The highly successful UK Junior XC program vs. USA's nonexistantJunior XC program. Why?

As Gav Goudie alluded to earlier in this thread, UK Junior Gliding was in
dire straights back in 2010. A mixture of a couple of "incidents" and the
recession meant we were down to 15 entries in the 2011 Juniors!

2 groups formed to sort it out.

The first group took on the running of the Junior Nationals. They are
mixture of British Team members and ex juniors who have helped with
everything from directing the Juniors to gaining sponsorship and making
sure the event is seen as a positive for clubs to bid for. The comp is now
one of the best run in the country and is a great platform for young pilots
to test their XC Skills.

The second group - called the Junior Development Team (made up of 4
Current/nearly current Junior pilots lead by a member of the BGA exec) who
would look into the "non-competitive" side of Junior gliding - The aim to
bring in Junior pilots from outside of gliding, and get the smaller clubs
around the country singing from the same hymn sheet by creating a network
of Junior Gliding Centres. If a club wanted to be a JGC then various
issues such as child protection etc which include piles of paperwork that
most club committees don't have the time for was all set out for them in a
template, thus it wasn't such an onerous task. The JGC template has also
lead us to links with the Air Training Corps, Schools and the
Scouts/Guides.

We also have a large Facebook presence and our own YouTube channel run by
the Juniors. Social media has meant we can contact each and every Junior
in 2 clicks with news regarding upcoming events and various bursaries that
are available to keep the cost down.

We created a Winter Series (3 long weekend events at ridge/wave sites per
year) to encourage the Juniors not just to meet once a year at the
nationals but effectively every quarter - thus friendships are maintained
and the pressure of competing is removed in the winter.

Many people put effort into the UK Junior movement. It wouldn't work
without club cooperation, the BGA, volunteers, scholarship/bursaries...the
list goes on.

What we have found is that through the above and many other initiatives is
that we have a thriving group of 50+ Junior pilots and what's more most of
them are only just 18!

Please feel free to email us if you think we could be of any assistance.

Thanks

UK Junior Development Team





At 04:34 10 September 2015, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 9:53:06 AM UTC-6, Sean Fidler wrote:
Some of you might be interested to know that the UK just held its 2015
Ju=
nior Nationals a few weeks ago. Nearly 70 juniors pilots (yes, SEVENTY)
co=
mpeted in the event. As an American, I nearly fell over in my chair when
I=
saw the article (and photo of the grid).=20
=20
Back in the USA, the SSA doesn't even bother to hold a Junior
Nationals.
=
I cannot recall when the SSA last held a specific Junior competition?
Onl=
y a few Junior glider pilots competed in SSA sanctioned contests this
year
=
nationwide (even with a hefty discount offer from the SSA). The SSA, to
th=
e best of my knowledge, has no real plan or strategy to improve Junior
soar=
ing numbers. To be honest, few leaders in the USA seem concerned about
tru=
ly developing a vibrant junior XC soaring culture. Some even bitterly
ques=
tion if Junior XC or contest participation is relevant or important to
the
=
health of the SSA or US Soaring. When is the last time we saw an
article,=
poll or speech on improving youth soaring XC
skills/participation/enthusia=
sm in the SSA or USA?=20
=20
The UK isn't satisfied with just a highly successful 2015 Junior
National=
s. Now the UK is next holding a Junior winter XC series in the coming
mon=
ths. They already have 50 Juniors (FIFTY, not done yet) signed up for
the
=
first event in the series. Yesterday, British Soaring (SSA equivalent)
was=
on Facebook soliciting more gliding clubs to "send their dual XC ships
wit=
h instructors" to keep up with "demand." Amazing.
=20
If the UK is developing this kind of energy and enthusiasm at their
youth=
XC events, what does that say about our nonexistent youth XC training
prog=
ram in the SSA? Yes, these are all XC events and NOT primary training,
rid=
es or kiddie playtime. Yes, these events are all equal or larger than
the
=
SSA's largest sanctioned contests (Seniors (interesting in and of itself
re=
ally) and Perry). What benefits does a strong youth XC culture provide
the=
UKs soaring community vs. our own?=20
=20
The UK equivalent of the SSA has a Junior Development Committee (JDC).
C=
learly, the UK puts a huge amount of emphasis on this "opportunity."
They
=
likely put their best people on it. Does the SSA even have a youth
soaring=
function or officer? Why not? What is more important than a highly
devel=
oped youth XC soaring culture to a country's soaring future?
=20
How can the UK, a country of only 60 million citizens, be so highly
devel=
oped in terms of Jr soaring pilot XC skills, proficiency, organization,
eve=
nts and enthusiasm while the USA (a country of some 330 million) doesn't
ev=
en have an organized Junior program, bother to hold a Junior Nationals or
a=
ny have real Junior culture whatsoever? They few Juniors we have are
left
=
to themselves to figure it out. They have zero funding and little
support.=
=20
=20
How many U.S. Junior pilots are capable of flying true cross country
let
=
alone contest tasks? Developing Junior XC flying skills is not magic.
It'=
s simply a function of inspiration, qualified instruction, and
motivation.
=
XC soaring is also quite fun to learn and master. It is an extremely
sati=
sfying challenge to meet. XC might just challenge our youth pilots
enough
=
to keep them interested in the sport. That appears to be the case in the
U=
K. And the UK is not alone, most European countries are also quite
success=
ful with their youth XC soaring programs.=20
=20
What does all this tell us about the health of U.S. Soaring (SSA)?=20
=20
What does this tell us about our leadership focus, culture, priorities,
a=
nd strategy? What does this tell us about our soaring clubs (many
actively=
DISCOURAGE cross-country flight!)? What does this tell us about our
glide=
r instruction culture? Our mentorship results?=20
=20
How can the UK (and many other countries to be perfectly honest) be so
am=
azingly successful at developing Junior XC soaring energy and while the
US
=
(SSA) is so impressively "unsuccessful?"=20
=20
We hear the occasional murmurs in the SSA about our falling numbers,
poor=
international competition results, aging demographics, etc.=20
=20
Does the USA's lack of an organized and a high priority youth soaring
pro=
gram bother anyone else? Is there anything to learn here? Is there
anythi=
ng that we might want to consider changing? What is our "leadership"
doing=
about this problem? Do they even recognize it as "a problem?" Is our
lac=
k of Junior participation and XC skill development even on the SSA
priority=
list? On our soaring clubs priority list? What's our strategy? What
are
=
our action items for 2015-2016? Are there any presentations scheduled at
t=
he upcoming SSA convention?=20
=20
I hope this sparks a productive discussion.=20
=20
Sean=20
7T

