The decline of gliding - a worldwide issue?

On Sunday, 7 March 2021 at 13:57:13 UTC, wrote:
Whenever this is discussed in the UK the point is always made that people now, unlike in the 60's, are time poor.
In other words people these days are less willing to spend an entire day at a gliding club for perhaps a 20 min flight.

I agree with the point made here in the UK that the way we "do gliding" is outdated and no longer fit for purpose.
We should be using self-launchers and the SSDR category of single seaters, as well as slot booking, which doesn't work with current infrastructure but will work if done correctly with self-launchers (note the flying crowd have used slot booking for decades).

Any of this ring true in the USofA?
On Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 11:45:43 AM UTC, wrote:
On Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 5:06:18 AM UTC-5, wrote:
Good morning,

My name is Douglas and I am a glider pilot here in the UK.

I would like to start a friendly discussion about the decline of gliding and whether this is an issue outside of the UK.

Within the UK gliding has been in decline for decades and according to discussion on gliderpilot.net this is down to a few key issues, which I may go into later in the thread if required.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts on this.

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Douglas
Douglas, what we have seen here in the US is no different than your UK experience. yes there has been a decline in soaring. Soaring has become a bit more expensive and young boys and girls seem to be more occupied with cell phones and video games that keep them away from the gliderport. Us here at TCSC have been able to bring new potential pilots to the arena with our youth program. Our program allows for a youth to start at 13 and obtain a glider rating at no cost. During the next two weeks we will once again be sending a youth member for a DPE checkride. This past week we had two more youth members take flights toward their solo and glider ticket.
Covid certainly has made things worse, old and young alike are reluctant to participate in any function that might expose them to a viral infection. Cost of equipment and operation of that equipment has risen yet the soaring community continues to get smaller.

John Roake from New Zealand (who runs Gliding International magazine) has published world gliding membership numbers for many years and has been writing authoritatively and campaigning about the worldwide loss of membership for as long.