Graeme (and others naturally!)
I think we should all just take one step back for a minute. There's always going to be a generation gap, no matter what sport or culture.
I think you'll find the juniors, and myself included, have been very appreciative of the support that we have recieved from older members in the gliding movement. There is no doubt that I would not have been able to attend Joeyglide without the support of the Bathurst Soaring Club, which I am extremely thankful for. And this of course would be true for other younger members who attended the competition. I think every member of the gliding movement, young or old, who supported the competition deserves the utmost appreciation, no matter what level their contribution.
The difference is that it was organised by younger members, and whilst it was done using existing systems taught to them by older members, it also took into account the younger member's ideas and innovations, thus tailoring the competition towards their needs and wants.
The juniors ("kids") aren't trying to "take over" the sport of gliding, we are merely trying to offer suggestions for improvement, and find it harrowing when those suggestions are routinely passed over due to our age and subsequent relative lack of experience. There is a wealth of energy and innovation in many of the younger pilots, and all that many juniors want is to be heard and considered. Like a commercial business, a club will flounder in time if it is not innovative. It's not a case of "put up with us and we'll put up with you", it's more a case of two-way respect. Junior pilots may not have the resources to contribute as much as the older members, that much is true, but what they lack in resources they make up with energy and bright, new ideas, as well as the ability to bring in new ab-initio's and subsequently new members.
Let's try and put a stop to this "old fogeys"and "young whipper-snappers" debate, and try to consolidate the resources that we do have.
Regards,
Gus Stewart
Graeme Cant wrote:
From: Mark Newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
On Thu, Mar 24, 2005 at 07:38:10PM +1100, adam ianson wrote:
> Just have a look at www.joeyglide.com to see how we are trying to get > the younger gerneration envovled in the sport, it seems you have put > down people like Nick Gilbert , Adam Woolley, myself and every Junior > and Coach who are trying to push and enforce Juniors into clubs so > they can enjoy the sport with other juniors and get advice from the > older generation.
i.e., he's behaving like one of the OFITTH's I was talking about. "Young
people are a wasted investment" my arse.
I love what the JoeyGlide people have done. In about a year they've managed to get heaps of kids into gliding and have organized a national youth competitio that simply didn't exist in 2003. It's amazing.
It's also notable that the only way they've been able to do it is by completely and utterly divorcing themselves from the OFITTH's and going it alone.
Surprising bullshit from you, Mark. And I think I've had enough of the polite hand-wringing that's been going on.
NOT ONE JUNIOR would have flown at Joeyglide without the generous assistance of dozens of geriatric old farts. Starting with the ones who loaned the kids their gliders. Continuing with the ones who donated time - including the geriatric tug pilots - and the geriatric coaches - and the geriatrics who flew in the other seat of the two-seaters - and including the ones who "just" donated money - which actually represents time in their own youth - that they spent earning that money. It didn't grow on trees, Mark baby.
Finally, the geriatric instructors who taught the kids in their free time in the first place in the clubs built and run by geriatric old farts flying gliders bought and paid for by those idiot geriatrics.
With the notable exception of a few helpful old fogeys, the Junior Nationals were largely a grass-roots organized competition.
Crap. Almost every part of the organisation was done after old men had taught them how to or using systems old men had put in place.
And look at the difference in vibracy (is that a
word? :-) between this forum and the JoeyGlide yahoo group...
Yes. It's what you'd expect with an average age difference of about 40 years. If I can stand the juvenalia and crap spelling on Yahoo, you can stand the inanities, pedantry and sheer stupidity of this group. If we both want to go gliding, I'll have to put up with you and you'll have to put up with me.
Seriously, people: If you're wondering why more people don't join gliding clubs, you need to look *very* close to home. Do you know anyone whom you can objectively say is "part of the problem"? Are *YOU* part of the problem?
Yes I am - and I'm part of the solution too. Just like you. And there has to be room for BOTH of us. Let's ALL cut out the stereotypes. As Don said, you mightn't like the company of old farts but there would be NO gliding without them.
Now let me put bluntly again what I said once before. As with most other worthwhile areas of life, if the kids want to take over gliding, they'll have to take it from those who built it. When they have enough skill, cunning, time and money, they'll get it. Not before. It's too worthwhile to be handed to them on a platter for them to trash.
:)
Graeme Cant
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