I think we are all missing a point about why other sports attract kids
and soaring generally doesn't.

Think about things that kids get into (other than video games). Snow
boarding. Mountain biking. Sky Diving. Scuba diving. Para-
whatever. What do they have in common? The turnaround time from
beginner to the point of "pushing the edge" is short. There is little
regulation (or self regulated) in the sport to create stumbling
blocks. The sports are edgy and are immediately thrilling (and sound
thrilling to your friends). All the sports (and power flying also)
mentioned above can be done nearly any day of the week. It's all
about short attention spans, busy lives and needing immediate
gratification.

Now let's take the sport we know and love. This great video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aumO0ZHwAro is very, very appealing to
kids because it presents the exciting side of the sport and shows kids
doing it. Unfortunately, getting to the point of being able to do any
of these things requires years of practice and is generally frowned
upon or considered outright illegal by our regulators. Therefore
soaring is bound to disappoint the crowd that wants this kind of
immediate rush.

What to do about this inherent liability of soaring? There are some
smart people in the sport that may be able to help but some things we
just cannot fix. We can't fly every day. We can't get someone solo-
ing after a few flights. These things aren't fixable by the very
nature of the sport.

My club tries very hard to attract youngsters and keep them involved
but we loose them unless they are inherently drawn to what we do.
Some are, most aren't. CAP is great but the kids that go for CAP are
viewed by the "cool" kids like being a "uncool" Boy Scout (I think
otherwise). Too bad.

I think that our sport will survive. We just need to understand that
it will never be the big bang that the latest trendy thrill-fest is.

Thanks, John "67R" DeRosa

PS One small point - When I am talking about what soaring I use the
word "racing". I don't fly a glider, I fly a "racing sailplane". I
amaze people with tales of stay up (all of) three hours!! Its my way
of making the sport a "thrill-fest".