I was unaware Mr. Nolan had provided an answer as to how he came to break it down that way, so I went back to ascertain exactly what I missed. This is what I found:
by nolan on Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:46 am #283102
Of the 389 players listed on the crosstable for the 2014 US Open, 69 were age 12 and under, 55 were ages 13-15, 50 were ages 16-19, 26 were ages 20-24, 170 were ages 25-64 and 23 were age 65 or older.
nolan
I have been unable to find anything written by Mr. Nolan as to how he came to break it down the way he did. Please point out to me where it can be found.
I thank you for your concern and can tell you that I feel much better than I felt yesterday, but as my grandmother was fond of saying, I am not yet ready to go out and run rabbits! (You do not have to be from the South to understand, but it helps…) The fact is that at my age when one takes sick, one wonders if this could be what takes them out of the chess game of life…
I beg to differ with you about my correspondent’s analysis. The parent of a child under 13 pays $17 to become a member. An adult pays $46, which is almost THREE times as much as the parents of the child pays. Therefore it takes about THREE child memberships to equal ONE adult membership. My correspondent wrote that if the chart published in Chess Life showed the amount of money contributed by each one, it would look much different.
I had no idea there were 10,000 life members. I was opposed to it “back in the day” and backed up my words with action by not opting for it because I thought it would help USCF long-term if I paid each year. It may have been a great short term deal for individual members, but a bad long term deal for the Royal game. I seem to recall reading recently that there are about thirty thousand of each group, children and adult. Obviously if one third of the latter group pays nothing, then the importance of the former group grows. Still, 20,000 x $46 = $920,000; while 30,000 x $17 = $510,000. Even subtracting the 10,000 life members, the adults provide more revenue.
Correct me if I am mistaken, but according to what Ruth Haring published, the vast majority of children drop out before moving on to the next category of “youth.” I believe she said they began to jump ship at age eleven. A youth membership begins at age thirteen.
Then there is the “young adult” group that pays only $33. Why? An person is considered an adult at twenty-one years of age. The fact that the “young adult” is subsidized is obviously a major reason “…the older members pay more on a per-member basis, but there are a lot more current dues-paying members under 25 than 25 or older.” Many businesses provide a “Senior” discount, but I have yet to see a “young adult” discount anywhere but USCF. Why is that? It is obvious many opt out when they are no longer subsidized. If a “young adult” gets a break, they why do Seniors not receive a corresponding break?
Yes, young members represent the future. What does it say about that future when most of the young members drop out before puberty? For the last two decades or so we have heard nothing but how the young people were the future. The future has arrived, gentlemen, and where are all those children who have been members in the last two decades or so? How long will you pooh-bah types continue to hope things will change? When will you acknowledge the change turning chess into scholastic chess has not, and will not, work?
I realize that, “Without youth tournaments (particularly the surplus amassed at our national scholastics), USCF’s financial health would be rather grim.” Who’s fault is that? “Back in the day,” the 1970’s and 1980’s, before the money was diverted (co-opted? hijacked?) from Master chess to scholastic chess such was not the case. It is like nuclear energy, brought online in the late 1950’s. The pooh-bahs acknowledged there was no way to dispose of the waste material but told WE THE PEOPLE they would find a way. It is half a century later and the waste is spewing into the ocean and WE THE PEOPLE are still being told a way will eventually be found to do something with the waste material. How long will you USCF pooh-bahs continue to tell us that a way will be found to retain the young people? When will you wake-up and realize it is a pipe dream, and that it ain’t gonna happen?
The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop. - Mark Twain