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

To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] K5GO speaks out for youth in contesting
From: James Wilson <jbwilson@me.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2016 12:42:46 -0500
List-post: <cq-contest@contesting.com">mailto:cq-contest@contesting.com>
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
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