Ten Reasons to Add a Junior Program to Your Glider Club

On Sunday, October 5, 2014 9:33:04 AM UTC-4, XC wrote:
Ten Reasons to Add a Junior Program to Your Glider Club



We at Harris Hill are always going on about our club's junior program. It is because we all take great pride in it. Many other clubs are doing a great job at this too, but not enough.



I get the sense that a lot of clubs view subsiding youth gliding as unnecessary expense. On the contrary it pays dividens in many ways. If you need help convincing your board of directors, here are 10 reasons to have a youth group.



1. Adds youthful energy to your club - It is just more interesting to have multigenerational club.

2. Seeing the kids grow is very rewarding - Kids show up and don't even know how to shake hands properly. Before you know it they are off to the military or college full of pride and ready to take on the world. What a joy to be part of it.

3. Adds purpose to your club - Being on the board of directors is a pain. Meetings, disagreements, grief from members. Volunteering at the club takes on a deeper meaning and members give more of themselves when it is benefiting the young people

4. Fun to pass on what you know - The collective knowledge of a glider club is pretty amazing. One guy's an A&P, one guy's an IT genius. We have one member whose job is inventor. How cool is that? Great to see young people gather knowledge and skills.

5. May qualify your club for tax exempt status - If your club is truly helping young people you could qualify for 501(c)3 status.

6. Glider club becomes part of the community - Once your club is not just about your flying, you'll be surprized at the number of ways local governements and groups are willing to help your organization.

7. Helps with membership recruiting - It works in multiple ways. Adults in the club have their children join or parent and child join together. We've also had several cases when the parents joined after seeing how much fun the kids were having. Soaring is a great family activity.

8. Helps with membership retention - Especially in the case of families. A family atmosphere, with some facilities for families, allows for Mom or Dad to stay in the club as the family grows.

9. Cheap labor - Let's face it the young members do a lot of work for the club. It would be much more expensive to pay someone even minimum wage to do that work.

10. Junior members return to be senior members - Several young members have returned to the area after college and initial job experiences. Our club helped to bring them back.



I have a lot more tips about starting a youth club, what works, what doesn't, if anyone is interested.



XC

Critical mass - We have found that you must have a critical mass of 3 or more juniors on the field. That means a club should have a junior program of at least 8-12 young people. I would estimate that 40-50% of those that start will solo and this would vary with instructor availability. Encourage kids to sign up with a friend.

Ownership - There must be a way for the young people to own the experience. Give-aways don't work. At Harris Hill junior members work 4 hours for each pre-solo flight. Think of 4 hours at the field instead of 4 hours of continuous work (however, some days it is non-stop.) If you think of $5/hour for their time, they have nearly as much as a senior member invested in a flight. The more you link the work with the flying, the more they own the experience. Post-solo the juniors pay more for each flight and only have to work two hours per flight.

Pricing - Here are the 2014 prices for a 20 minute 2-33 instructional hop at Harris Hill. Includes 2000' tow, hook up, glider rental, and instructor time (volunteered). These prices are made possible only by selling rides to the public (ASK-21 @ $96) and that ride business becomes a priority at times - which can be a pain.

Senior member $30.40
Junior post-solo $16.20
Junior pre-solo $5.00

You club's costs will be different but here is a good ratio. Post solo juniors pay half of what seniors pay and work 2 hours for each flight. Pre-solo pay a quarter of the full cost and work 4 hours per flight.

Does anyone else have anything to share about their club's junior program? I know UH is doing a great job at Valley Soaring.

XC