On Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 6:27:13 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Saturday, August 22, 2015 at 11:08:22 AM UTC-4, Waveguru wrote:
What an inspiring, well made video... And what a great club!

https://vimeo.com/105810456

Boggs

Awesome job! Seeing youth at the camp warmed my heart.

May I offer my two cents as to what it takes to attract youth? I noticed in the video that there was a soccer game, fishing pond, barbeque, and just plane (not pun intended) fun going on. Also, the youth were actively involved with some of the operation of the club.

I travel to Europe to fly gliders in the Alps on a yearly basis. I have visited many German gliding clubs as well. I notice a real difference in the culture of the clubs of Europe as compared to the USA. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing our infrastructure, just making a generalized comparison.

In Europe there is a concerted effort to afford activity for wives and children such that time at the airport is not just standing in boredom waiting for their elder family member finish his 4 or 5 hour flight in his high performance glider. There are activities promoted on or near the airport such that time waiting for flights can be filled with fun activity.

The airport I usually fly at in France has a swimming pool, showers, a small restaurant, and nearby diversions such as hiking trails, rivers to swim or fish, etc. There is a dedicated picnic area with a shaded gazebo, and usually a barbecue in the evening. Information about such activities are eagerly promoted at the check- in/administration desk. There is always a ten o'clock briefing of the weather and a discussion of the previous days flights. It is also a time when special events of the day are discussed, such as diversion trips for other members of the family. All people, not just pilots, are welcomed at the briefings.

I will say that our own local glider port, Ionia Municipal Airport, has sponsored a "Youth Glide" camp for many years. It is a dedicated two week instructional camp for soloing young people. This year, Ionia Michigan's municipal airport, with the concerted efforts of Tony Smitt and Benz Aviation soloed eight new youth glider pilots.

As the late Jerry Benz would say "we are planting seeds" for future cross country glider pilots. Most of the early recruits go on to more time consuming pursuits in their lives, but a few return when leisure time can be afforded. That was certainly the case in my life, when university, medical school, surgical training, and the following years of establishing a surgical career took precedent. There was a twenty year period when gliding cross country was only a dream to come. And that is the way for most individuals. Soaring is a time consuming sport that requires disposable income and disposable time for leisure. But having been exposed and experiencing soaring like a bird, the dream never faded. Indeed,"we are planting seeds".

I believe that retaining youth, or drawing youth to the airport must involve a group of young people. Young people want to experience new friendships and have fun. Youth tend to feel more relaxed and active when there are with other people their own age involved with the same activity.

Thank you for creating and posting the video. Again, it was heart warming! Well done!

To reinforce the above post, please go to http://www.segelflug.de/segelflug_de.html
randomly pick 10 clubs and take a look at their websites. Most of them have a tab 'Jugendgruppe' (Youth Group) and it shows the club's kids either running the operation or what else they are up to when not flying.
I have flow contests for many years at Caesar Creek and my son soloed there in a very similar youth encampment about 10 years ago. That club has it going on and they do a marvelous job getting the youth involved and retained - hats off to them!
In contrast, I flew at another US-club that shall remain unnamed, which had a flight instructor who wanted to ban members under 21 since he saw them only as a liability. Fortunately, this attempt got defeated but it shows the difference in attitude.
Keep it up, Caesar Creek!

Uli
now AS