The Stroudsburg Varsity Chess Club is preparing to begin the 2024-2025 season and is looking to improve from the 2023-2024 season. Last year, Stroudsburg began a rebuilding year after losing many of its top members. Fortunately for them, it seems the rebuild will end sooner than expected.

The team has shown tremendous signs of growth from last year and is looking to be competitive this year. The team is led by Jacob Bajek, ’25, and has gained many new members who are making an impact. The club has almost doubled in members from the previous year and they have been working diligently.

Sherie Stauffer, the head coach of the team, stated, “We have many more people interested in the team as well as the club. Many of the tenth graders played chess in junior high, so they were ready for the competition. Now our placement games will take longer than last year and these players are challenging the older teammates”.

The team is excited about the season and the chance to be competitive. Megan Lisnik, ’26, stated, “Even though there are a lot of new players in the group, the team looks strong and mature, and we all have high hopes and expectations”.

There are only six seniors on the team compared to years prior when the team was mainly led by seniors. This is an advantage for the team as this means they will likely have the majority of the team for at least two years. This allows the team to be great but also to continue to better their standing for the future. The potential for success is hopeful.

The team has been practicing every Tuesday and Thursday and is ready for their first match of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, against Pocono Mountain West.