Young guns that need reloading...
Young guns that need reloading...
“It’s a young man’s game...” a familiar sounding phrase isn’t it? You hear it said a lot about sport, and motorsports are not exempt. RC Racing of course is different, there are not the physical demands of full scale motor racing and the age limitation isn’t so obvious there but some may argue that some of the mental aspects are still similar, at the top end of each discipline, pressure still exists.
Can RC racing be described as a young man’s game? It’s an interesting debate, if we base this solely on success then this is perhaps not the case. Let’s consider for a moment some of the most successful competitors operating in RC today: the first group I would like to consider are the names such as Ellis Stafford, Craig Drescher, and Andy Moore. All of which are over or close to the age of 30 and are still performing at an exceptionally high standard across the range of classes from Off-road to on, all still well capable of making European and World A finals and of course in Andy’s case, winning them!
Conversely, let us consider a slightly different group, consisting of Neil Cragg, Darren Bloomfield, Paul Bradby, Tom Yardy, Lee Martin etc. etc. all still well below the age of 30, nearly all of which much closer to 20 and yet all of these drivers are also capable of “getting ‘er done” at the big events, nationally and internationally.
There is of course a point being made (trust me, it is coming). There is one thing that links both of these groups of drivers mentioned above, despite them being separated by an age variable. This is, they each started their racing careers at an early age, and by early age in this case, I am talking sub 13. Messer’s Drescher and Cragg have set records within the UK for their remarkable achievements at an early age- Craig Drescher was at the tender age of around 9 or 10 when he made his first National A final and Cragg was not much older on his top 10 debut, by their teens they were each winning national events and soon later titles at national and European level. Darren Bloomfield made his first National A final at around the age of 13 and mid teens is a common age for many national A final debutants, particularly in the 1/10 off road category.
The very successful competitors who are able to sustain their pace at a more mature age are often those who “cut their teeth” at a much younger age, of course I am sure throughout the years there have been those who have started much later in life and have sustained strong results, though on average, it is fair to say that the young starters are often the more successful in the long term. In addition, it is also interesting to note that more and more racers who began when they were younger are now returning to racing at a later time in their life, and the return is working out better for some than others.
Let us for a moment turn our attention to the next generation of potential RC racing superstars in the UK... ahh... erm... how about?... can he really be classed as young?... this is where I have a difficulty, which highlights a worrying issue for the future of RC racing. Though as stated, the achievements of Drescher and Cragg pre-teen is remarkable, and of course, natural talent and backing are a crucial factor to achieving such success- the worrying aspect is that their achievements are never likely to be bettered predominantly because there is a distinct lack of drivers competing at a pre-teen age, if any at all, across the board of competition, from club races to regionals, let alone national level.
Now please don’t misunderstand my point, I am fully aware that there are some very promising young drivers around, I was delighted to hear recently of the young man, Ben Jemison from the North East who took his first regional victory at 15. I know of some other young drivers who are coming through the ranks and it’s great to see, the worry is the depth and the shift towards mid teen young guns, from the pre teen and early teen stars. Getting young drivers into the sport is a serious problem, one that is of primary concern to the BRCA who in the past have done all they can to nurture the young talents of the UK.
Let us turn the clock back a decade or so for a moment. In the early to mid 90’s, the BRCA Junior national championships began, with 2 categories, under 13 and under 16. To qualify for this event, as a junior, you had to finish as 1 of the top 5 u13’s or u16’s in your region, sounds tough huh? And there was no leniency, there couldn’t be, the meetings were full, and only those who qualified could attend! From success at these events, often national and international success followed, Taylor, Doughty, Cragg, Bloomfield, Martin, Yardy etc. All building the foundations for further success from successful appearances at such events, from competing at regionals to an event which of course gave some experience to the young stars of the future at what national events were like, the referees, the structure, etc. etc.
