Greg Usam never figured a high school club would change his life.

The senior, now 17, started Farrington assuming his friends from intermediate school would be the crowd that carried him through high school.

Then came Go Club.

Niche clubs like Go Club — this one based on a Japanese board game — often provide a refuge for high schoolers, but experts say they also are facing a trend toward declining memberships as pressure from the federal No Child Left Behind directive takes its toll. Some in the school system lament what's happening to clubs, and by extension, what extracurricular activities bring to the table at this critical juncture in a youth's social development.

"What (No Child Left Behind) does is measure math and reading scores and talks about those kinds of skills, which are essentials," said Susan Sato, an educational specialist for student activities with the state Department of Education. "But there's a whole other set of skills that are just as critical."

Through Go Club, Usam learned a lot more than how to strategically move smooth black and white stone pieces around a board.

Indeed, he could be a prime example for Sato's argument.

Usam joined the Go Club in his sophomore year and, through it, began dabbling in anime and manga, learning the intricacies of the Japanese art forms of animation and comics. By second semester, he was club president.

The leadership position meant more than just arranging service activities and mentoring other Farrington students to know their Hayao Miyazakis from their Dragonball Zs.

It also led to networking with other schools and eventually creating his own original characters, such as Hashi (yes, like the chopsticks).

These days, the busy senior can't make it to many club meetings — he's prepping for Kawaii-Kon, Hawai'i's largest comics convention, planned for April 18 to 20 at the Ala Moana Hotel, where the Farrington table will be showing commissioned prints, stickers, etc.

Usam knows he's changed.

"In my sophomore year, I wasn't that sociable with many people," he admits. "After I started committing to the club, people started shouting out my name. I made new friends, even if they weren't in my grade or didn't like the same genre."

Did it give him more confidence?

"It has," he said, firmly, then adds: "I like it."

PRESSURES ON CLUBS

Besides No Child directives that may eat away afterschool time, Sato at the DOE said other things cut into the club culture, too: sports scheduling, family demands and financial pressures.

"A lot of my juniors and seniors are trying to earn money for college, so they have afterschool jobs," Sato said.

Sadly, she sees the effects most on quirky clubs that offer less-visible students a valuable niche and help them socialize.

"Adolescents are at that stage when they're trying to create their identity," she said. "They are questioning about who I am, what's my purpose. ...

"We are a global society. We need to be able to get along with other people, to work and play, to communicate. This is just as essential to their concept of self. Yes, we need the reading, writing and math skills, (but) you've read the studies: IQ doesn't equal success. We need to talk about emotional intelligence and why that matters more than IQ."

Clubs offer a chance to learn teamwork and leadership, but they also offer a refuge, too.

At Farrington, the Go Club, also known as the Japanese Club, is a place for young people to learn more about Japanese culture and arts.

"I'm not sure (all of our members) would fit into any of the other 'regular' clubs," said Wade Tokumine, club adviser and teacher. "(The club) gives them a sense of belonging. These are close-knit kids. They stick together."

Sato believes clubs also offer a sense of belonging, a much better environment for meeting that need than, say, gangs.

"We need to give our young people opportunities to learn and grow in a safe environment (where) they're supported and it's OK to fail."

NEW ON THE HORIZON

Not all clubs are struggling, of course. The mainstream ones seem to be holding their own in many places, and certain new clubs may have actually struck a nerve.

On the heels of "Dancing with the Stars" comes Waipahu's Ballroom Dancing Club. Adviser Edgardo Olegario said it's bringing in a wide range of people one wouldn't normally see on the dance floor: football players, wrestlers, student council members.

He credits the eclectic young man who started it, Josh Manzano. Having Josh, a sophomore who not only dances but plays in a rock band, doesn't just help the club, Olegario said; the club also helps Josh.

"Ballroom makes him stand out, helps him be outgoing and personable," the adviser said.

Ah, but what happens when you have a maverick founder who eventually matriculates? Olegario, himself a ballroom dancer, admits that he's constantly scouting younger students as potential leaders and already is looking down the line for when Manzano moves on.

"I have a girl interested, and when she's gone, I've gotta groom a freshman," he said.

A TURNAROUND?

Theresa Ellis, student activities coordinator at Farrington, saw what happened to her school's Chess Club: The teacher who advised it left, and the club went kaput.

That replays on continuous loop in other clubs, too, as teachers' turnover occurs sometimes as quickly as students'.

"I'm trying to do my best to encourage current and potential advisers," said Ellis, adding that it's not just the teachers: "I think I've seen a decline in enrollment (by students) over the past four or five years."

Ellis, who studied ways to increase participation in extracurricular activities as part of her master's training, has ideas on how to fix the problem. Since teenagers today might feel more sense of belonging on MySpace than hanging out on campus after school, she decided to do something drastic.

She took her show on the road.

"We experimented last year," Ellis said, explaining how coaches and advisers went to middle schools to recruit incoming freshmen for extracurriculars.

And it worked: This year's freshman class has a much higher degree of participation, especially in certain sports.

Next up for Ellis: clubs.

"I'm going to try it again this year," Ellis said. "I think the schools need to start at middle school, to reshape the way we build a club. ... I'm trying to revive clubs that have died."

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