Starting a Go Club from Scratch

There is no mystery about starting a Go club. No special skills required. Here is a recipe that worked for me. Mix the following ingredients:

1. Place to meet
2. Time to meet
3. Go players
4. Game sets

Heat on the flames of enthusiasm, and stir with creativity. The process is never over; you have to keep cooking until the flame goes out. Try not to let the flame go out. If you get tired of heating and stirring, pass on the job to another enthusiastic volunteer.

Easier said than done, right? Well, maybe. Let's talk about the ingredients in a little more detail.

1. Place to meet

Finding a place to meet is the first challenge in forming a Go club. Various clubs have found various solutions to this problem. Some meet in the basement of churches, community centers, schools, coffee houses, etc. There are even a few large cities (New York, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.) with large Go centers open every day. Many Go clubs simply meet in the homes of the players. This depends on location, availability, and finances. My club, HoCoGo, meets in the barn gallery of Greenbridge Pottery (my wife's business) when the weather is nice, and in the basement of my house when it is too cold in the barn.

2. Time to meet

Deciding on a time to meet is not so difficult, but it is important to pick a good time and stick with it. Consistency is the key to getting players to return. If they can count on there being a club meeting at a particular time 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 Go club meeting tonight?" My club meets on Tuesday evenings. I didn't want to conflict with other local area clubs' meetings (Fridays and Sundays), nor did I want to compete with Monday Night Football. We meet at 7 p.m. and play until about 11 p.m. Other clubs in the area are similar, maybe starting a little later.

3. Go players

Direct mail: Obtain mailing labels from the AGA (see contact info for Sam Zimmerman at the end of this article) and send out mailers to those AGA members within a defined Zip code range. This is a good primary source of potential club members.

Distribute fliers: Take fliers/announcements to the other local clubs and tournaments in the region.

Get listed in AGA publications: Have the club join the AGA as a chapter, get a new club announcement in the American Go Newsletter, and get the club listed in the AGA Guide to Go Clubs in North America (see contact information for Chris Garlock at the end of this article).

Newspaper ads/announcements/press releases: Many local weekly newspapers will allow non-profit and community groups to place announcements at no charge.

Posters: Place color posters advertising Go (available from the AGA) and your club on a bulletin board at local coffee shops, book stores, libraries, schools, etc. (see AGA contact info at the end of this article).

Follow-up: Get the name, address, phone number, and e-mail addresses of players who respond to the mailing, or other advertising efforts. Send them follow-ups, such as a club newsletter, or other announcement/reminder. More on the newsletter in my next article, "Growing a Go Club."

4. Game sets

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 monetary donations, or club dues, to help pay for purchasing game sets. Ask for donations of game sets. You can usually buy inexpensive Go sets at a local Korean grocery store. Or buy Go sets from the mail-order distributors. Eventually, the club can obtain a modest inventory of its own sets so that members do not have to continue bringing their own sets.

Starting a Go club can be as easy as mix (time, place, players, sets), heat (with enthusiasm), and stir (with creativity).

Next article: Growing a Go club, or what to do once you've started.

Contact information:

The AGA Database Coordinator can help you send notices of your events to nearby players via e-mail and "snail mail.".

To obtain equipment, see the distributors list.

To contact other officials, see the AGA officers list.