Cheap sailplanes

I'll throw something else into the pot here. The golf club I'm a member of
has a golf gaademy on site. Youngsters of 15 to 16 with handicaps of 10 and
under can apply to join the academy for a year. At the end of which the can
acheive 2 'A' Level credits. These are accepted as credit towards a place at
university with a view to careers in sports management. Is this sort of
thing a possible source of future soaring pilots? How about gliding as an
optional high school subject?

Kids are under pressure to gain an education, offering a year of flying and
ground training with a tangible benefit in front of them may prove to be
irresistable and we all know that once the bug bites it bites hard. Flying
does offer benefits in terms of personal development, discipline, decision
making, planning. These could be sold as the foundation pieces to several
careers to education authorities if our controlling bodies were given the
brief to do so.

Ian