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By Michael Lash
September 06, 2004
As
promised, this is the first of my monthly columns
intended to keep members of the American Go
Association and the E-journal readership up to date
on AGA business and activities. I was honored to be
chosen as the new President of the AGA at the
recent US Go Congress in Rochester. During the
Congress I spent the majority of my time meeting
new people and learning about the AGA at more than
30 meetings during the course of the week.
Witnessing the great
enthusiasm at the Go Congress among the hundreds of
go players in attendance, it's
obvious to me that this is a tremendously opportune
time to embrace the incredible energy in our
community. Go is entering the mainstream of public
awareness in the United States and we are clearly
on the cusp of a surge in interest and membership
that could add a huge volume of activity in
tournaments, promotion and sponsorships.
The AGA
Board's top priority is to
double the AGA membership over the next five years
and my job is to help accomplish that goal. To
achieve this, I plan to turn to volunteers from the
ranks of the AGA; some have already stepped up and
are generating innovative and interesting ideas.
The first part of the plan is to add new dimensions
to AGA membership, making it more attractive and
worthwhile to be a long term, paying and active
member. I will share these new ideas as they
develop. My other priorities include a national
program for teaching people how to be Tournament
Directors so we can organize AGA-rated tournaments
anywhere any time, standardizing AGA tournament
rules so a tournament in Portland, Maine is the
same as in Portland, Oregon, introducing organized
league play, creating a States
Championship tournament, and implementing
improvements to upgrade the
AGA's administrative
operations.
And this month we have
already planted the seeds for next
summer’s youth go camps on both
the East and West coasts. Anyone interested in
supporting either one in any way should contact me
right away. These are exciting times for the AGA
and there is a great deal going on both
domestically and internationally. I invite you to
send me your thoughts, especially on what you think
will make the AGA a more responsive, professional,
and valuable national organization that all go
players will want to join. Write to me at
president@usgo.org
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