Let us turn the clock forward again now to Silverstone 2007- the venue for the modern day junior national championships, and quite a deflating contrast. No longer are there 12 heats, no longer are there A finals with the top 10 cars separated by a hand full of seconds. Instead there is a small gaggle of cars with sometimes 2 laps or more separating the top 10 cars if there are 10 cars at all. Again, do not get me wrong, the winners of each title thoroughly deserved their names on the trophies, they still must put on a show of fast consistent racing and stave off the attentions of the other racers, but the worrying part, is that each winner in the under 13 and under 16 categories beat approximately only 9 and 17 other drivers respectively.
So here we are with the issue of searching for the drivers who are going to be the next generation of British national, European and world’s contenders. Heck, we are striving to find the drivers who will mean that RC racing as an industry and as a sport exists at any level in a decade’s time. “So tell us Voice... what can be done?” I hear you asking. Well, the simple answer is, like the officials at the head of the section are undoubtedly thinking, the answer is unclear. I do not have any official stats to confirm this, but I would strongly believe that the average age of a national A final has increased over the past few years. Undoubtedly as shown, the numbers at the national junior championships are fast diminishing and in a few years time, you wonder if a championship will even exist.
Is RC a young man’s game- not really, it would seem now. As stated, the reason for the shift is unclear, of course expense is a potential limitation, though there is a lack of young racers even at club level so this shouldn’t be a limiting factor. The limitation possibly is the clubs themselves, particularly for the 1/10 off road section as buggy racing is simply not on offer.
There are probably many contributing factors, but what can we, as racers ourselves do about this? Well, in my view, there are many simple things that you could all do, to promote RC racing as the most family friendly, enjoyable hobby around. And it starts, with personal conduct.
I’m talking about how you experienced guys can respond to new racers or potential racers at track side regardless of meeting level. How do you respond when you see a young father and son watching trackside, who may choose to come and look at your pitting table and ooh and ahh at your neatly laid out work station (yeah right!). Do you ignore them, and hope they’ll go away? Do you sit in silence until they venture to ask you something. Or do you say “hello there... would you like a closer look?” and pass your car over? I would doubt it. Do you talk to them about the ins and outs of the hobby, when the next race is on- may be wise to gloss over the costs early on (lol) but do you direct them to the BRCA website, their local shop or even the forums?
The forum of course is another area where conduct is vital... do you offer information useful for beginners, do you show the hobby in a friendly light? Do you sometimes when in public or on the forums, show the overly serious side of the sport, have public spats with your parent/mechanic, with the ref or another racer... all of these factors surely contribute at some level.
Do you also, in addition, have younger relatives who you could perhaps take along to your next regional... let them look at your cars, encourage them to tell their mates at school about this cool sport that goes on IN THEIR AREA, or even on extreme occasions, hand your old and unwanted gear down to them to have a learn with?
OK, ok, I’ve droned on and on, but this is a serious issue for the future of this sport, and for the future of British success in the sport. The kids are the future (was that a song?) and we should try to do all we can to help them progress, some of the things that can be done have been indicated above, and hopefully you will think that these can be put into practice.
In summary, history has indicated that long term success in this sport begins with plying your trade at an early age. In addition, without new blood coming into the sport, there are no future events, no competitors, no officials and in the extreme case, no manufacturers.
There are things we can all do to help this, don’t think it is not your problem... next time a young person comes over at a meeting, or is stood against the catch fencing laughing at the way your car barrel rolls past them or smacks heavily into another, or cries out for “the purple one... go the purple one!” tell them about the fun of racing, you never know, you may just be speaking to the next British, European or World champ.
‘Til the start tone sounds...
RCVoice
Feel free to discuss the issues raised in this blog here or send your questions or topics to Mrs oOple’s PM inbox.
Disclaimer: It should be noted that any views expressed in the RCVoice blog, are purely the views of RCVoice, they are not intended to offend or cause any harm. They are of no association to the oOple owners or the BRCA who of course, if you have a vitally important query with your sport, should be your first point of contact.
“It’s a young man’s game...” a familiar sounding phrase isn’t it? You hear it said a lot about sport, and motorsports are not exempt. RC Racing of course is different, there are not the physical demands of full scale motor racing and the age limitation isn’t so obvious there but some may argue that some of the mental aspects are still similar, at the top end of each discipline, pressure still exists.
