Youth Go

We have permission from the families to publish

Playing on a small board in the Tatami Room

The Seattle Go Center supports Go Clubs in the schools, and has organized up to three Youth tournaments a year.  However, we are limited by number of volunteers and people who can take off work in the afternoons, especially post-COVID.  We also teach young players for free at the Center on Tuesdays from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m., Saturdays 1:00 – 6:00pm, and most Sundays at Kids Time (3:00-6:00pm).  Children are welcome in our Paid Private Instruction Program.  More information on the Paid Private Instruction Program is available on the paid instruction page.

We also have done class visits during the school day.

School Go Clubs (in the past, pre-COVID, when we had many volunteers)

The Go Center has sponsored a Go club at nearby McDonald International Elementary for many years.

Our club at Challenger Elementary school, in the Issaquah School District, met in the winter and spring after school on Wednesdays in 2019.

Other schools that have had Go clubs in the  past include John Stanford International (Seattle), Sacajawea Elementary (Seattle), Hamilton International Middle School (Seattle), Roosevelt High School (Seattle), Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (Bellevue),  Meadowdale High School (Lynnwood), Kimball Elementary (Seattle), the Evergreen School (Shoreline),  and the Seattle United Korean School (Bellevue).

The Go Center is very interested in starting up more school go clubs.  We find that this process usually this takes two leaders – a Go instructor and an in-school organizer.  We can strive to provide the instructor  from among our Go Center staff and volunteers, but it is best to have a Go club organizer who is already involved with the school.  The organizer might be a parent, teacher, staff member, or older student.  They do not need to know how to play Go; willingness to contribute some time to starting a Go club is sufficient.  In addition to providing an instructor, the Go Center can provide starter equipment, and help with after-school program applications, including providing insurance, business license, and a budget.  Since we are a 501(c)(3) public charity, we can also do fundraising, pay instructors, and pay employment taxes.