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AGA Membership
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Author:  hailthorn011 [ Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:52 pm ]
Post subject:  AGA Membership
So, I thought sometime a year ago that joining the AGA would be a great thing to do. The idea of supporting Go in my country was a great premise. The thought of going to tournaments, meeting all sorts of new people, improving my play, and all that jazz buzzed around in my head. I was so proud to be a card carrying member of the AGA.

And then a harsh reality sunk in: What have I gained from this? The simple answer is absolutely nothing. There are no tournaments. There are no people. And being a member has not improved my play.

And why?

I live in a complete dead zone, apparently. I know I can't blame the AGA for this, but there hasn't been a single Go related activity in my local area. I've posted my own events on Craigslist on 3 different occasions, and didn't get a single response. I even emailed the AGA around the time I first joined, and, other than the E-Journal I subscribed to, I haven't hear a single thing from the organization. Nothing.

This really frustrates me, because I really do want to help spread the popularity of Go here. I suppose I could try harder, but help from someone would be greatly appreciated.

But I'm not going to renew my membership until I see an honest reason to. Everything is too far away for me to go to. Especially with the economy the way it is.

Let me conclude by reiterating that I'm not blaming the AGA, I'm just disappointed because the membership wasn't what I thought it'd be.

So, does anyone have any ideas about how I could perhaps get more interest in my area?
Author:  hailthorn011 [ Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
By the way, I live in Lynchburg, VA. I thought I forgot to mention that! lol
Author:  yoyoma [ Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
How far is too far? There is a tournament in Arlington this weekend. Too far for just a club meeting but for a whole day tournament I think it's doable.
Author:  hailthorn011 [ Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
yoyoma wrote:
How far is too far? There is a tournament in Arlington this weekend. Too far for just a club meeting but for a whole day tournament I think it's doable.


Too far away. That's 3 hours from where I live. If I had my own car, it'd certainly be doable. But I don't.
Author:  EdLee [ Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
hailthorn011 wrote:
any ideas about how I could perhaps get more interest in my area?
One idea: first get yourself to 1d.
Author:  hyperpape [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re:
EdLee wrote:
hailthorn011 wrote:
any ideas about how I could perhaps get more interest in my area?
One idea: first get yourself to 1d.
I don't think that's the solution. If you're missing face to face play, it's no good to just ignore that while you wait a year for when you might reach 1 dan.

But why even think that being 1 dan will get you more interest? The best qualities for starting a club or attracting new players are only weakly affected by go strength. Becoming stronger may make your teaching more effective. But when you're first trying to attract players, they don't care how effective your teaching is. They care that you show interest in the game, present it so that it sounds fun and appealing, and most importantly, put them at ease. I don't consider myself all that good at these things, but I have seen kyu players who were great at it.

If the only player in your area is 1 dan, it can be dispiriting to realize you won't be able to play games at a reasonable handicap for many many months. I've seen clubs struggle when all the players were much stronger than the beginners.
Author:  Horibe [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
Sorry you do not have anyone to play locally, but if you think you are in a dead zone, just be thankful you are not in the middle of South Dakota - where there are no clubs at all.

I know the AGA club list is not always up to date, and I know you said Arlington is too far - but Blacksburg and Charlottesville are a lot closer and they have clubs. Raliegh NC is closer too, and they have lots of tournaments, Blacksburg just had one in April.

I had a great AGA time last night watching Feng Yun and other players play in the AGA tournament room on KGS - and I am pretty sure you can get there from where you live.

If your requirement is biking or walking distance, well then, yeah, that is a problem. If I were in that situation, I would find a coffee shop, library or bookstore I liked, take a board and a book, and enjoy an afternoon or evening of study once a week. With any luck, you will find someone who plays, or at least, someone to teach. With no luck, you got some good hours of study in in a pleasant place.
Author:  gowan [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:26 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
What about colleges or universities near or in Lynchburg? Often there are professors or students who know about go and might be interested in participating in a club or at least playing a game once in a while. Try making up an attractive poster to put up in the campus center. If there are chess clubs you might try approaching them, but don't talk about go being superior to chess ;)

I checked the AGA club page (https://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.c ... VA#listing) and saw that there are two clubs in Charlottesville and one in Roanoke, with contact information given. While you may not have a car to get to these clubs maybe someone near you goes and could give you a ride. Or maybe the club people might know of someone who plays who lives near you. What is the bus service like between Lynchburg and Charlottesville?

Finally, though you haven't yet gotten the direct personal benefit you hoped from joining the AGA you still have helped to promote go in the USA and that is worthwhile.
Author:  hailthorn011 [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re:
EdLee wrote:
hailthorn011 wrote:
any ideas about how I could perhaps get more interest in my area?
One idea: first get yourself to 1d.


Easier said than done.
Author:  hailthorn011 [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
I'm probably just going to have to wait until I can gain some proper mobility. Until then, I'm just going to have to be satisfied with playing online.
Author:  daniel_the_smith [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 9:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AGA Membership
Craigslist is not really the best place to look for go players. :)

Check out igolocal.com, or consider putting a "players wanted" ad in the e-journal... Also, if there is any significant Korean population where you are, chances are good some of them might play.

For me, f2f games are a superior experience to online play and are worth a lot of effort.
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