Dave, the points you make about the AFA soaring program are well known
and no one disputes them, but those of us who were at Parowan heard
their commander explicitly state that their program was first and
foremost about leadership training.

Now, that's fine, I have no problem with that. But the Region 9
contest is a *soaring* contest; if they want to do leadership training
at Parowan they can set up an obstacle course in the groundhog paddock
and have at it, and not take contest slots away from pilots who have a
greater interest in taking it seriously.

Even better, they should organize and host a sanctioned contest
themselves, in Colorado (as they did once upon a time) or Hobbs, where
they don't have a problem with over-subscribed contests. That would be
an excellent demonstration of leadership skills.

~ted/2NO