[CQ-Contest] K5GO speaks out for youth in contesting

[James Wilson]

I’ve watched with great interest this thread of discussion. It would be nice to actually have the demographic data going back some years to consider the changes in age groups that are both licensed and active. That might lend some more facts to the discussion. 

It is my belief that amateur radio needs to plant seeds and let them grow over time. That begins with club stations, as noted here, and a few other programs. The one I’m involved in is amateur radio within the Scouting movement. Our big event is Jamboree on the Air, now in it’s 59th year, it happens the third weekend in October. You can find the World Scouting report for 2015 at http://jotajoti.info/2015-jota-joti-highlights/  1 million active Scouts and Guides across 151 countries and nearly 18,000 stations.

You can also get a glimpse of USA activity at http://www.k2bsa.net/jota-usa-reports/ It could do with a bit more growth in participation. The chart I really like is of those who’ve earned the Radio Merit Badge at http://www.k2bsa.net/radio-merit-badge/  Roughly 7,000 earn the badge each year. This is up from 2,000 per year in the 1950s to 1970s and 1,000 per year in the 1980s. This means that a fair number are being introduced to amateur radio at a serious level of effort.

Boy Scouts of America also has a patch for uniform wear for any Scout that has a ham license http://www.k2bsa.net/operator-rating/ Roughly 1,700 of those patches were sold in 2015. Not sure they all earned licenses during 2015. They may have just learned of this new patch. The Morse Code patch http://www.k2bsa.net/morse-code/ started out at 1,200 per year but is now at 360 per year.

I will also note that I did a back of the envelope review of the WRTC participants and their bios. Many noted that they got their start in Scouting.

I will further note that many are introduced to amateur radio at a young age. Some get active at a young age. Most close down the station and go to college, followed by career, and family. It’s only at a later date that they come back to the hobby as they have time. 

I suggest planting seeds as we can. But expect that the germination period takes quite some time before that first shoot comes up. And, even then it may not ever grow into contesting. After all, that’s the elite of our hobby… 

My thoughts for this discussion. 

73, Jim Wilson, K5ND