Neelu Dole
I would like to share some of my experiences and thoughts on my recent trip to Greece where the WYCC 2004 was held.
I accompanied our son, Anant Dole (U 12 title holder).
The entire trip co-ordinated and organised by Chris de Jager that was very relaxed and enjoyable. Chris, while giving each one their space, was always around if one needed him. It was a pleasure to have him as the Team Leader.
With respect to the coaches, all of them did a great job, giving up all of their free time so that the kids could get that extra bit of coaching. Once again Anant was fortunate to have Martin Botha as his coach. Martin, I think, is the best thing to have happened to the kids, especially the younger ones. He is always more than willing to go that extra mile for his kids, whether it be coaching or just playing around with them in order to de- stress them. My son, in particular would sometimes go to him more than 3 or 4 times a day for some or the other assistance. He was, never, ever, turned away. Martin always had time. He was much calmer though I am sure; he was as concerned about the outcome as were the parents. A lot of players who went to WYCC 2004 were also with Martin in the previous 2 years, and, I think that was a big plus in their favour. This made them more comfortable with Martin and also he was familiar with their style of playing.
Above all, Martin wears his National Colours close to his heart and is passionate about his work.
After, having spoken to a few coaches & managers from other countries, I discovered that most countries prefer to work with the same coach for a long period of time. This they feel works better for the players.
Hence, I hope that if Anant qualifies for WYCC 2005, then Martin will be his coach again.
Players from other countries play in quite a few FIDE international tournaments every month, while our kids only have WYCC to look forward to. This reduces their scope to perform better due to limited exposure. Therefore, if we want South Africa to get good scores in International tournaments, then we must send our players for more tournaments overseas regularly.
A few ways were outlined to me:
1.Training camps with visiting GM/IM. I have made contacts of some ranked chess players from India who for a fee & expenses could come on such an assignment. This GM could then undertake camps in various provinces. I am sure, parents would not mind hosting such a person.
2. India has also given me an open invitation to their FIDE rated tournaments. They have at least one every month. They will gladly take care of the boarding & lodging for a few of our players. At the same time they may organise training camps with the visiting team. We could then reciprocate by inviting their players. This will give our players here the opportunity to play strong players.
3.Once, our players are identified, to participate in international tournaments, they should then be asked to play in a lot of senior tournaments. To make it more affordable for players, parents could host travelling players from other provinces.
4.I was informed by the head coach of the Indian delegation, who is an IM, that their youngsters, once identified are not allowed to play any junior tournaments except the one National where they need to qualify to represent the Country. The members of the Iranian team also shared his views.
I hope that Chessa along with SAJCA will do something on the above ideas ASAP, prior WYCC July 2005 that gives kids only 6 months to prepare.
I would be most pleased to be of any assistance.
Thanking You
Neelu Dole |
