Youth on the Air Camp Comes to the Americas
Many of the articles in this 75th anniversary issue reflect on our hobby’s history since 1945. This one provides some balance — looking to our future instead of our past — not only in terms of an upcoming event but also our next generation of amateurs.
It was recently announced that the first Youth on the Air Camp to be held in the Americas is planned for June 21-26, 2020, at the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester, Ohio. Attendance will be open to licensed hams between the ages of 15 and 25 living in North, Central, or South America (see News for more details). We asked project director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, to share with us the story of how it all came together and what the amateur community can do to help support it. –W2VU
Putting together the first camp for young amateur radio operators in the Americas has been no small feat, and the job isn’t over yet. Our work began back in March 2019. As I through which young radio operators are matched with nearby contest stations in order to gain some invaluable experience. On a previous episode, Sterling, along with Sam Rose, KC2LRC, had talked about their experiences in Austria while attending the Youngsters on the Air camp in 2016. They made their intent clear: They wanted to bring a similar YOTA program to the Americas. Despite some enthusiasm upon their return, the plans just hadn’t worked out yet. So after the show, I asked Sterling, “So, what’s the latest on the YOTA Camp?” He informed me that it had stalled once again. There was still some interest, he said, but no one was really able to get a plan together.
