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

At 13:27 10 September 2015, Sean Fidler wrote:
Numerous snips
Geography is a poor and tired excuse for US soaring numbers.
We are performing at something like 1% the UKs level right now
in terms of Jr's when population size is considered. Essentially,
we are a joke.

The question is what do we value as a soaring country? What are
our priorities? What does our soaring leadership value? Where do
we invest time and effort? What does the SSA value? What do our
soaring instructors value and what are their skills? And most
importantly, what do US soaring clubs value? Many of our "soaring?"
clubs that actually discourage cross country soaring! I always find
that fact amazing.

I would hope that our current SSA leadership sees the importance
of organized and successful Junior cross country culture and takes
action to rebuild one now. It's a question of priorities. One wonders
what else is more important to be honest. As SSA leaders, they have
the opportunity to study the problem, put a plan together, organize a
team, and inspire a massive country that is essentially forsaking its
junior pilots. But this must start at the top and remain a serious
priority. Articles, reports, etc.

The SSA convention is in a few months. Let's hope the topic of
developing Junior XC soaring is prominent, front and center and not
glazed over or status quo (non-existent). We have numerous
examples of how other countries are supporting their Juniors. Will
our current leaders respond? I look forward to seeing what happens!
Sean 7T

Your position in a nutshell seems to be that the decline in U.S. soaring
is directly attributable to the failure of SSA's leadership to magically
find some way of opening the flood gates for the droves of young
people anxiously waiting to become xc soaring competitors.

Being the staunch soaring competitor you are, I'm sure no one has
any hope of enlightening you to the fact that the steady decline in
soaring is the cumulative effects of a complex myriad of issues.
Which can not be turned around simply by focusing on any single
issue.

For decades I have listened to individuals rants concerning what U.S.
soaring needs. The more common are, cheaper access (more clubs), cheaper
tows (winch launches), more youth, better equipment
(particularly in clubs), better access (to public airports).
Unfortunately
even after many decades the underlying issues are as problematic as
ever. I could seriously argue that the single biggest detriment to
soaring in the U.S. has been the cumulative effects of SSA's historical
failure to work with the FAA in assuring that glider operations were a
normal inclusive part of airport operations and subsequent airport
planning. But that ship sailed a long time ago and U.S. soaring will
forever be paying the price.

But to address your specific current complaints about SSA, there is a
saying. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Rather than stand on the sidelines complaining about SSA leadership,
step up to the plate and in the next elections have a winning platform
and become a regional director. In the mean time spend less time
accusing others of their inadequacies and put that energy into clearly
developing specific detailed plans of action for successfully
implementing the changes you envision. While at the same time lobby
hard in all of the regions to convince the members that your plan is
the right plan for SSA. If you get enough of the membership on board,
they will pressure their directors to work toward that goal. If your
concept is truly credible and the masses agree. Work at establishing
work groups in each region comprised of pilots who agree with your
agenda for fixing soaring. These groups can then work at convincing
current directors of the need to implement necessary changes and eventually
if necessary eventually nominating and electing someone
more in sync with this new philosophy.

From a competition perspective, in spite of having some of the
premier soaring in the U.S.. It has been a long time since Region 12
has had yearly regional contests. Most recently there was no director
election required because the existing region 12 director was unopposed.
If your ideas can be shown to truly have merit, then it shouldn't be
difficult to persuade a group of region 12 pilots to nominate and elect a
director who supports that vision. But just jumping up and down on the
sidelines will have no impact whatsoever.

The big question is why is some nobody on "the sidelines" required to bring this up? Why is this not the SSAs highest priority already? What are the current leaders really focused on?

You're correct. I'm not involved in the SSA leadership. This is absolutely true. I am simply one person making a point (on RAS) about our lack of a U.S. Jr cross country culture. It strikes me as painfully obvious and critically important. I say plainly that our juniors are merely trained to be pattern pilots with almost zero encouragement or opportunity to learn true XC soaring like their peers in Europe, Australia and elsewhere. I say that is a crying shame, an utter failure of our leadership and is THE REASON why our sport is on the decline in the USA.

"He who lives in a glass house..." (whatever the hell that means). Are you not being a "tad" dramatic? If pointing out our lack of a junior nationals (or even junior cross country pilots) in the US bothers anyone, I honestly do not give a flying crap. Deal with it however you must.

What the "SSA does!" about this failure is entirely up to them. Yep, my thread here probably will result in diddly squat. Most SSA members are narrowly focused on only what directly effects them in the next 12 months (contest rules, club politics, ADSB, etc). Most SSA members and clubs are not concerned about developing junior cross country pilots at all. Leaders must have broader vision and stategy. Leaders must LEAD! Do we have effective leaders? We shall see.

As for me, fire away all you wish. Yawn. This is what I do for fun. You would not believe what I do when I am serious, trust me.

In Germany there are more than 15 gliders given to junior pilots each year ranging from Libelle to Nimbus 4. Five of those are distributed on a national level. Most larger federal soaring associations also provide multiple gliders for youth promotion on a regional level. All of these gliders were privatly financed/donated at one time or another. We are not talking about state financing or our soaring association paying for everything. In most cases small clubs/trusts are founded to maintain these gliders by collecting donations and fees from supporting members. Current junior pilots take care of most maintenance work. Administration is done on an honorary basis. Former pilots chip in donations later in life when they can afford it. Whenever possible these gliders are updated to more current models, usually by collecting donations. Since gliders hardly lose value the bulk financing of a new glider can be achieved by selling the old ones. Do this steadily across more than 30 years and you see former LS1 evolve into a Discus 2ct spreading the financial burden over decades.

