Where have the young drivers gone?

VincentVisser · #1 02-04-2012

Hello to all.

Let me clarify for you what I mean by this.

We were at the Robin Hood Racing event this Sunday and well myself and a couple of people got chatting about young drivers and how there is a lack of them.

One of the people there has 2 sons but only had 1 there on the day. I had to ask where the other one was because they normally always in a 3 pack group at our club. (father and 2 sons)

He pointed out that his other son is a bit younger then the son racing that day and that because he still brakes things allot with club lvl he wants to keep the costs down, he also pointed out that because none of the younger drivers where his age he felt that other drivers in his class (some adults) will just get angry with him racing slower and might say something to upset the younger boy and make him not want to race again.

He also pointed out that at his age he just wants to race but wants to really just have fun with the car and at completion lvl well it is completion and most fathers become over spenders to give their kids the best kit to get them to win races.

I think here lies the problem. The kit they use.

On the day there where I think I counted only 4 kids under 13, and the rest where well adults with toy cars and we had 1 woman driver.

What if we had a series like the clio cup?

RTR cheap series where kids up to a set age can race each other but the only thing is that it’s down to driver skill and not the car.

The car will be a brushed rtr car and no modifications are allowed. I think one exception would be tires due to surface changes. This will mean that it’s really down to the individual driver and the fact that someone has beaten you is just down to practice and time behind the wheel so to speak.

Now im not saying RTR TA or lossi cars but more the £100 - £150 mark where the cars are cheap to run and even cheaper to fix. It means the costs are down and well fathers that already come there to race their cars might actually bring their sons and daughters (We need more woman drivers) with to actually try it out.

What you think am I just the only one that has noticed this or are there others and if you have any good suggestions please inform me.

Thanks Vince

Dudders · #2 02-04-2012

At Surrey and Hants on Sunday we have a heat for the Novice/Junior's and there were 6 of them, ranging from 6 years to 11 years of age.

Mixture of cars used from Vega, B4.1 RTR, Losi 22... so now real lack of kit. I think we've all gone on the fact that a quality car does have less issues, and when your running two kids AND yourself at a meeting you do not want to be repairing cars!!!

As a father myself and back after a 20 year break I was shocked at the lack of kids, that's why we always run a kids race as a stand alone.

They have zero pressure and crash and bash about like no business. As far as I can recall, only two cars had minor breakages over 4 rounds and 3 legged finals. Most of the cars top end is tweaked down though which helps.

Good luck with trying to get the kids racin'

cjm_2008 · #3 02-04-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by VincentVisser

What if we had a series like the clio cup?

RTR cheap series where kids up to a set age can race each other but the only thing is that it’s down to driver skill and not the car.

The car will be a brushed rtr car and no modifications are allowed. I think one exception would be tires due to surface changes. This will mean that it’s really down to the individual driver and the fact that someone has beaten you is just down to practice and time behind the wheel so to speak.

makes a lot of sense, and is something I've often banged on about when I was more active at club level.

one of most amazing things about the tamiya eurocup (especially the m-chassis and tl-01 chassis classes) was how close the competition was. those were the days!

Big G · #4 02-04-2012

we only have 1 under 16 at our club. its a real shame since we hold the club nights at the local high school and no one goes to that school

When I was 11-16 I think there were 8 or so from the school racing.

VincentVisser · #5 02-04-2012

Clubs need to invest a bit to get more younger drivers there...

If you have a club buy 4 cheap cars and get people to bring there kids with to give it a go. yes they will break something but its a quick fix. Plus if you have a fathers and kids day you can have the dads vs the kids with the same kit and you might find that dad and son go and buy the same car to have fun and join the club.

I mean yes it might be a bit expensive for the club but have a open day where people can come try the car for a 5min heat for like a £5 or £10 and you cover your cost for the cars plus you get people to actually see that it is not that expensive to buy and run a £100 RTR car.

I also blame sponsors and Car manufacturers for the same reason. I mean someone like annsman that has a car for £100 should donate cars to the clubs and get them to have a annsman cup or something like that... I mean if you have driven with the car you will want the same car when you go buy one so not only are they making there money back they actually investing in the future racers.

Stuweatherman · #6 02-04-2012

What you'll find is that a lot of the dad's don't have time to take their kids to a track. And consider the cost of everything its cheaper to buy them GT5 or Forza for the console they already have than to buy couple of hundred pounds worth of rc stuff and spend £5 a week to go racing.