Geography plays significantly into the difference. The UK, stem to
stern,
=
is about 98,000 square miles and about as long as California. California
i=
s 156,000 square miles. Heck, Colorado is 104,000 square miles. I could
a=
nd did start out cross country flights from Enstone GC when cloud base
reac=
hed 1800agl since I could and did take a relight if I fell out at the
next
=
club on course, about 10 miles. Actually, it was in getting home, one
therm=
al short of home plate. In the US, the next club might be 200 miles away,
o=
r more. Enstone GC was winch only, quite affordable. Those of us who
could=
also fly from RAF clubs had it doubly good, 50 pence winch launch, land
5
=
or more hours later. The RAF clubs also had support from the Nuffield
Trus=
t. The US had cheap tows for a lot of years. Not so cheap now, nor is
land=
, so many places are stuck with the high cost of aero tows from airfields
t=
hat are too short for practical winching. Winching is still seen as a
nove=
lty by many, but young people dig it, given the chance. Seems like
parents=
need to have their spawn involved in a number of activities these days.
I=
f several activities can't be crammed into a Saturday or Sunday,
something'=
s wrong. Spending a full day or weekend scouting or soaring appears to
be
=
less appealing as it requires a longer commitment. Not sure about today,
b=
ut in the late 20th century, when the BGA ruled soaring and gliding in
the
=
UK, the laws and rules for glider pilots was about a 20 page pamphlet
inclu=
ding about 4 pages devoted to trailer lighting, markings, and speed
limits
=
on various categories of roads. Gee, such a small place and soaring can
co=
-exist with so much other air traffic. Imagine that. Don't get me wrong.

=
I haven't flown there since 1995 and doubtless, things have changed.
Many
=
often point to European gliding organizations getting government support.

=
Although it may be true that sports council grants and other such
programs
=
do provide some support, it's usually based on meeting some performance
ben=
chmark. In the US, our tax code allows us to form tax exempt and
charitabl=
e organizations to meet needs in our local communities by recognizing and
d=
efining that need and supporting it through charitable gifts. As a
result,=
donors receive a tax deduction. Great system if used properly. A
nationa=
l junior gliding, member-supported, organization is quite doable and
desira=
ble as an affiliate or division of the SSA. Big commitment of stewardship
r=
equired.

The longer you wait, the longer it takes.

Frank Whiteley