First and foremost chess should be fun! This is the ethos of Ojays, the Oxfordshire Junior Squad Chess Club. We currently meet weekly in person, during term time, to develop young chess players in preparation for county tournaments and individual competitions.

About

Ojays Club

The Oxfordshire Junior Squad Chess Club (Ojays) is a non-profit-making organisation that currently has weekly in-person club meetings each Friday from 6.00pm-7.45pm during term time.

These sessions are by invitation only as a minimum standard of proficiency is required. Please contact Joe Cossins-Smith if you would like to know more.

Ojays also holds special events from time to time such as internal tournaments and simultaneous exhibitions.

Objectives

The key objectives of the club are as follows:

  • To give county standard players a regular chance to play weekly chess at a suitable level and to learn from coaching sessions. In particular we feel there is a need to provide this for players who cannot find this at their school or at a local adult club.
  • To encourage junior chess in Oxfordshire to develop beyond the age of 11. Parents may view the squad as a stepping stone for their child to develop before joining an established local chess club. We actively encourage and support interest to start new school clubs in primary and secondary schools.

The following players have been invited to join the weekly squad meetings at Ojays:

  • All players under the age of 11 who have represented Oxfordshire at U11 and U9 level.
  • Older junior players who we believe will have a positive influence on the younger players.
  • Other players who have shown potential to play at county level, especially if they are not able to find suitable regular chess or coaching elsewhere.
  • Please note that we have a limit of 50 players for weekly attendance.

Management and Supervision

It is generally required that all attending children will have a parent or authorised adult present throughout the evening. We are not expecting to deal with any disciplinary issues and if we believe any child or parent is being disruptive to the club, we reserve the right to withdraw the invitation at any stage. However, we do not expect every parent to be present and we presume that car sharing will mean we will have approximately one parent present for every 3 or 4 children. This may also be a good opportunity for parents to get advice and ideas for their children’s chess development.

We take safeguarding very seriously, to read more please take a look at our safeguarding policy attached.

Subscription

Parents can pay:

  • for all 8 sessions in the term at a reduced rate of £70
  • on a per-session basis with a £10 fee.

Payment can be made either at the door or via bank transfer.

If your child is interested in joining Ojays, or if you have any questions, please contact Joe Cossins-Smith.