Community newspapers throughout the country have long contained sports pages dedicated to the trials and tribulations of high school sports teams. The Beachcomber is no different, and we enjoy reading each week about how the various teams are faring and what individuals have accomplished admirable athletic feats.

We know that athletics are extremely important in high school and provide all sorts of benefits and life lessons. In fact, there is research that shows people who played high school sports tend to get better jobs and earn more money than their peers who did not. Those benefits are reported to last a lifetime.

And yet, there is so much more to the world than sports, and we see that so well in the extraordinary story in this week’s paper about Phiona Mutesi.

It was children, including Mutesi, standing on the sidelines of a soccer field that caught the eye of a soccer coach in Uganda. Soon after that, Mutesi sat down at a chess board and learned the game — and her life changed.

Hers is a remarkable story, and we do not expect such life-altering effects to come from most islanders learning to play the game, but then, who are we to say where the game might lead?

Washington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson frequently talks about chess and did so after he first sued President Trump. A short time later he came to speak on Vashon and told high schools students that when he was their age, instead of heading to college, he wanted to go to Europe and become a professional chess player. He talked of the skills chess requires: studying the opponent, thinking ahead, developing a plan and taking calculated risks. Those skills are clearly serving him well.

On Vashon, kids and adults will have a chance to see and take part in that kind of play when Mutesi comes to the island on April 14 and participates in a simul-play event, where she takes on many opponents at once. But that is not the only opportunity that island children and teens have for gaining insight into the game.

The Vashon PTSA sponsors a chess club that meets once a month on Saturdays. There, mentors help young players learn the strategy and skill of the game. Currently, organizers say mostly elementary school kids go, but older kids and teens are welcome; organizers would like to see more of them there.

We encourage islanders, particularly students, to attend the event later this month with Mutesi or to go to some of the Saturday sessions. Who knows what might transpire? International travel? A high-powered government job? Or maybe, as the say in sports circles, simply the love of the game.