[CQ-Contest] Will there be anyone to work in 20 years?

[Lloyd Cabral]

Shane,

     You bring up a good point that really needs to be addressed.    I've often wondered 

why more of us don't reach out to neighborhood kids down the street, the children 

of friends and relatives, kids from their churches, local scout troops, etc.      I can tell 

you from experience (Kid's Day) that it's not that easy to get kids to give up their other

activities to come sit in front of a radio.     That said, I think we can all do better.     

      Besides reaching out to young folks in your local community, how about some of the

contest community hosting a "Youth Team Contest.    Sort of a Farm Team feeder approach.  

Like a Kids Day but competitive in nature with real-time scoring so they could follow along.    

Kids love to play team sports.     Once you find a couple of kids who are interested, ask 

them to help find their teammates.     

      I'd like to see the major contest sponsors pick up the ball and try something.    Trying 

anything is better than what we're doing now.    A "Youth Team Contest" would have to be

short in duration and would hopefully provide a training ground for future mainstream ops.    

Yes, they would be SSB to start but after an introduction to the sport, there would hopefully 

be some crossover to CW and other modes.   

      We've got to try something folks...and soon!!!     

 

                                  73 & Aloha,

                                Lloyd   KH6LC

 

           *********************************  

 
 Fellow contesters,
   We have a much bigger problem than the top 5 topics discussed on this
 reflector ad nauseam. 
 
 Open the CQWW presentation Randy presented during Dayton this year:
 
 http://cqww.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/CQ-WW-for-Dayton-Contest-Forum-2013.pdf
 
 Go to slide 15. Look at the data in the first 3 columns. The future does
 not look good for this sport unless we find a way to attract more youth to
 ham radio and contesting, especially in the US.
 
Shane  K1ZR