.... I've been trying to post this for days from my usual account and
it's not been working. Another try:

I am often puzzled about
the amount of effort put into trying to recruit youth into soaring.
Our true market is the middle age and not youth.

Youth are the one steady renewable resource, more born every minute
not already committed to other things. Soaring is not just one
generation's opportunity (yours, mine...), and what membership
organization does NOT recruit youth? Also ("soaring needs youth") the
sport works better with young muscles and minds, people willing to
work cheap and long as towpilots, club officers etc., who buy old
equipment, learn fast. And ("youth need soaring") it is a noble role
in society for us to offer soaring to adolescents (as education,
career-building, socialization, for which sailplane communities are
excellent) and many existing glider guiders really enjoy taking part.
See:

http://www.ssa.org/Youth/youthships.asp
http://www.coloradosoaring.org/ssa/ssay/ycom.htm
http://www.greeleynet.com/~jhpc/SSAYouth.ppt
http://www.coloradosoaring.org/ssa/ssay/sailyth.htm

Hang-glider pilots sprang out of the 1970s, paragliders out of the
1990s, but soaring had already been a passion of people from the
1930s, 1950s... all were young once and many (most?) got hooked in
their youth.

I don't think enough effort is given to
market our sport to this segment, especially not to the hang gliding
and paragliding world (where I came from).

I see more fresh high-level individualist pilots from that "world"
than anywhere else. So whatever is happening is already working.
Thank you.

--JHC