FAI, soaring and Olympic Games

3) A national plan to motivate/help clubs to do what Harris Hill is doing

Harris Hill is unique because of the history of the site, and therefore
the governmental preservation and backing of the facility. The HHSC is
essentially given the whole facility to operate free of charge as long
as they "provide rides for the public". As I understand it, the
government does all of the facilities maintenance as well. The rides
also produce revenue , so they basically have no overhead costs.
Because of this, they are able to free up funding for programs like their
Juniors program. Even as prolific as the HHSC program is, they have
the same issues with young people staying "with it" over time. One
can only try to "set the hook" so that they come back after "life" gets in

the way.. ie, college, getting married, having kids, job, money, etc, etc.

The club which I have belonged to for the last 52 years (Nutmeg
Soaring Association formerly of CT, and now in Freehold, NY) has had
many scholarship students over the years. We have had them go on to
the USAFA , USNA, and other fine schools and universities. Some have
wound up as military aviators, airline and corporate pilots. Very, very
few have been able to stay with soaring as they went about the
business of living life. We can only hope that they can come back at a
time when life will permit it....

Most soaring operations/clubs don't have anywhere near the
"discretionary cash flow" that HHSC may have, so they can't spend as
much on youth programs. It is a very tough nut to crack....

RO