Saturday Morning Junior Chess

Since 1982 (and possibly before that), one of the backbones of the junior chess scene in Canberra has been Saturday Junior Coaching. This was my first exposure to organised chess and throughout the years a continuous stream of strong chess players have emerged from it, many going on to become chess coaches themselves.
When I started as a 16 year old, it was being organised by Julian Mott through the Belconnen Chess Club. After a few years I took over before taking a break due to University commitments. It was then restarted through the efforts of the Tuggeranong Chess Club in 1990. There was another short break in the mid 90's before the club found its current home at the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club.
These days the club is organised by Peter Simpson, who was a strong OTB and CC player before retiring from both forms of the game to concentrate on coaching. The club runs for 2 hours using a format that has become pretty standard at most junior clubs in Canberra.
The first 15 minutes is set aside for registering arrivals as well as a problem solving task. The player who is first out of the hat with the correct answer wins a prize. Then the players are broken up into 3 groups (Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced) for 45 minutes of lecture style coaching.
For the second hour the players play in a lightning tournament. Peter has a rough and ready rating system he uses to divide the players into groups of 6, and each group plays a 5 round round robin. The best performed player in each group (not necessarily the best scoring player) receives promotion to the group above the following week.
The club usually attracts between 30 and 50 players each week, including a number of keen adult players looking for some extra help. While the club has a good track record of turning out title winning players (including 3 out the 4 first place getters at the last Australian Junior Championships), the vast majority of kids who come along do so to just have fun and enjoy playing against other kids.
The club meets on Saturday Mornings between 10:am and 12 noon at the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club, Ricardo St, Erindale. There is no charge for attendance. Pre-registration is not necessary, so just simply turn up at 10:00 am