RYA Wokebomb

Originally posted by DiscoBall Originally posted by davidyacht There appears to be a divide between those who readily volunteer and those that expect everything to be delivered on a plate.  Appears being operative word David - can you furnish any evidence that this is a specifically modern phenomenon and that the 'old days' were measurably better? Are there even enough young people who can afford to live and work in the South Hams now to even make a comparison?

There has been a 15% decrease in levels of volunteering over a decade in the UK according to the ONS

Combined with the increase in population over the same period this means the number of hours  volunteered by each person fell by 21.5%

These stats are not specific to sports clubs......just general "Volunteering" in the UK.

Originally posted by davidyacht There appears to be a divide between those who readily volunteer and those that expect everything to be delivered on a plate.

Appears being operative word David - can you furnish any evidence that this is a specifically modern phenomenon and that the 'old days' were measurably better? Are there even enough young people who can afford to live and work in the South Hams now to even make a comparison?

I would think human nature is such that it is always a small handful of people who do/did most of the work in any organisation, at any point in history.

My experience of membership of a kayak club over several years (members drawn from the same area and comparable membership costs to the sailing club) was that there were plenty of volunteers of all ages, male and female on the comittee and and as coaches. Many of the coaches (often in their 20/30s) had spent significant amounts of money to get their certification to coach...for free. Far bigger involvement of time/money than cutting grass and running races.

At the sailing club it was business at usual - 'young people don't want to volunteer / they are all looking at screens / blah-blah-blah'. To be clear, the club members are individually lovely people, it's just group polarisation: a homogenous group parroting the same evidence-free opinions until they are accepted as 'fact'... 

I also do some fly-fishing, another sport that is traditionally done by well-off white men who were quite happy with its exclusivity, until they realised that soon their numbers will dwindle to the point where they wouldn't be able to pay for their fishing rights. Cue identical (word for word) 'young people today...' posts on fly-fishing forums. Apparently, the rest of society is at fault, but the common denominator is... 

Originally posted by NickM99 I was sorry when Bewl Valley SC folded a couple of years ago but the "offer" from the current commercial owners of the reservoir is interesting.  You can sail, canoe, SUP, swim, row, and fish,  all for separate fees which aren't particularly cheap, and there are loads of other things to amuse families and small children including cycle hire and an aqua park.  There is camping on site.  To race you pay only £20+ more  on top of the other fees to join the BV Sailing Association.  In other words something for all the family and potentially a really good day out without ongoing commitments.  As it is "open to the public" it has that sort of feel to it and you see people from many backgrounds there.  If you were starting out as a sailing/water sports family, why would you join a cliquey sailing club which is focussed on racing if such an alternative was available?

Bewl had it coming frankly, their arrogance and pompous attitude did for them long ago.. hauling windsurfers up before a disciplinery committee for sailing near the moorings, no windsurfing on Sundays, good riddance imv, they'd already lost their Solo fleet for whatever reason, they were exactly why dinghy sailing began to falter in the 21st century.

Edited by iGRF - 06 Apr 21 at 7:03pm

Originally posted by jeffers Originally posted by davidyacht There appears to be a divide between those who readily volunteer and those that expect everything to be delivered on a plate.  We have a boat park for 50 boats which requires grass cutting every four weeks.  We know the 8 or so people who will turn up when the call goes out, several of whom don't even have boats in the park.  Same applies to duties and committees ... same old same old.  I hasten to add that I accept this, but the idea of building a more complex infrastructure that relies on volunteering would be a tricky business, particularly with an ageing demographic (and the volunteers are definitely an ageing demographic). Most volunteer run clubs have a 'Wednesday Club' which is made of of an assortment of retired/semi retired people who like to get together and chat as well as do lots of odd jobs round the place. Ours cut the grass in the club grounds and do most of the weed control in the lake (blue dye and dragging). Our work parties are usually very well attended with the offer of free lunch for all who come. I guess my club is unusual maybe. We still have a very strong membership, full boat park and people who are will to do more than just turn up and sail.

There appears to be a divide between those who readily volunteer and those that expect everything to be delivered on a plate.  We have a boat park for 50 boats which requires grass cutting every four weeks.  We know the 8 or so people who will turn up when the call goes out, several of whom don't even have boats in the park.  Same applies to duties and committees ... same old same old.  I hasten to add that I accept this, but the idea of building a more complex infrastructure that relies on volunteering would be a tricky business, particularly with an ageing demographic (and the volunteers are definitely an ageing demographic).