Also we see it in the shop a lot that they don't want to invest too much in it as a lot of kids nowadays seem very fickle and loose interest in something at the drop of a hat!!

Yes rtr kits have come a long way but its the use it now mentality that has ruined a lot of it as the passion to build something and use it has gone. So when it breaks chuck it in the cupboard and move on rather than fix it themselves.

eyeayen · #7 02-04-2012

I think Stu's comments above are quite valid about games consoles being what kids are really into, they can play on line, chat to their friends, do whatever with out the parents having to leave the house and actually take them anywhere.

When I was younger I got into cars because my mates brother had them, loads of us were into them at school, what do they talk about in the playground now though ? Xbox and how to complet a level on a game...

If shops or clubs could go to schools and get the kids interests with demo's that would help. I think the manufacturers need to take note though, I've got back into this now because I can afford it but if I hadn't done it when I was younger I probably wouldn't be doing it now. Everything is SO expensive now though.

The clio cup series idea is a good one. One make series, cheap speedo ( what's the cheapest brushless set up ? ) and a basic chassis, I'd like to do that myself just for the cheapness. I've been looking around and a lot of people you ask advice from seem to just bang on about how much they've spent as opposed to telling you how you can start cheaply.

westyguesty · #8 02-04-2012

Same problem went I went to Kidderminster event the other weekend, only a couple of kids, think 9 and 12 were the youngest.

I'm not sure rtr is that good long term, unless they have a decent model shop or get to know people at a local track who can help quickly. If you build it your self (or with the help of dad

) you will have some idea on how to fix it. There are probably lots of people who buy rtr, have a breakage, then they just sit in a box, never to be used again. I do like the idea of a one make series, makes good sense.

Maybe a motor limit to keep it a bit more consistent, but to be honest if i put a 6.5t in my sons car he would be slower round the track than with a 17.5t. Not sure how many weeks most clubs run leagues over, but 5 or 6 tops for juniors would be good, with certificates for all, and small medals etc for top 3.

My lads only six and another problem he has is non of the clubs run weekends, and finishing at 10 on week nights is too late. Going to take him to a few over the summer months to get him some practice.

Paul str · #9 02-04-2012

I haven't been racing for 24 years but as a kid I went racing with my grandad. This Sunday me and my grandson went racing at bury buggy club, there were a few kids there and it was a really friendly place, he is now hooked and this is partly due to the warm welcome we received

we are now planing on going ever week

qatmix · #10 02-04-2012

The local onroad clubs all seem to have a good amount of young drivers. However they do focus on skill not balls out speed so there is a more gentle introduction to rc racing. Most importantly it depends on the clubs attitude. Kids need to come first, anyone that doesn't like it needs to put up with it and make do or leave, you only need a couple of arseholes mouthing off to marshals to put most kids off.

terry.sc · #11 03-04-2012

There are two points that have to be addressed to get more kids into the hobby. We are always going to be competing with video games, something we never had during r/c cars heyday in the 80s.

First you've got to get them to know about r/c racing in the first place. Not easy to do, but having spent last weekend hiring r/c cars out at a local classic car show there is plenty of interest from kids wanting to have a go. To me that is the hardest part, getting them to the club in the first place. Once they have seen what racing is all about and that most importantly club racing is fun and not serious then they usually want to start up with whatever they have.

Once you've got them interested you've then got to do everything to get them racing, just getting them running in the first place with whatever they have is a start, whether they are slow or not BRCA legal is irrelevant.
We always run a novice heat with everything that isn't fast enough to run with the others all mixed together, the last thing you want is some idiot who isn't capable of avoiding a car in front of him shouting because the kid he just crashed into isn't going as fast as the others.
Then help the kids and treat them the same as your adult mates. Don't hang around in your own little clique but get to know the kids and help them out. Charge their batteries, help them sort out their handling problems, give them spare parts when they break their cars. All gets them involved with the club and keeps them coming back. Finally if anyone doesn't respect the kids tell them to go race somewhere else.

We keep things fun and just like Bury the number one priority is enjoying yourself, not race results. Amazingly we also have plenty of kids who race regularly. Show them a club made up of serious hard racers with high end cars and they won't be coming back.

sosidge · #12 03-04-2012

Some good stuff already in this thread.

At our local club (Chippenham - www.cmcc.org.uk) we happen to have a lot of juniors coming in to the club at the moment. We must be doing something right, and it is things that all clubs should be doing.