Can RC racing be described as a young man’s game? It’s an interesting debate, if we base this solely on success then this is perhaps not the case. Let’s consider for a moment some of the most successful competitors operating in RC today: the first group I would like to consider are the names such as Ellis Stafford, Craig Drescher, and Andy Moore. All of which are over or close to the age of 30 and are still performing at an exceptionally high standard across the range of classes from Off-road to on, all still well capable of making European and World A finals and of course in Andy’s case, winning them!
Conversely, let us consider a slightly different group, consisting of Neil Cragg, Darren Bloomfield, Paul Bradby, Tom Yardy, Lee Martin etc. etc. all still well below the age of 30, nearly all of which much closer to 20 and yet all of these drivers are also capable of “getting ‘er done” at the big events, nationally and internationally.
There is of course a point being made (trust me, it is coming). There is one thing that links both of these groups of drivers mentioned above, despite them being separated by an age variable. This is, they each started their racing careers at an early age, and by early age in this case, I am talking sub 13. Messer’s Drescher and Cragg have set records within the UK for their remarkable achievements at an early age- Craig Drescher was at the tender age of around 9 or 10 when he made his first National A final and Cragg was not much older on his top 10 debut, by their teens they were each winning national events and soon later titles at national and European level. Darren Bloomfield made his first National A final at around the age of 13 and mid teens is a common age for many national A final debutants, particularly in the 1/10 off road category.
The very successful competitors who are able to sustain their pace at a more mature age are often those who “cut their teeth” at a much younger age, of course I am sure throughout the years there have been those who have started much later in life and have sustained strong results, though on average, it is fair to say that the young starters are often the more successful in the long term. In addition, it is also interesting to note that more and more racers who began when they were younger are now returning to racing at a later time in their life, and the return is working out better for some than others.
Let us for a moment turn our attention to the next generation of potential RC racing superstars in the UK... ahh... erm... how about?... can he really be classed as young?... this is where I have a difficulty, which highlights a worrying issue for the future of RC racing. Though as stated, the achievements of Drescher and Cragg pre-teen is remarkable, and of course, natural talent and backing are a crucial factor to achieving such success- the worrying aspect is that their achievements are never likely to be bettered predominantly because there is a distinct lack of drivers competing at a pre-teen age, if any at all, across the board of competition, from club races to regionals, let alone national level.
Now please don’t misunderstand my point, I am fully aware that there are some very promising young drivers around, I was delighted to hear recently of the young man, Ben Jemison from the North East who took his first regional victory at 15. I know of some other young drivers who are coming through the ranks and it’s great to see, the worry is the depth and the shift towards mid teen young guns, from the pre teen and early teen stars. Getting young drivers into the sport is a serious problem, one that is of primary concern to the BRCA who in the past have done all they can to nurture the young talents of the UK.
Let us turn the clock back a decade or so for a moment. In the early to mid 90’s, the BRCA Junior national championships began, with 2 categories, under 13 and under 16. To qualify for this event, as a junior, you had to finish as 1 of the top 5 u13’s or u16’s in your region, sounds tough huh? And there was no leniency, there couldn’t be, the meetings were full, and only those who qualified could attend! From success at these events, often national and international success followed, Taylor, Doughty, Cragg, Bloomfield, Martin, Yardy etc. All building the foundations for further success from successful appearances at such events, from competing at regionals to an event which of course gave some experience to the young stars of the future at what national events were like, the referees, the structure, etc. etc.
Let us turn the clock forward again now to Silverstone 2007- the venue for the modern day junior national championships, and quite a deflating contrast. No longer are there 12 heats, no longer are there A finals with the top 10 cars separated by a hand full of seconds. Instead there is a small gaggle of cars with sometimes 2 laps or more separating the top 10 cars if there are 10 cars at all. Again, do not get me wrong, the winners of each title thoroughly deserved their names on the trophies, they still must put on a show of fast consistent racing and stave off the attentions of the other racers, but the worrying part, is that each winner in the under 13 and under 16 categories beat approximately only 9 and 17 other drivers respectively.
