Jason, Good on you Jason - well said. Speaking from our experience as an ex-President, current Treasurer and Committee Members of the Central Coast Soaring Club (involved for approx 23 years). Having experienced a wide variety of members come and go at our Club we totally understand where you are coming from and agree with all your sentiments..
Regards, Kay & Ron Locke ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jason Armistead" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia." <aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net> Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:45 PM Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] mining past glider pilots > At 11:43 PM 24/03/2005, Nick GIlbert wrote: > > >>That's easy... more young people. > > Young people of Australia unite - start your own youth-only gliding clubs > and see how you get on. No OFITTH allowed. Raise all the funds for your > aircraft and facilities, form your own committee, etc. > > Oh, hold on, it's much easier to join an existing gliding club where the > OFITTH have already taken care of those things, and will continue to do so > free of charge, spending copious amounts of their time in order to keep the > club and the sport afloat (often while sacrificing time with their own > families), even if not all members (young and old) are prepared to put as > much effort in. > > >> And the best way to do that (that I can think of) is to make them > instructors when possible. > > The choice of people as instructors should never be an age-related one, and > I don't actually believe it is. It should be based on flying proficiency, > the ability to teach others, and of course their overall attitude to club > life - why appoint self-absorbed youngsters (or OFITTH for that matter) who > are not team players on the airfield and don't want to commit to being on > the roster every 3-4 weeks ? If they've got the "right stuff" most CFIs > who are looking for new blood wouldn't hesitate to consider them. > > >> Make a place on your committee for an under 30 year old. Make it their > job to make the club more youth-friendly. > > Ah, so now the definition of a "young" person is someone under > 30. Interesting how the definition of "young" is heading towards a > demographic where people have finished school/tech college/university and > are able to establish themselves with a decent job, their own transport, > etc. All the things that prevent so many young people from getting > involved in gliding much earlier and staying involved. People like me ! > > I don't think that clubs *need* to create an age-dependent position on > their committee. 99.9% of people on gliding club committees would gladly > hand over their spot to anyone, young or old, who put their hand up at the > AGM and said "pick me", regardless of age. That fact is re-iterated at our > club each and every year at the AGM. I''ve been on the Committee for 6 > years now, mainly because I was happy to put my hand up, and the other > members were relieved that I did. I can only think of one or two cases > where we've had more than one nominee (and that's covering 6 AGMs with > around 12-15 people being voted into positions each time). > > And, to encourage new blood and ideas on the committee my club deliberately > has a dedicated position for a new member of less than 2 years in the club > - that's how I got involved less than 8 months after I became a member. > > >> Target the younger people as they approach the pie-cart. I have seen > duty pilots berate people when they are surprised to learn that they may > have to wait a while (you can't just waltz in here and expect...etc...). > This does nothing for anybody & and is just the sort of thing that will > cause someone to think, "the flight was great, but ......." > > Ridiculous indeed - name one gliding club where if a young person walks up > they automatically drop everything to serve them ahead of people (members > and AEF passengers) that are already waiting in line for a glider and > instructor. I don't think many gliding clubs would last 5 minutes with > this sort of queue jumping. Try doing it at the QANTAS check-in counter > the next time you are flying and see how popular you are with the other > passengers waiting in line. > > I have also seen young members turn up in the middle of the day with their > friends, avoid getting involved in helping out at the launch poiint, and > then bad-mouthing the duty pilot and instructors when they didn't get a > flight, even though they didn't register their interest in having one and > sat their contributing zero to the days operation. > > I think most people off the street, young or old, have no idea how a > gliding club works, nor that their is some waiting around before they'll > get their turn to fly. Most duty pilots politely explain that to potential > AEFs when they arrive, try to give them and idea of the wait before their > flight (which can depend very much on what happens with all the people > already flying), and do their level best to keep them happy. It's not > always easy, and some people are better at it than others. > > >> This is a VERY important issue. Writing the sport off as 'Un-Cool", and > blaming this as the reason for lack of youth is the easy way out. What > option do we have? Wait until the younger people get old and loose their > fashion sense? > > Some young people already don't have any fashion sense ! LOL !!! > > >> A DVD of the next JoeyGlide would be a good way for the GFA to spend > some $$$'s and do something about this. > > Adam Woolley was going to produce something from the last Joeyglide - what > happened to this ? > > and previously Nick wrote: > > >> "Go to a parachute centre sometime. I visited one to have a chute > repacked outside Sydney one day. It was a Friday afternoon and there must > have been 60-70 people there, with very few people over 30. " > > I used to know a group of parachutists who flew from the private airfield > near Cambewarra (close to Bomaderry, NSW). They would often outland near > our place in North Nowra, and one time when they landed out in the paddock > behind our house we had them around for a BBQ. Fascinating that almost all > of them were either single or married without kids. One of them was nearly > 65 (if I remember correctly), and still very much "coo'l". I guess that > defines the parachuting demographic (would be interesting to see some hard > demographic numbers from the APF). > > Once most people settle down to a life with kids, priorities change as they > have to. Maybe that's what happens to the parachutists at Wilton, which > has been running for many years now. Surely some its ranks would be 30+ > and still involved otherwise. Back to Ecclesiastes 3 again ... > > By the way, these guys at Cambewarra were the original Sky Surfers, jumping > with boogie boards many years before it became fashionable on the Coca Cola > TV advertisements. > > > Regards > > Jason Armistead > > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
