2025 Junior Program Update

In a recent conversation, SSA vice chair, Geoff Weck provided an update on the Junior Committee’s grant and scholarship program.

As with many other activities, the program slowed down during the COVID crisis. But over the past few years, it has started to gain momentum.

The SSA has allocated $30,000 for 2025, and so far, three camps have been funded and completed specifically for this purpose.

Hood River Soaring conducted a cross-country camp in Ephrata, Washington. The camp was targeted towards more advanced juniors. With five high-performance, two-seat gliders available, junior pilots had the opportunity to build valuable experience flying with mentors.

The Greater Houston Soaring Association conducted two training camps in place of a CAP encampment that used to be held in Waller, Texas. The first camp was oriented towards basic training for all levels of participants. The second was focused on cross-country training for more skilled juniors.

There were several other camps hosted by clubs not directly funded by the SSA. These include those at Harris Hill Soaring, Caesar Creek Soaring Club, Sandhill Soaring club as well as one by the Soaring Flight Education Association.

It should be noted that the SSA offers individual juniors up to $500 in grants to cover expenses related to participation. So far this year, 20 grants have been awarded to individual juniors.

The future of soaring is in our youth. And the SSA has provided nearly $90,000 in scholarships to deserving juniors in 2025. There were over 115 applications and of these 60 were selected to participate in the program.

There are a variety of junior scholarships available – all of which are slightly different. These range from $750 for “discover soaring” scholarships to other grants with larger award amounts.

When it comes to awarding scholarships, a variety of factors come into play. A legitimate interest in soaring – goals and aspirations – experience levels – where applicants are in their training. All of these are carefully considered in the selection process.

Essay questions are used to get a deeper understanding of an applicant’s passion, goals, and commitment to soaring. While basic information like age and location provides a snapshot of a candidate, the essays provide a deeper insight into their character and motivations.

The selection committee is also careful to maintain a geographical dispersion when it comes to awards to spread out the benefits of the program to a wider spectrum of participants.

It is worth mentioning that a major consideration in junior flying is the role of parents. Involving parents is crucial for the success of junior flying programs because their support is often the deciding factor in a young person’s continued participation.

Although the program has gained significant momentum and is getting results, there are still obstacles to overcome.

A common problem is that new initiatives lack follow-through. The sustainability of a program depends on volunteer efforts. It is the availability and continued engagement of these volunteer personnel that determines a program’s overall success.

As always, there remains the issue of funding. The program relies on financial contributions to operate and expand. More funding would allow the program to offer more grants and scholarships, reach a larger number of junior pilots, and potentially reduce or eliminate participation fees, making soaring more accessible to a wider range of young people.