So here we are with the issue of searching for the drivers who are going to be the next generation of British national, European and world’s contenders. Heck, we are striving to find the drivers who will mean that RC racing as an industry and as a sport exists at any level in a decade’s time. “So tell us Voice... what can be done?” I hear you asking. Well, the simple answer is, like the officials at the head of the section are undoubtedly thinking, the answer is unclear. I do not have any official stats to confirm this, but I would strongly believe that the average age of a national A final has increased over the past few years. Undoubtedly as shown, the numbers at the national junior championships are fast diminishing and in a few years time, you wonder if a championship will even exist.
Is RC a young man’s game- not really, it would seem now. As stated, the reason for the shift is unclear, of course expense is a potential limitation, though there is a lack of young racers even at club level so this shouldn’t be a limiting factor. The limitation possibly is the clubs themselves, particularly for the 1/10 off road section as buggy racing is simply not on offer.
There are probably many contributing factors, but what can we, as racers ourselves do about this? Well, in my view, there are many simple things that you could all do, to promote RC racing as the most family friendly, enjoyable hobby around. And it starts, with personal conduct.
I’m talking about how you experienced guys can respond to new racers or potential racers at track side regardless of meeting level. How do you respond when you see a young father and son watching trackside, who may choose to come and look at your pitting table and ooh and ahh at your neatly laid out work station (yeah right!). Do you ignore them, and hope they’ll go away? Do you sit in silence until they venture to ask you something. Or do you say “hello there... would you like a closer look?” and pass your car over? I would doubt it. Do you talk to them about the ins and outs of the hobby, when the next race is on- may be wise to gloss over the costs early on (lol) but do you direct them to the BRCA website, their local shop or even the forums?
The forum of course is another area where conduct is vital... do you offer information useful for beginners, do you show the hobby in a friendly light? Do you sometimes when in public or on the forums, show the overly serious side of the sport, have public spats with your parent/mechanic, with the ref or another racer... all of these factors surely contribute at some level.
Do you also, in addition, have younger relatives who you could perhaps take along to your next regional... let them look at your cars, encourage them to tell their mates at school about this cool sport that goes on IN THEIR AREA, or even on extreme occasions, hand your old and unwanted gear down to them to have a learn with?
OK, ok, I’ve droned on and on, but this is a serious issue for the future of this sport, and for the future of British success in the sport. The kids are the future (was that a song?) and we should try to do all we can to help them progress, some of the things that can be done have been indicated above, and hopefully you will think that these can be put into practice.
In summary, history has indicated that long term success in this sport begins with plying your trade at an early age. In addition, without new blood coming into the sport, there are no future events, no competitors, no officials and in the extreme case, no manufacturers.
There are things we can all do to help this, don’t think it is not your problem... next time a young person comes over at a meeting, or is stood against the catch fencing laughing at the way your car barrel rolls past them or smacks heavily into another, or cries out for “the purple one... go the purple one!” tell them about the fun of racing, you never know, you may just be speaking to the next British, European or World champ.
‘Til the start tone sounds...
RCVoice
Feel free to discuss the issues raised in this blog here or send your questions or topics to Mrs oOple’s PM inbox.
Disclaimer: It should be noted that any views expressed in the RCVoice blog, are purely the views of RCVoice, they are not intended to offend or cause any harm. They are of no association to the oOple owners or the BRCA who of course, if you have a vitally important query with your sport, should be your first point of contact.
Total Comments 8
Comments
-
Very interesting reading!!! It is important to try and get new young drivers. I often talk to new people at my local club, Eden Park, they filter in from the football pitches.
Keep up the good blogs!!!Posted 30-04-2008 at 07:21 AM by David Church 
-
Mt eyes hurt and i think im going to cry. That was alot of reading but very interesting.
APosted 01-05-2008 at 11:19 PM by ashleyb4
-
i remember at are local club we had a club car, you could hire for a days racing, only basic i think it was a mardave but hey it got loads of people racing
Posted 01-05-2008 at 11:36 PM by bigred5765
-
We have a tamiya dirt thrasheras a club car at Oz used to get used a bit but doesnt see the light of day no more
APosted 01-05-2008 at 11:39 PM by ashleyb4
-
When I was a nipper everyone's parents had the Littlewoods catalogue, and it would get borrowed to look at the amazing toys and games section (and other sections
ahem) and the page that always stood out was the tamiya page usually with 3 models from Grasshopper Hornet Falcon Lunchbox Monster Beetle etc. including batteries charger transmitter etc.
