Locals are encouraged to visit the Johannesburg Scrabble Club in Parktown
Benoni Scrabble Club and the Rosepark Scrabble Club form part of Gauteng’s scrabble clubs.
Silence and precision filled the Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue atmosphere in Parktown during a biweekly Johannesburg Scrabble Club afternoon on November 19.
Scrabble is a word game where two to four players score points by forming interlocking words on a 15×15 grid.
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Players use letter tiles with different point values, building words that must connect to existing words on the board, similar to a crossword puzzle.
The president of Scrabble South Africa and chairperson of Gauteng Association of Scrabble Players, Ike Obidike, said that the Benoni Scrabble Club and the Rosepark Scrabble Club were also part of Gauteng’s scrabble clubs.
“In 2023, we applied to be part of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), and they’ve only come back to us this year to evaluate our application.”
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He added that although members received a stipend to compete in tournaments, it was insufficient, which is why being part of SASCOC would be beneficial.
The club operates on Wednesdays and Saturdays. “Today was one of those days with an unusually huge turnout. The club consists of retirees and professionals who work during the week, hence they usually attend on Saturdays,” explained Obidike. One of the club’s top players, Andrew Goldberg, said that the board game was among the hobbies he enjoyed.
Golberg highlighted that the importance of the game is to try and get bonus words, try and use all the letters, and then get an extra 50 points.
“Scrabble is a very thought-provoking game. It helps a lot of people to keep active, especially in their older years, and to learn words and to keep their brain from going sour if I can put it that way.”
The Johannesburg Scrabble Club offers coaching for interested players. Joining the club is R70 monthly or R20 per meeting. Interested people can contact Ike: 0747814588 or Rajen: 0837877781.
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