[CQ-Contest] Young Contesters, Unite!

[Tom Frenaye]

At 06:56 PM 12/15/2005, Dan Craig N6MJ wrote:
>I was in the same shoes for the last WRTC.  I was only 21, still going 
>to school, just working part time, and didnt have the money to afford 
>the trip to OH.  Tree, N6TR, was nice enough to set up a fund to help 
>out any "young contesters" that were going to WRTC.  If it wasnt for the 
>fund, I would have had a very hard time affording the trip.
>
>Maybe we need to setup another fund, and open it up for any young 
>contesters to use.  I am a member of World Wide Young Contesters, and 
>there are several members that have the skills to compete at WRTC, but 
>they cant afford the trip to PY.


The current fund is administered by the ARRL Foundation and is intended for a USA competitor:

>The WRTC USA Youth Fund
>(Approved:  2001)
>   
>Purpose: To defray the travel expenses for young USA hams who will be participating in the World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC). 
>
> 
>Terms of Reference
> 
>1)  The name of the fund will be the WRTC USA Youth Fund
> 
>2) Reimbursement of travel expenses up to $1000
>
>3) Eligibility
>    a) Must be a US citizen
>    b) Must be age 25 or less at the time of the WRTC event
>    c) Must have been selected as a competitor for the WRTC event
>
>4) If insufficient funds are available, the funds will be evenly proportioned between eligible candidates
>
>5) If any funds are left over, they will be made available for the next WRTC event
>
>6) The ARRL Foundation will be the fund administrators.
>
>7) The Boring ARC will verify eligibility and request fund disbursements.

This would be a good time to contribute to the WRTC fund to insure that $1000 is available to a young USA contester who qualifies for WRTC-06 in Barzil.    (send via ARRL Foundation, 225 Main Street, Newington CT 06111...)

It would also be possible to set up a fund intended for a young ham or hams outside of the USA - it would require some people to step forward to make sure there is money available.  (contact me - or ARRL Foundation secretary Mary Hobart, K1MMH at k1mmh at arrl.org)

Thanks to Ward/N0AX for focusing attention on getting young contesters involved in WRTC.    Nothing would be better than having all USA and  world teams of competitors under age 25.     Twenty five years ago I used to think that no one over 30 could win a DX contest.  Then I turned 30 and so did almost everyone else...

                         -- Tom

PS: Note that the team of N6MJ/N2NL came in fourth at WRTC 2002.   I suspect they've improved.
 

=====
e-mail: k1ki at arrl.org      President, ARRL Foundation      http://www.arrl.org/arrlf/
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444