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Thank you Gus.
Glider pilot Ratty would be pleased by your
comments.
Messin about is nice ain't it.
Chris McDonnell
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 12:35
PM
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] WC team
Wow.
I was going to write a reply to that, but it appears Mark has done it for
me. Thankyou!
Firstly, there are a number of reasons that Juniors choose to attend
Joeyglide.
Some have aspirations of winning the competition, and they will gear
themselves throughout the competition, not drink etc, in order to win. All the
pilots are well informed of the problems about dehydration, and I don't think
anyone at the last competition was stupid enough to risk their safety for the
sake of a drink.
In my own case, JoeyGlide was an opportunity for a SOCIAL week of flying
with other pilots my own age. I don't get enough time off during the year to
hone my skills thoroughly enough to be up in the top 5, so I go to fly as well
as I can, but also to enjoy one of the few holidays I get per year. I've been
flying for almost 10 years now, and competition still doesn't rate all that
highly for me. I'm stoked if I get in the top 10 on any particular day,
but it isn't the only reason to be there!
I'm very much looking forward to this year's Joeyglide, and I'd like to
knock off a 500 whilst I'm there, but I'm also looking forward to having a
drink or two with the many "characters" that I've met in the past comps. And
I'm sure they don't mind the opportunity to heckle me a little either whilst
we're all around the bar :-) I don't think we can deny the
importance of social interaction in terms of retaining Juniors in the sport.
After all, have some of the older members considered that being around people
the same age with same interests is one of the prime motivations for going to
the club on the weekend?
Anyway, I'll leave it there for now. Bring on JoeyGlide 2006 !
Cheers,
Gus
On 6/5/06, Mark
Newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
Dav
wrote:
> Mark said:
>> perhaps for lots of attendees Joey
Glide is more about having fun
>> with friends than about the
actual competition...?)
>
> Call me old fashioned, but I thought
competition was what a contest was for.
You're looking at it as a
one-dimensional axis, where the only important
thing is the
competitiveness. I suspect most of the attendees have a mix
of
priorities and goals when they attend.
>> When 90% of the
pilots attending the comp aren't flying competitively,
>> maybe
that doesn't matter so much (see next comment)
>
> Then as I
said a regatta/camp style event might be a better option?
Maybe the
95% of pilots who attend who aren't hotshots view it as if
it already
-is- a regatta/camp. After all, apart from scale, what's
the
difference anyway? Hold a club regatta and hand out bottles
of
wine^H^H^H^Hred cordial to the winners; Hold a championship
and hand
out trophies and prestige. If you're not standing on
the podium during
the presentation ceremony it really makes very little
difference.
Not that I'm wanting to suggest that you're usurping the
Juniors' abilities
to make their own informed decisions here, but have
you actually /asked/
any of them about how highly they rated
competitiveness when they
attended? Nothing loses respect more
than someone their father's age
telling them what their priorities are
supposed to be without listening
to find out what their priorities
*actually are*.
You work in a school, so I suspect you know
this. But for some reason
that knowledge isn't important to
you right now.
>> I also firmly believe that junior events
should be alcohol free during the
>> event after experiencing the
last Joey glide.
>> Well, gee, that'll see them flocking to the
event, won't it?
>
> It won't make any difference to under 18's,
of whom 16, more than 30%
> attended the last Joey glide Mark as it is
*illegal* for them to drink.
> Unless you think they should be
drinking underage?
> Mark, do you think drinking alcohol still at
Midnight before a flying
> contest day is appropriate?
What I
think about that isn't relevant, because regardless of whether
or not I
approve, the attendees will make their own decisions.
Just like they
will regardless of whether or not you approve too.
Might I also
suggest that in my experience a far greater influence than
money on
whether or not a "junior" takes up gliding is the presence or
absence of
authoritarian figures expressing disapproval of their culture
and
telling them what to do. A teenager will spend a *LOT* of money
to
do something they love, but they'll stay away in droves if
they're
disrespected while they're doing it. And there's
strange about that; I
bet you stay away from places where
you're disrespected too.
> Incidentally I am not a wowser; I don't
mind the odd drink or 3 myself! Just
> not during competitions by
relatively inexperienced pilots, where
> dehydration is an ever
present and very real danger. It's the example set to
> under 18s and
as a father I feel it is totally appropriate that I comment
> about
this matter!
No problem with you commenting on it. And I
admire the parental role
you're playing there, and suspect that more
kids would be a lot better
off if more parents did precisely what you're
doing...
... but we're not really talking about the example you
provide to your
son. I think we're talking more about the
example you wished everyone else
provided to your son
instead.
> And yes some people define fun as drinking Caleb. My
concern is the example
> set for under 18s!
Maybe the attendees
of the event don't see it as their role to provide an
example to
under-18's? Young people these days have enough
responsibility
and expectation already without imposing a parental role
on them as well.
> I hasten to add it was drinking very late at
night rather than a few around
> the bar after flying I thought
inappropriate. On 3 occasions I had to get
> out of bed to turn down
music which was rattling the walls of my caravan 20
> metres away
after midnight!!!!! Perhaps a 10 o'clock bar service curfew for
>
competitors would be more acceptable rather than a total ban?
If you
want an event that nobody will come to, that'd be a
wonderful
idea. But I think before you start talking about
curfews and turning
the music down you should watch the movie "Footloose"
(in all its highbrow
social commentary brilliance :-)
You've set
up your caravan 20 metres away from a bunch of 20 year olds
at an event
specifically organized for their enjoyment, then you complain
about the
music? Geez, Dave, what the hell did you expect?
Perhaps
what you're writing there is evidence of my contention above,
that many
of the "competitors" measured their reason for being at the
event as a
region in a multi-dimensional space? If a junior wants to
have
a hard-core comp where the only important thing is winning they can
go to
the club class nationals. If they want a mix of other
stuff,
bring on JoeyGlide.
> Fact is the top placed people at
the last Joey glide did not drink much at
> all during the comp
indicating they were there to compete on the contest
> days, and not
party until the end. They wanted to compete and did, strongly.
Sounds like a successful event, then. The ones who wanted
to compete
did, the ones who wanted to socialize and do a bit of flying
on the
side did, and everyone enjoyed the experience. Well --
Everyone who
didn't set up their caravan 20m from the speakers did,
anyway.
There should be more of it. Bring it
on.
-
mark
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I
tried an internal
modem,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I
walked. Mark
Newton
----- Voice: +61-4-1620-2223 ------------- Fax: +61-8-82231777
-----
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