[CQ-Contest] Young people.

[Kenneth E. Harker]

On Sun, Sep 17, 2000 at 12:56:12PM -0500, Dale L Martin wrote:
> 
> 
> > There is already one such contest aimed at college and university
> > operators.
> > The Collegiate Championship has "piggy-backed" on the ARRL
> > November Sweepstakes
> > for six years now.  College and university clubs enter the Sweepstakes
> > operating multi-single from their on-campus club stations, and
> > afterwards, we
> > compare scores.  It has become very popular.
> >
> > http://www.collegiatechampionship.org/
> 
> As has the School Club Roundup that is conducted each February and the Kid's
> Day Contests.

I think of the School Club Roundup and Kid's Day as "operating events" 
rather than real contests.  Almost all school club roundup operations take
place during the K-12 school day, for instance, rather than during a weekend
when most contest efforts (and contesters) get on the air.

The reason that the Collegiate Championship has become popular with college
students is that it involves operating in the premier domestic contest in 
North America - the ARRL November Sweepstakes.  This is a real, competitive
contest, and success comes from learning and applying real contesting
skills.  Plus, it's somewhat more interesting than skipping class so you
can get on the air and talk to a bunch of retired old cranks who want to
tell you about what body part failed them this week...

There is a role for events like Kid's Day and the School Club Roundup,
of course.  For a K-12 student without a ham in the family, it may be 
the best chance at exposure to Amateur Radio.

Personally, I would love to see the Collegiate Championship concept 
adopted by other continents.  Perhaps someone will push the same sort of 
thing for European college clubs, or Japanese college clubs.  

-- 
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Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"      kharker at cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin                   Amateur Radio Callsign: WM5R
Department of the Computer Sciences         President, UT Amateur Radio Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124                         Maintainer of Linux on Laptops
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA            http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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