I know its been 11 years since this thread was started but I'm wondering have peoples opinions changed since then.
I had no involvement in go-games at that stage but now that I've a couple of children involved...
I like the idea behind go-games - it encourages participation from all children regardless of ability and working with the children it is easy to see the improvement that they've all made over the course of the year. That obliviously isn't just because of the go-games - coaches at trainings, parents at home and the children themselves have to practice the skills but the go-games give the children the opportunity to put the skills into practice in a semi-competitive scenario; the go-games give more children more opportunities to get on the ball in game situations.
Also, its strange to see Larry Duff above (11 years ago!) highlight competitive tournaments creeping in... I thought this was a more recent phenomenon with only a few tournaments at the end of the year but now every club seems to want to host their own tournament. I can see some merit in a few tournaments but it's how they are managed. Clubs with larger numbers have to pick a panel (meaning boys/girls are excluded). I've also noticed when tournaments start that some children don't want to participate in go-games any more or just generally mess about as there are no winners!
I also find that tournaments can bring the worst out in everyone; coaches (will to win means some children won't get game time), parents (abuse of players/coaches/referees) and children themselves (aggressiveness boils over - lashing out and foulmouthed to officials)
Anyway - be interested to hear other peoples thoughts.
I had no involvement in go-games at that stage but now that I've a couple of children involved...
I like the idea behind go-games - it encourages participation from all children regardless of ability and working with the children it is easy to see the improvement that they've all made over the course of the year. That obliviously isn't just because of the go-games - coaches at trainings, parents at home and the children themselves have to practice the skills but the go-games give the children the opportunity to put the skills into practice in a semi-competitive scenario; the go-games give more children more opportunities to get on the ball in game situations.
Also, its strange to see Larry Duff above (11 years ago!) highlight competitive tournaments creeping in... I thought this was a more recent phenomenon with only a few tournaments at the end of the year but now every club seems to want to host their own tournament. I can see some merit in a few tournaments but it's how they are managed. Clubs with larger numbers have to pick a panel (meaning boys/girls are excluded). I've also noticed when tournaments start that some children don't want to participate in go-games any more or just generally mess about as there are no winners!
I also find that tournaments can bring the worst out in everyone; coaches (will to win means some children won't get game time), parents (abuse of players/coaches/referees) and children themselves (aggressiveness boils over - lashing out and foulmouthed to officials)
Anyway - be interested to hear other peoples thoughts.