🌱Start a Club
Anyone can start a go club in their community. You need only these 4 things:Place to meet | Time to meet | Go players | Equipment
Anyone can start a go club in their community. You need only these 4 things:
Place to meet | Time to meet | Go players | Equipment
Place to meet
Finding a place to meet is the first challenge. Here are some suggestions:
The food court at the local mall
Your public library
Coffee houses and bars
Bookstores, game stores
Community centers
Some smaller clubs simply meet in the homes of the players.
You should consider things like equipment storage, parking, hours of operation, distance from the members of your club.
Time to meet
Deciding on a time to meet is not so difficult, but it is important to pick a time and stick with it. Consistency is the key to getting players to return. If they can count on finding opponents on a regular basis, then it's a "no brainer." If they have to keep up with a changing schedule, then they might get confused, forget, or have doubts about "Is there a meeting tonight?"
Go players
How do you flush the players out of hiding and get them to come to your club? You need to advertise.
Where to find players: Your local Asian-American community almost certainly contains several skilled players. At local colleges you may also find interested or experienced players. Bring or send fliers to tournaments and events in your area.
Posters and Fliers: (To be posted later)
Schools and Libraries: The American Go Foundation will help you start a program at your local school or library. For instance, your local library can get a FREE copy of Hikaru No Go, all 23 volumes of the manga, for the cost of shipping ($20).
Add your club to the map: wheretoplaygo.com
Email: Collect e-mail addresses obsessively; create a mailing list and pop up in inboxes every so often with reminders about meeting times, updates, news, etc.
Social Media: There is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more.
These community platforms aren't necessarily good ways to find and engage members. Typically, this can lead to more work on your end and a disappointingly empty wall of social engagement. However, some clubs (especially university clubs) have found social media to be a great way to keep their members engaged.
Meetup: Meetup.org can be helpful for advertising your club to people who have never heard of Go. It is a paid membership and is only really effective in big cities. It has useful tools for organizing your club and creating events. But most clubs don't find it to be very ideal in regards to engagement.
Equipment
When first starting out, ask players to bring their own sets. You need only half of the players to bring sets to have enough for everybody. Ask for dues to help purchase game sets. Unfortunately, "the ask" doesn't come naturally to everyone, but it's the second stage of growth. If your club amasses a small treasury, they will figure out a way to use it.
You can buy affordable and quality equipment here: store.baduk.club
Or if you'd prefer more luxurious options:
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