We do screen pilots that are accepted into our contests,
To get into a nationals they must be on the seeding
list (has flown in a contest within the last 3 years
and obtained at least 30% of winners score). To get
into a regionals they must be on the list or show a
gold badge and or recent cross country experience.
You make a good point and every now and then someone
slips through, but I can say the skill level I see
in contests is outstanding and among the best 'Jocks'
I have seen in 50 years of flying.
JJ
Screening pilots for acceptable skills will be a tough
(and politically
sensitive) task which is probably why it isn't done.
But if we don't,
Mother Nature will do it for us and we all know she
can be a bitch. The
screening could be as simple as requiring a yearly
flight check by a SRA
approved instructor who would use some tough test standards
created by the
SRA.

One example of a test would be to insure that the pilot
can make a takeoff
in his glider configured as it would be for a contest
(ballast, etc..)
without dragging a wing or allowing the glider to track
more than 2 meters
to the side of the runway centerline. Remember that
accident, JJ?

Bill Daniels