there is a great deal of consultation with a group of parents. Parents are more involved though I don't see a formal youth committee, yet.

[Ken Craft]

I am not sure that there is a need for a youth committee.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

I am not sure that there is a need for a youth committee.

Given that the work that needs to be done is getting done, I tend to agree but I am open minded on the idea.

[Vladimir Drkulec]

The point of this agenda item is that a significant amount of executive time is absorbed by the youth portfolio. With the WYCC split into two tournaments our expenses have gone up significantly (and perhaps we need to revisit the criteria for deciding who gets to go to such youth events). Last year we got off pretty easy on fees for coaches but this year after six months our coach costs are almost $9000 higher than last year $13,910 for six months vs. $4,980 for all of last year). Our HOD (head of delegation) costs are up because we are sending two delegations rather than one and on and on. Adding five or six extra players more than doubles our costs because in theory the first coach gets his room and board paid for as a FIDE trainer or instructor while the second coach we have to pay for. Unfortunately having 15 players at each event requires two coaches whereas in the past we could have gotten away with three for the thirty players.

This is not a big deal where we have large CYCC's but can be a problem if we ever have an off year. We need to reign in costs to keep this sustainable over the long term. We probably need to ask extra players to pay more of their incremental costs or perhaps scale back on the support we give extra players who did not finish in the top three at CYCC.

[Michael Lo]

The point of this agenda item is that a significant amount of executive time is absorbed by the youth portfolio. With the WYCC split into two tournaments our expenses have gone up significantly (and perhaps we need to revisit the criteria for deciding who gets to go to such youth events). Last year we got off pretty easy on fees for coaches but this year after six months our coach costs are almost $9000 higher than last year $13,910 for six months vs. $4,980 for all of last year). Our HOD (head of delegation) costs are up because we are sending two delegations rather than one and on and on. Adding five or six extra players more than doubles our costs because in theory the first coach gets his room and board paid for as a FIDE trainer or instructor while the second coach we have to pay for. Unfortunately having 15 players at each event requires two coaches whereas in the past we could have gotten away with three for the thirty players.

This is not a big deal where we have large CYCC's but can be a problem if we ever have an off year. We need to reign in costs to keep this sustainable over the long term. We probably need to ask extra players to pay more of their incremental costs or perhaps scale back on the support we give extra players who did not finish in the top three at CYCC.

In a simplified sense, with WYCC split into two, it should at most doubled our cost. Why did it jump to $13,910 from $4,980 - 2.8 times?

[Vladimir Drkulec]

In a simplified sense, with WYCC split into two, it should at most doubled our cost. Why did it jump to $13,910 from $4,980 - 2.8 times?

It may have to do with timing of events. Remember our fiscal year is May 1st to April 30th. I believe that we got off particularly cheaply by using onsite coaches last year. Transportation costs were minimal and hotel and food costs were covered because we used the same FIDE Senior Trainer Russia based coach for WYCC and WCCC (GM Alexander Cherniaev). We also had one Canadian coach for one of the tournaments. This year we had only one of four coaches being FIDE trainers (actually two received their trainer license but both at the same tournament and thus only one qualified for the subsidy) and we also had a hurricane shutting down an airport during the tournament which required rerouting of one of our coaches at an added transportation cost.

[Pierre Dénommée]

It would be worthwhile for the CFC to have an official policy for sending arbiters to the 2 WYCC, Word Junior, Youth Olympiads and School Championship. Those assignments are required to advance the career of our arbiters and are almost impossible to get without official CFC backing. Even if the arbiters need to cover some expenses, that may still be worthwhile. I am not suggesting that we spend money on that, just that we support those who want to work at those events.