[CQ-Contest] How did these guys get to be so good?

[Jim Idelson]

Today KB1ELV is coming over to help me with a tower project. Chris is going 
into 8th grade this year. He can't drive. He makes just enough money to support 
an 8th grade life. He's climbing the amateur radio license path as fast as he 
can. He just came home from the national scouting jamboree. He wants to do 
contesting. He has a small station at home - an older rig and a couple of 
wires. He thinks my station is really cool. He wants to learn everything he 
can. But, who's to take the lead in this mentoring relationship?

Although he'd like to, he knows he can't call me day after day and ask for help 
- to come over and work on the station, to get into a contest from here, to ask 
for help with his own station. A good student needs to reach out, but within 
reasonable limits of common courtesy and respect, reaching out must be 
controlled. On the other hand, a mentor who also reaches out and makes it clear 
that the door is wide open for the student to enter anytime, is fulfilling a 
critical and necessary part of the relationship. This is how the ideal balance 
of interaction between student and mentor is achieved.

In YCCC we try to focus on outreach. We run Contest Universities a few times a 
year. We have had a one-on-one mentoring program. New members get a brochure 
inviting them to get involved as student or mentor [or both]. We invite anyone 
- high, low or no-scorer - to join our club. Our only requirements are that our 
members have an interest in contesting.

So, my point is that recruiting, mentoring, training are all two-way streets. 
Success requires active participation on both sides of the equation. Today, 
though, the number of potential contesters [particularly young ones] looking 
for help is pretty small. The burden of recruitment and generating interest is 
tipped towards the experienced and motivated contester community. We need to do 
as much recruitment and advertising as possible to get those numbers in better 
balance.

73,

Jim K1IR


--
CQ-Contest on WWW: http://lists.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST at contesting.com