My point is at least from people I know this was something everyone saw and knew about as it was the best page in the only toy catalogue widely available even though no one had seen adverts for a model shop everyone soon needed one after the tyres wore out on the pavement. Model shop says come to the car club and next day all the other kids are told as well.
When was the last time you saw a cheap model car with all the bits to run it without specifically looking at model shops webpages?
The only way to attract kids surely is to get adverts for kit and bits combos into the mainstream, where I would say a lot of 30 odd racers like myself first were made aware that you could buy cars that were faster and better than standard plastic toy cars without ever seeing a model shop first.Posted 02-05-2008 at 10:35 PM by killy_321
-
I think as always it comes down to the big £....
There just isnt enough of it in our sport.
How many different "must have's" are their today for young un's.
So long as you had a good pair of trainers when I was a kid you were ok. Sure we had games consoles but now...Ipod, PS3, XBox, Laptop, Computer, Mobile phone..the list is endless. Now you have to have so many things that the cash has to run out somewhere and RC has to compete against that for what the kids and parents money goes on.
All of these serve as distractions from RC too...
Like it or not RC racing IS expensive, even if you do it "on the cheap" like me. So, mummy and daddy are expected to fund regular club racing and then regionals and nationals to get little johnny noticed (providing they are successful) Eventually they may get sponsored and become the next Moore/Spashett etc......What then? Fame, fortune and riches like Footballers and F1 drivers...Dont think so!
So, Rc has to go up against not only all the other distractions little jonny has for a piece of the parents cash but even then, if they are a kid who wants to involved in competitive activity of some form, against sports which carry the allure of fame (and how important is that in this day and age) and huge financial wealth.
It is no wonder RC and the BRCA are finding it difficult to get new talent in......
I just wish I knew what the answer wasPosted 03-05-2008 at 09:13 PM by losidan
-
Well I'm returning to RC after a 20 year break, so at 36 I'm not a young gun (or a gun at all yet actually). My hope is to race at meetings, though I find there is a lot of technicality and procedure to get to grips with. Seeing how I am not at the younger end of the scale, I'd like to think it isn't just a young mans game, and if that seems to be the case, hopefully one day I won't look too out of place!
Posted 05-05-2008 at 02:21 PM by CAClark
-
I've done some statistics with my local clubs member base. Comparing 2007 figures with 1997 figures the average age has gone up 10 years! The biggest group used to be 20-30 year olds, and it's now 30-40 year olds.
Why?
Here's my opinion:
-The parents don't support their kids like in the old days. There's too much going on and too little time. Most don't even drive their kids to the track. With a few exceptions all the successful racers have had full support from their dad all the way.
-Kids have much more "offers" nowadays. And they are used to everything being served on a silver platter. They expect a lot of fun, but don't want to build a car, paint a bodyshell +++. This is why the RTR market has exploded. OTOH this is IMHO not the best way to get hooked on RC. When it's broken it's placed in the garage, and they play with their PlayStation in stead.
-RC has become much less expensive the last years. Still it's WAY too costly for school kids. In the 80s you had 1 car, 1 radio, 1 battery - and you charged it from your dads car battery. That low level of complexity will never return. You gotta have a well paid job. And with more and more education you're normally not working until the age of 24 or something. Or be "sponsored by dad" of course.
-Our parents "grew up sooner", they finished with education in their teens, started working, had kids at 20... We start working mid 20s - and wait with kids... even 30-40 year olds consider themselves kids these days
A solution?
I think we will see a new generation in the next decade or two, when the established racers of todays kids start growing up... I'm sure they will support their kids in any way possible!
P.S. You're never too old for RC! And never too young! You just have to be crazy enough!Posted 17-06-2008 at 11:13 AM by SHY
