“How many teenagers play chess these days?”
That”s the question posed by Dr. Melvin Ray, president of the board of trustees of the Golden Triangle Boys and Girls Club. Obviously, the question is rhetorical, but the Columbus and Starkville Boys and Girls Clubs are trying to literally increase the mystery number.
Julian Sansom, 23, a graduate student from Collins enrolled in Mississippi State University”s Public Policy and Administration Program, is the man behind the game”s introduction to the local Boys and Girls Clubs. Sansom, an executive intern for the club, is handling typical administrative projects like developing an employee handbook and personnel policies in addition to mentoring, tutoring and trying to find a way to keep kids” minds sharp during the summer.
“We felt chess would be something to take the youths” minds off ordinary classroom settings. Something outside athletics that would help them think on a different level,” said Sansom, who began playing chess in the fourth grade and entered his first competition at the Collins Boys and Girls Club.
It suffices to say the idea was well received. Now a Youth Chess Challenge Tournament is planned for Aug. 21 at the MSU library and Ray hopes to copyright the Youth Chess Challenge Initiative and expand the program statewide.
“We didn”t want these kids to lose learning during the summer months, so we”re using chess to teach patience, discipline and analytical skills,” he said.
Local kids took to the game with such vigor that the tournament was born. The Boys and Girls Club is hoping to reserve the John Grisham Room in the MSU library for a one-day tournament pitting 16 young minds — eight from each club — against one another with the winner pocketing $200.
“It”s simply a recognition of their commitment to excellence,” said Ray of the prize money.
Since school let out in May, mentors, volunteers and staff at the Columbus and Starkville Boys and Girls Clubs have been teaching chess principals and strategies to those students willing to learn. Both clubs serve a total of approximately 300 students each day, with around 10 percent participating in the program.
The kids who are participating are taking it seriously.
“I”m very competitive. I don”t like to lose,” said Chris Gray, 12, of Columbus. “I set up traps. It”s kinda like I play both ways (offensively and defensively). Either way it goes, if my piece gets taken, I take their more important piece.”
Gray, who has been playing chess for close to two years, says it took a year of playing before he learned to apply advanced strategies. Andrae Gathins, 12, of Amory, has only been playing for four months and admits he hasn”t developed the patience to avoid Gray”s traps.
“I see them coming. He knows I take them and he probably knows it was a stupid move, but I go for them anyway,” said Gathins.
Despite his inexperience, Gathins is learning to set his own traps. He says it”s a good feeling plotting a complex capture, but he still gets anxious waiting for the move to develop.
Hailey Shelton, 11, of Noxubee County, says chess has taught her perseverance. One of the first lessons she learned was to never give up on a game and, after a year of playing, she was beating the instructors who taught her that determination.
The Columbus Boys and Girls Club members, who will all participate in the Youth Chess Challenge tournament, say the lessons learned from chess extend beyond the board.
“Chess is more like a strategy game. You”ve got to think hard, so when you”ve got a lot of experience playing chess, you”ll probably make smarter decisions in life,” said Gray.
Ray says the game also fits well with the club”s three core areas of achievement, character and leadership and healthy lifestyles. In future years he hopes to open the tournament up to students from communities around the Golden Triangle, such as West Point, which don”t have Boys and Girls Club chapters.
“We hope to have a credible and recognizable event each year,” he said.
The tournament, according to Sansom, was born from a desire to help students “end the summer with a big bang.”
The Boys and Girls Clubs of The Golden Triangle are looking for business sponsors for the tournament, and both chapters are constantly looking for volunteers to tutor, mentor, read to and visit students.
The Columbus club is in the midst of recovering from a severe financial shortfall which nearly forced the it to cut its hours of operation.
Ray says the Columbus club is in a better position now thanks to a coalition of local churches which have banded together to pay the club”s $2,600 monthly mortgage payment. The faith-based initiative took over the payments in January and agreed to continue through December.
Potential cuts are being identified now to supplement the loss of the monthly mortgage payments as well as $42,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds in 2011.
The Columbus Club avoided cutting hours, but it was forced to cut several employees. The labor has been replaced by using interns, such as Sansom, and taking advantage of programs like Experience Works and the Mississippi STEPS — Subsidized Transitional Employment Program and Services — program. Experience Works places elderly workers with employers while paying a percentage of their salaries. STEPS subsidizes salaries for new employees of nonprofits through ARRA funds.
In addition to giving 150 kids a place to go every day, the Boys and Girls Clubs partner with local school districts to provide free breakfast and lunch to members during the summer.
While the club waits to hear from MSU about the availability of the Grisham Room on Aug. 21, it is also considering hosting the tournament at local industries local industries or the Greater Starkville Development Partnership boardroom.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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