You are not going to copy almost a century of european gliding club culture in the States any time soon, but setting up two or three gliders for promoting junior soaring should be easy enough. A fully world championship competition ready club class glider need not cost cost more than 12k EUR in good condition with a resonable trailer (If you don't believe me, I have got one for sale). The cost of suberb instrumentation is a joke with prices of full featured variometer systems of the late nineties bottoming out and XCsoar outperforming the commercial alternatives on many details. A fully competition ready glider has never been cheaper than today.

Forget any national bodies like the SSA to take the initiative. If you want something to change then do it yourself. Find your XC enthousiastic friends, found a trust, collect donations, buy some nice club class gliders (or whatever you can afford) and find your worthy juniors to support.

Interesting post Alexander. Amazing insight. Thanks!

On Friday, September 11, 2015 at 10:52:36 AM UTC-4, Alexander Swagemakers wrote:
In Germany there are more than 15 gliders given to junior pilots each year ranging from Libelle to Nimbus 4. Five of those are distributed on a national level. Most larger federal soaring associations also provide multiple gliders for youth promotion on a regional level. All of these gliders were privatly financed/donated at one time or another. We are not talking about state financing or our soaring association paying for everything. In most cases small clubs/trusts are founded to maintain these gliders by collecting donations and fees from supporting members. Current junior pilots take care of most maintenance work. Administration is done on an honorary basis. Former pilots chip in donations later in life when they can afford it. Whenever possible these gliders are updated to more current models, usually by collecting donations. Since gliders hardly lose value the bulk financing of a new glider can be achieved by selling the old ones. Do this steadily across more than 30 years and you see former LS1 evolve into a Discus 2ct spreading the financial burden over decades.

You are not going to copy almost a century of european gliding club culture in the States any time soon, but setting up two or three gliders for promoting junior soaring should be easy enough. A fully world championship competition ready club class glider need not cost cost more than 12k EUR in good condition with a resonable trailer (If you don't believe me, I have got one for sale). The cost of suberb instrumentation is a joke with prices of full featured variometer systems of the late nineties bottoming out and XCsoar outperforming the commercial alternatives on many details. A fully competition ready glider has never been cheaper than today.

Forget any national bodies like the SSA to take the initiative. If you want something to change then do it yourself. Find your XC enthousiastic friends, found a trust, collect donations, buy some nice club class gliders (or whatever you can afford) and find your worthy juniors to support.

I suspect we have a few in the US but nobody keeps count.
At my club in NY, the juniors have 2 gliders free of cost. They have a 1-26 for early flying after solo, and a Std Libelle after they complete the private certificate.
Harris Hill has a Discus dedicated to the juniors.
Anybody else know of club ships dedicated to juniors in the US?
UH

Hank,

Your club and Harris Hill are way ahead of the curve (but still need to go further). We need dozens, hundreds more clubs like those and a special program for elite Jrs as well. Our biggest obstacle are clubs that actively discourage cross country. Not just for Juniors. First step is to understand the true nature of the problem better. Most, I suspect, would argue that no cross country is not a problem.

Sean

I for one like the direction this discussion has taken. By RAS standards it has been relatively respectful. Kudos Sean for bringing it up and taking a bit of heat. A bit of heat, a bit of sage advice, a few examples how locals HAVE stepped up.

In my backyard, I have seen responses to local efforts to increase youth and not so young soaring range from "Why help others?-I paid for my own soaring as a teen" to "I want my older glider to be flown by others but don't know how to set it up."

Ironically, we have several 2-33, 1-26 era gliders sitting unused all season mainly due to a shortage of instructors willing/able to put them to use.
I say, increase the pool of instructors and you will naturally raise the number of students.

And having given more than a few orientation rides to Civil Air Patrol cadets in gliders and airplanes I can tell you personally there is a ready demand for kids who want to "Slip the Surly Bonds" despite the competition of video games, motorsports and teenagers of the opposite sex!

One more thought (might be a bit deep for RAS): We sometimes say "Someday, when _______, I will do more for my sport, community, charities, etc." We all know at any age we are currently, some of our friends and relatives never make it to "someday." Why not do something today?!

Cheers
Gene Reinecke

On Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 9:49:30 PM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
Hank,

Your club and Harris Hill are way ahead of the curve (but still need to go further). We need dozens, hundreds more clubs like those and a special program for elite Jrs as well. Our biggest obstacle are clubs that actively discourage cross country. Not just for Juniors. First step is to understand the true nature of the problem better. Most, I suspect, would argue that no cross country is not a problem.

Sean

One very real factor, my partner pointed out, is that club equipment is there for many to use. Taking a club ship all day can mean that someone doesn't get to fly. If that happens too often, people stop coming because not all can afford their own ship. We do give preference to pilots doing a badge leg.
Just one more thing that complicates flying XC in club machines. We encourage it, but I can see how some clubs might not.
I realize you will find this not at all acceptable, but it is a reality in many smaller clubs.
The solution is to grow bigger so the club can support more gliders. That is not a fast process but is doable with effort.
UH

Good point. We need a balance for sure. Right now the balance is pretty full in the "not cross country" direction at most clubs. Not having gliders to fly because they are all out flying XC would really be a good problem to have initially...