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

John hit the proverbial nail on the head. I believe the SSA should encourage clubs to add single place glass ships to their fleets and do more to encourage cross-country instruction/mentoring across the board. I think proactive policy decisions along these lines (at both the SSA and member club levels), will lead to a more engaged membership and greater retention of pilots (especially younger pilots).

I know a lot of european clubs have refurbished Standard Cirrus, Discus, ASW-20, LS4, etc. that are used by pilots and Juniors alike to persue cross country with. I think this approach not only fascilitates Junior participation but leads to retaining Millenials and GenX that may not be quite ready to buy the $90-150k sailplane of their dreams until the kids are all out of the house. In the meantime, both the mean age for a Regional or National contest here in the US continues to approach the geriatric threshold, which in the long run will make it more difficult to sustain sport, the SSA and many of the clubs that exist around the country.

-Christopher Schrader