Silver Badge Fun (?)

I think badges do serve a useful purpose to soaring, but I'm guessing
that Al's comment is more geared toward the paperwork, documentation
side of badges rather than the benefit that having a structured seat of
goals established

Badges keep many pilots focused on soaring where a lack of established
goals and objectives would allow some pilots to become less focused,
then bored, and then less active in soaring, then no longer soaring pilots.