About The Club
Notes by Club Director Carol Dustin
These notes were written prior to the creation of the new club 651 in February of 2007.
Most of the information contained in these pages is still applicable to our clubs, however
please see Changes in 2007 page for some updated
information.
More About Our Club and Local Tournaments
We have about 50 active players locally, of which 30-40 are in attendance at
club each week. We have a few highly-rated champion players, but also
several newcomers who have just started in the past year. Most folks fall
somewhere in between. Our people represent a great diversity in age,
occupation and personality, and are almost exactly half men/women. They are
even about 50/50 Minneapolitans/St. Paulites! Some take their game very
seriously, studying words rigorously and competing frequently in
tournaments, while others are more interested in the social aspects of the
group than becoming world champion caliber. All of our players are patient
and kind with newcomers, and will help you learn the ropes.
NSA-sanctioned SCRABBLE® tournaments are held regularly around the U.S.
(around the world, actually!). We hold two tourneys locally, every spring
and fall. The NSA calculates players' ratings
based on their tournament performance (games played at the club do not
affect your rating). Every other year the NSA sponsors a large and lavish
open North American Tournament (August 2002 in San Diego) and on
alternate years, an invitational World Championship event (last held in
December of 2001 in Las Vegas).
Books About SCRABBLE®
One more note... a book published in July 2001, called "Word Freak"
by Stefan Fatsis, relates his club/tournament experiences through his rise
from novice to expert-level player. It's a fun book, and a great way to
learn what the competitive SCRABBLE® scene is all about. Another extremely
helpful book is "Everything SCRABBLE®", written by Joe Edley (president of
the NSA) and John Williams (affiliated with Hasbro/Milton Bradley, who
makes SCRABBLE®). Both books are available at a discount through the
NSA website‡.
Tournament Info
See Sue Hoehn's
Tourament Information for Newer Players
page on this site.
