Lively discussion is expected on the setting of national quotas in the World Scrabble Championship at the second biennial general meeting (BGM) of the World English-language Scrabble Players Association on November 11 at the Taj President Hotel in Mumbai, India. The BGM is being held on the sidelines of the ninth WSC.
Wespa chairman Allan Simmons, however, in his 1,300-word report on the 2005-07 term, says: “The subsequent key milestone was reaching an acceptable and workable agreement with Mattel that would both give Mattel its essential trademark control [except in North America] they require and, more importantly for the association, ensure that Mattel recognises Wespa as the world authority for Scrabble players, allowing it the freedom to pursue its constitutional objectives.”
In the report, the chairman reviewed the work of the communications, dictionary, ratings, rules, tournament and youth subcommittees, recognising “the difficulty in working remotely across the globe, despite the technology” as committee members were from all the continents except South America .
Simmons paid tribute to committee members’ perseverance in “communicating across different time zones, often with committee colleagues that they have not met face to face [which] isn’t easy.”
When formulas were proposed for setting national allocations for the 2009 WSC, players debated on line the merits of various principles behind committee proposals to Wespa and championship organiser Philip Nelkon who was reported to have accepted 80 per cent of the recommendations.
Whether to hold a World Youth Scrabble Championship annually, biannally or at all was also subject to long e-debate among members. Nevertheless, the second WYSC is set for December in Malaysia .
“Membership is an area that’s been a little disappointing despite the best efforts although I’m pleased to note a survey organised by the tournament subcommittee indicates at least a further 10 nations considering joining,” remarked Simmons.
In a bid to attract more national groups, the chairman is proposing to slash membership fees in half.
Currently, Australian, British, Nigerian and Singaporian associations plus several individual members are full members of Wespa though most national groups tacitly align themselves with the world association.
“It’s more important that we can truly represent all English-language Scrabble-playing nations and that they feel the value in belonging to have their say in global Scrabble,” Simmons underlined.
In his report, he calls attention to finally being able to adopt an updated word list though “it’s been a disappointment that Mattel’s licensee [Collins] has taken so long to get it right….I now regret that we’ve been led down the Collins path by Mattel.”
A long-term dictionary policy is to be spelled out at the BGM as “there isn’t any confidence in a future with Collins, and Wespa can’t be at the mercy of another Mattel licensing change that could happen without consultation,”
The international rating formula run by Bob Jackman ( Australia ) will become the Wespa-endorsed system, he noted.
“Umbrella game rules” layed down by the Wespa rules subcommittee must be followed for international tournaments if organisers expect a rating by the world association, Simmons said.
At the BGM, an election will be held for an 11-member management committee and officers in the 2007-09 term.
“The challenge for the future,” Simmons pointed out, “is to encourage greater membership of Wespa, grow the international tournament scene and develop our website further.
“I think we should also be looking at sponsorship to help make internationals affordable for as many players as possible.”
An estimated 25,000 competitive Scrabble players take part in thousands of tournaments in English annually in more than 40 countries.
