PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

I would like to start off by thanking you for the faith and honor that you have bestowed on us by electing us to the challenging position as your executive committee for 2007 / 2008. In just the first few days of office and after several meetings, all I can say is that there are a number of challenges that lie ahead of us.

At this point allow me to thank the outgoing executive for all the hard work that they have relentlessly put into chess over that last few years and I know that we will be calling on their expertise to help us in the future.

I would also like to thank the LOC for the successful tournament that they’ve hosted and yes like any tournament of this nature and magnitude there were a few challenges that they encountered but I’m positive that they tried their best to address all of them.

Then I would like to thank CHESSA, our mother body, for the guidance and assistance that they’ve provided us this year and I hope and trust that we can build a better working relationship for our term of office because the one and only thing that we must all remember is that we are all here for the game of chess. It is not about the administrators, politics or personal differences, we need to put all of that aside and concentrate on the game and more importantly on the players.

I want to thank you, the players for all that you have done as well as your parents for what they have contributed to making chess a success for this year. To our winners I would like to say well done, you’ve made us proud and I know that you all are going to carry the good name of chess forward into 2007.

Next I would like to cover a few of the challenges that face us all in 2007:

The Youth Summit. As you may or may not be aware, a Youth Summit was held on Saturday 9th December 2006. At this summit it was agreed that a youth committee be formed. The committee comprises of the following members: CHESSA, SAJCA, NACOC and SASU. One of the main aims of this committee is to look at the formulation of a single youth structure that will encompass all juniors nationally under the guidance of CHESSA.
Communication. We as an executive believe it is one of the pivotal points that can make or break an organization, therefore, it is one of the areas that we will be focusing on. As a 1st step, I would like to encourage you to please register on our web site (www.sajca.com).
CHESS. This the single and only reason that we are here, yes I have mentioned this before and I will mention this again and again, with every opportunity that I get. We are here for the game of chess - not for the politics or personal glory. I beg and plead with you, please leave the politics to the politicians and the personal attacks to attacks on the board.

In conclusion I would once again like to thank you for the opportunity to represent you and I would like to challenge everyone to please work together and if there’s anything that you feel that we are not doing or you think there are areas where we can improve on please talk to us first, because with good communication and open negotiations we are going to make a success of chess in 2007 and beyond. Boys and girls, well done, you are all champions in your own right and we look forward to seeing you as SA’s strong players in 2007.

Mark C January
President SAJCA