USCF membership numbers courtesy of Mike Nolan
June 2007
Type Total 12/below 13-15 16-19 20-24 25-64 65+
—- —– ——– —– —– —– —– —-
B 593 1 0 1 12 568 11
E 3116 0 0 0 0 6 3110
J 8995 1148 1210 5157 1396 84 0
L 7208 0 0 0 1 5300 1907
N 7 0 0 0 0 7 0
O 781 638 141 2 0 0 0
R 19885 15 13 54 510 18988 305
S 240 2 0 2 8 228 0
U 24157 22933 1224 0 0 0 0
V 78 1 0 0 4 72 1
W 5041 3247 761 439 102 484 8
Y 6776 1302 4946 526 1 1 0
Z 3599 5 7 13 37 3291 246
—– —– ——- —– —– —– —– —-
Total 80476 29292 8302 6194 2071 29029 5588
June 2008
Type Total 12/below 13-15 16-19 20-24 25-64 65+
—- —– ——– —– —– —– —– —-
B 570 0 0 1 14 538 17
E 3293 0 0 0 0 0 3293
J 8327 841 976 4515 1847 148 0
L 7075 0 0 0 1 4988 2086
O 94 55 29 10 0 0 0
R 18983 25 11 51 234 18390 272
S 200 0 0 3 5 191 1
U 25224 23907 1315 2 0 0 0
V 58 3 0 1 1 53 0
W 5450 3196 878 720 120 531 5
Y 6971 1220 5007 744 0 0 0
Z 3640 4 7 12 36 3307 274
—– —– ——- —– —– —– —– —-
Total 79885 29251 8223 6059 2258 28146 5948
I smell trouble for the uscf. I smell big trouble.
India has solved this problem by hosting Topless Chess Tournaments. Chess is experiencing a boom in India, I hope the USCF Board follows this example and brings Topless Chess to the USA. I would predict not only an increase interest in Chess but also galleries full of eager spectators to watch these events.
Susan, how about a little clue as to what type of memberships the letters stand for. That would give us an even better idea of what is happening to the membership. After about 3/4 hour of formatting your list (To read better) and going to USCF online memberships, to see the different types, I’ve got:
E = Elderly (Senior) (100% age 65+)
L = Life (99.99% over 25)
R = Regular
Y = Youth (Yet U has 24K below age 12)
B,J,O,S,U,V,W,Z = ??
Come on Susan, we voted you and Paul to help fix and promote the USCF. If you give us a list, of the downtrend, at least make it so anyone can understand in detail what/where things are going. Thanks!
Regards,
Rev Edward J Boyle
Tulsa, OK
Rev. Boyle,
I posted from the airport as I am on the road at the moment. I had to post as quickly as possible.
Both Paul and I have given the USCF and the board plenty of ideas to promote chess and substantially gained members. I am sorry to say but the board and the USCF have very little interest in promoting chess which I think is a serious mistake.
We offered ways to make the content of the website better and more efficient. This is an important area to make the USCF more attractive to potential members and sponsors. Nine months and nothing happened. It took 9 months just to add one 7-letter word on the main page. Shocking but true! And this is after we complained dozens of times.
Both of us also have pointed out specific areas to save the USCF at least $50,000 in expenses and perhaps even as much as $100,000. It did not happen.
I personally offered to help promote the USCF and tournament attendance. Paul offered to help in other areas. Same answer. We saw the problems 9-10 months ago. I pointed it to the ED and the EB. No one listened. Some board members are fighting to maintain the status quo and a business mentality of the 50’s instead of the 21st century.
I arrived to Lubbock, Texas less than one year ago. Paul and I were able to secured almost $3 million in long term sponsorship and put together world-class chess events in a city where chess is almost non-existent.
As the saying goes, we can lead the horse to the water but we cannot make the horse drink it. Some people prefer to play politics instead of building the USCF into a strong, financially sound and viable organization.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Rev. Boyle,
I’ll take a guess at some of the others:
B: blind
J: Children in Family Membership Plan #1
(148 in 25 – 65 age group were 24 and are in their last year of eligibility)
O: Family Membership Plan #2? (all siblings, but parents not included)
U: Scholastic (12 & under)
Y: Youth (15 & under)
W: Women
(the vast majority are girls under the age of 16. [all other categoriies are all male])
Z: non-US citizen members
Very small numbers of S & V.
I think what this breakdown highlights is the fact that there are relatively few members who pay dues at the full rate (adults 25 – 65, 29%).
45,000 (57%) of the USCF membership is either under 20, or appear to be included in a family plan.
of the 7,000 Life Members, many paid their dues long ago, and that money has been spent, so they do not represent a source of continuing income.
A membership of 80,000 seems like it ought to be enough to keep USCF solvent. But by digging into the numbers we see that 37% are 12 and under and paying very low dues, and the great majority are receiving discounted rates of one kind or another.