Tutorials, T shirts and a world championship are part of the programme of the World English-language Scrabble Association youth subcommittee, arguably the most active of Wespa's six panels.
Karen Richards (Australia), youth chair, says that Scrabble-branded T shirts "are available as an incentive to anyone who's made a contribution to increasing the number of young people playing Scrabble. "We seem to be reaching down into the younger ages here in Australia – 7 to 11 years.
"It appears to be best time to start them as they aren't tied up with heavy schoolwork commitments for a few years after that," she comments.
Two basic tutorials have been developed for the subcommittee by Graham Wakefield (UK) which "are excellent for absolute beginners, adults or children."
Paedagogues term brainy sports like Scrabble as "smart games," an aid to developing the analytical skills of young minds.
Inquiries about T shirts and tutorials may be directed to the chairperson at karenrichards@
The youth subcommittee's flagship event is the World Youth Scrabble Championship being held in December in Malaysia with Trinidad-Tobago and Indonesia making their debut in the WYSC with up to 60 under-18 competitors from 12 countries participating.
Richards has conducted several workshops in Scrabble for youngsters and teachers, in Australia and Malaysia, "to develop a model for running intense training programmes for young beginners." She is also experimenting with an intensive one-day model for more experienced players.
"Eventually, the format of these will be documented, with suggested programmes and resource material, also made available on the web," she explains.
The chairwoman maintains that the result of efforts to reach the youth in Scrabble playing "is already apparent in some countries which have become actively involved, particularly in Australia and Malaysia, with major improvements in both quality and quantity.
A groundswell of interest being generated in Great Britain is expected to bear fruit within a year or two," she underlines.
"In Singapore, moves are under way to remove the artificial barrier between school Scrabble activities and those hosted by the national association, which should allow them to increase numbers of proficient young players in their ranks. Thailand has initiated an international youth tournament with big prize money.
"However," Richards points out, "discernable improvements in numbers worldwide aren't projected until approximately 2010."
Of the hundreds of millions of people who play Scrabble around the globe, an estimated 25,000-30,000 participants from nearly 45 countries take part in hundreds of competitions annually.
Scrabble is a game copyright by Mattel Ltd., except in North America where the copyright is
held by Hasbro.
