"For Example John Smith" wrote
We are in the flat coastal plains and the club doesn't have a history of
promoting XC--our instructor staff and club management attitude are much the
same as you describe.

What might be interesting to you is how we are CHANGING.

And at what speed.

When I joined that club, nobody had gone XC in a club ship in years -
but things were changing. Club ships were going to go XC that season.
There was a program being put in place. I even remember attending
one of the meetings.

Eventually I got tired of waiting for the club to change. I bought my
own ship (an inexpensive metal one) and started teaching myself XC
flying. I flew some XC, got my commercial glider, eventually got my
CFIG, did some teaching, and even trained a CFIG myself. But I also
bought a twin, got heavily involved in instrument flying, got my CFII,
got heavily involved in instrument instruction, and sort of drifted
out of soaring.

As you might imagine, this is a process that took years.

The club is still changing. Club ships will go XC next season.

Michael