Chess Club

We e-mailed the elementary school chess club contact and asked what we needed to do to come to a meeting. The contact responded that we didn’t have to do anything other than show up, but the club fee was “$48 for the first part of the year and $120 for Jan thru May.” $168! A hundred sixty-eight bucks for a school year of chess club? I never thought a school chess club would cost money.

I sent another email asking what the fee was for. The answer: to pay the chess coach. The chess club meets Thursdays from 2:15 to 3:30—that’s 45 minutes. If there are just ten kids in the chess club, that’s $1,680 for 45 minutes a week over 9 months. That comes to around $60/hour for a chess coach. Not too bad, especially if you already like chess.

For a comparison, the summer tee-ball league coaches were all volunteers.

I don’t know if we’ll do the chess club thing. If our 6 year old turns out to really love the game, maybe. But for having just learned to play, and with a price tag of $168, I don’t think so, right now.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com