11.03.06 How does a weekend in Florida during the cold, dark days of December sound? Now that we've got your attention, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) is looking for volunteers for this year's National K-12 and College Championship in Orlando, Florida from December 7th - December 10th. Tom Nelson, the USCF Volunteer Coordinator is in need of folks to help set-up, monitor, greet players and parents, operate demo boards, assist with the awards ceremony and even sing the National Anthem. Check out Tom's letter of appeal and consider heading south--to volunteer and play in this national tournament!

Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida

U. S. Chess Federation
www.uschess.org

Hello friends & colleagues,

Successful events involve the help of many good-hearted people. Running a successful national chess tournament is the same and we are looking for volunteers for this year’Äôs 2006 National K12/C Grades Championship in Orlando Florida. Chess knowledge is not needed for many of the positions just a desire to serve. Here is what we need help with:

On Thursday, December 7:

Board Set-up - If you are in town and would like to lend a hand for three to four hours we need help setting up boards in the tournament area.

Trophy Set-up - Like to get an early glimpse of this year’Äôs awards, you could assist in setting up the trophies.

On Friday morning, December 8:

Greeters: We are looking for a few friendly folk to help greet the participants and parents as they arrive.

National Anthem: Ever dream of playing or singing the National anthem at an opening ceremony. We are looking for someone or group who would enjoy this honor.

During the tournament we need help in each round with the following:

K-1 Tournament Monitors ’Äì to help the little ones get settled before the round, escort them to restrooms, and make sure they get picked up by an adult after their game is over.

Main Tournament Room Monitors ’Äì Assistants who will help our tournament directors in recording the results of the games.

Posting Results and Pairings ’Äì About 45 minutes before each round begins, we need three people who would like to aid us in posting pairings and results on big foam core boards and deliver them to their staging areas. So we can get the boards out in a timely fashion, this is a position we would like to have the same volunteers helping throughout the tournament.

Demo Board Operators: Get a birds eye view of Board 1 while placing the players moves on the demo boards. Some knowledge of chess is good to have if you would like to help in this area.

Awards Ceremony Assistants - Help the players who have won trophies find the right seat and coordinate the movement of the kids during the awards presentation on Sunday. Everyone involved with this responsibility will be getting together Saturday evening for a short preparation meeting.

And finally during the last round:

We need help packing the boards and sets in boxes and handing out medallions to all our participants.

Please contact me if you're interested in helping out for one or more time periods at csca-scholastic-chess@comcast.net!

Let me know what you would like to do and when you could assist. Also, please forward this message to any of your friends, colleagues or acquaintances that may be interested.

Oh, and for every ¬‡ day you help out we would like to give you a meal coupon to be used at _____ to show our appreciation for your time and effort.

Sincerely,

Tom Nelson
USCF Volunteer Coordinator

Click here for more information on the 2006 National Scholastic K-12 / College Championship.