[CQ-Contest] Pay to Play

[Jim Idelson]

I wish it weren't so.

Amateur sailors, golfers, fisherman, runners, card players, chess players, 
Scrabble [tm] players and those involved in so many more competitive avocations 
frequently pay a reasonable fee to cover administration of their events. I'm 
sure those fees are an impediment to some, but there are still enough players 
left to keep those events fully subscribed and competitive.

It's too bad that ham radio contests don't draw really big interest in the 
first place. This is evidenced by the smallish numbers of competitors in each 
category of competition. It's also too bad that so many of those who are 
involved in ham radio contesting don't have enough desire/motivation/drive to 
overcome a justifiable entry fee. Given this situation, I feel that this 
approach which works so well in other areas of amateur competition would be a 
dismal failure in ham radio contesting.

I wish it weren't so.

73,

Jim Idelson K1IR
email    k1ir at designet.com
web    http://www.k1ir.com