Is the State Chapter Unsustainable in 2010’s and 2020’s
Forsythe
complaints that the state chapters, the Delegates of the United States
Chess Federation, the United States Chess Federation Executive Board,
and even the tournament directors are a bunch of old men that wants to
maintain their political power. Controlling political power is a
factor, more so when dealing with the United States Chess Federation
itself. Still, at the state chapter level, and with the election of
their delegates is a local issue that may not have a strong bias
against maintaining political power. Even there, it is not the problem
of maintaining political power because of a well organized political
campaigning with the members already on the executive board of a state
chapter. It is more of a problem, that there is a general lack of
interest to be associated with a state chapter.
There are a number of state chapters that has a somewhat youthful
membership base with their state chapters. Still, the balk of the
leadership of state chapters is older members that have done a great
deal of volunteering for their state. In fairness, this is acceptable
as the balk of the total membership of the United States Chess
Federation as adults are members that are fifty and older, with the
next best being in their forties, with a much smaller amount in their
thirties.
This is a problem with state chapters, it is unpractical and unnatural
that members in their sixties now would be interested or able to be on
state chapters when they turn into their seventies by the start of the
2020’s. It is more practical that members in their fifties now would
be interested or able to be on state chapters when they turn into
their sixties.
The major crash is the lowest membership numbers, members that are in
their thirties. Even if the membership base in their thirties does not
have any decline in their age group when they turn into their fifties
at the start of the 2030’s, that membership base would have to have
more than ten percent of their age group being on state chapters, just
to maintain just the state chapter executive boards. The only answer,
would to be holding onto members that are now in their forties now
that will be in their sixties in the 2030’s plus have much younger
members that now in our scholastic community.
The problem is, there is more of a lack of interest with younger
members to be tournament directors, organizers, members of a state
chapter, delegates, than the membership that are much older.
Therefore, if the younger generation when they become much older to
gain their own political power: would not their younger generation
have just as a much of a lack of interest themselves.
If during the 2010’s, more people that leave as tournament directors
and organizers are only replaced with less tournament directors and
less organizers have less of an interest: it would produce a smaller
amount of tournaments, and a smaller amount of a youthful population
like scholastic chess.
My feeling, that the small states would become the most unstable with
finding younger members to be in state chapters during this decade. Do
not feel they will disappear outright, they will just become more
irrelevant with promoting chess at the level they are relevant to the
United States Chess Federation itself.
If there is no positive change with the United States Chess
Federation, by the 2020’s that the United States Chess Federation may
have to debate about abolishing the state chapters with something like
regional authority.