Thanks for your comment.

For me, it's all about what the juniors want. If 10 are willing to show up, I'll host them to the absolute best of my ability and will help them in any way I possibly can. I am open to their guidance and input for sure. If they want another location or a different date, cool.

Skill level, at this point, is unimportant. We know that many clubs will have to work hard to develop our junior pilots to XC levels. Half of our clubs don't have XC for their adults (club equipment)! We have clear models to follow with Jr. XC soaring, however. If your juniors don't have the skills yet to fly solo, then bring a two place (or rent of borrow one) and help them fly with an instructor or coach. I have challenged ALL US clubs to make the effort. I am confident that many can meet the challenge. Its a matter of focus, will and perseverance. Falling short is part of learning. There is little to loose here in being aggressive and trying to schedule an event. If in a country of 340 million, we can't get 10 juniors to a contest (when Britain (66 Million) gets 70, has dozens of events throughout the year, many with waiting lists, etc) we should be truly ashamed.

As these other countries have clearly shown, juniors truly appreciate having "their own" event. In my opinion, they can shape it however they want it.. I look to the Jr. leaders to help make decisions on all of this along with guidance from adult leaders.

The big question is how long will it take for US clubs to make the serious changes required to "truly support" junior XC soaring and build a culture that is as focused on developing juniors as it is on satisfying seniors. If you think about it, any soaring nation that is not equal in these two measures is failing. Therefore, the USA is not doing to well....hmm. "How long" is the big challenge standing in the way of building Junior XC soaring in the USA. I just don't care about the typical excuses anymore. Send your kids! Get them fired up.

I am sure this endeavor will be a learning process, but the upside of having a US Jr. Nationals next year (2016) is well worth the effort. For me at least.

We should fly a representative over to speak at the upcoming SSA convention.. We would be crazy not to do this in fact. WHO IS AT THE HELM OF US SOARING AND THE SSA AGAIN?

Sean