We have a club car (Tamiya TT-01) that has a junior using it most weeks, and a few of those juniors have gone on to buy their own cars
We don't go around telling people they need the best of everything to compete. In fact we mostly suggest a TT-01, Schumacher Mi1 or Tamiya Mini for people to get started with.
We suggest the £10 Saturn 20 motor for newcomers to touring and it is also our spec motor in Minis - on our small club track, the Saturn 20 is barely any slower than the 13.5 "blinky" cars, so the low-budget racers don't get the impression that they need to upgrade to the fastest of everything to compete
We have just been at the South West Model Show where we put on a racing demonstration (which usually gets a few spectators). This year some club members donated their old Minis for "Have-a-go" sessions which had a HUGE amount of interest, mostly from younger drivers, I'll wager there were 40 or 50 people having a go on the Sunday.
We have the support of a local shop (MMR) who are trackside most weeks.
The more juniors we get, the more word-of-mouth they spread - quite a few of them have brought their friends along, and then their friends have started racing as well. We also have a few father-and-son racers. Mothers and daughters are also welcome!

It may seem like hard work for clubs to attract members, and it may seem like there are no rewards at times, but basically you need to keep plugging away.

Keep a cheap/simple class of racing on the rulebook. Avoid elitism.
Have a club car at the track every week. I've seen club cars mysteriously become "personal" cars after they haven't been used for a while - don't let that happen.
Promote the club. Get on the web, get posters in the shops, get out to the local shows, get in the press. If people don't know about you, they will never come.

If anything it is easier to encourage new racers in off-road right now. There are a lot more electric off-roaders available for reasonable money, and a lot of the intimidatingly expensive "pit-bling" that you would see at a TC meeting is unnecessary. A new racer with a B4.1 RTR or a short-course RTR is only a set of tyres and springs away from having a car quick enough for the sharp-end of the club A-final (actually that is more or less the case with on-road too, but it doesn't look like that when everyone is running tyre warmers and has their laptop on the table).

It's tough to sell RC to a generation that is used to computer games. RC is much harder to master, but the satisfaction of doing well is so much greater. It's a real-life hobby, only constrained by your own talents, not by the programmer's code.

Sportp4ck · #13 03-04-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by terry.sc

There are two points that have to be addressed to get more kids into the hobby. We are always going to be competing with video games, something we never had during r/c cars heyday in the 80s.

First you've got to get them to know about r/c racing in the first place. Not easy to do, but having spent last weekend hiring r/c cars out at a local classic car show there is plenty of interest from kids wanting to have a go. To me that is the hardest part, getting them to the club in the first place. Once they have seen what racing is all about and that most importantly club racing is fun and not serious then they usually want to start up with whatever they have.

Once you've got them interested you've then got to do everything to get them racing, just getting them running in the first place with whatever they have is a start, whether they are slow or not BRCA legal is irrelevant.
We always run a novice heat with everything that isn't fast enough to run with the others all mixed together, the last thing you want is some idiot who isn't capable of avoiding a car in front of him shouting because the kid he just crashed into isn't going as fast as the others.
Then help the kids and treat them the same as your adult mates. Don't hang around in your own little clique but get to know the kids and help them out. Charge their batteries, help them sort out their handling problems, give them spare parts when they break their cars. All gets them involved with the club and keeps them coming back. Finally if anyone doesn't respect the kids tell them to go race somewhere else.

We keep things fun and just like Bury the number one priority is enjoying yourself, not race results. Amazingly we also have plenty of kids who race regularly. Show them a club made up of serious hard racers with high end cars and they won't be coming back.

Im 15 years old and always wanted to race I have a few rcs about 8 scx10, sprint2 etc etc, So I got a saturday job £35 every weekend valeting high performace cars, like swindon towns fc cars and other very expensise cars it not easy, 7am to 5pm. I buy abit every weekend like the tyre warmers one weekend then the set up board trailing for second hand deals including the car , Dad has snap on account so thats the tools covered

. Its just got soo expensize these days guuna have to miss the first and second race, Because I ve just found out the local club Cotswold, Don`t do transponder hire so that will be another thing to get!

Sportp4ck · #14 03-04-2012

I race a HB cyclone wce I sometimes look at it and think its never ending transponder £55, 7.4 servo £75 tyres £20 etc etc thats why people arnt taking part well I cant for the first few,My mate went to go and race his hb lighting pro buggy at the local, and he was going to need £500 for the equiment for a year, then its the engine and car isnt up to the lastest model so he just pulled out of it thats why im wondering now is hb cyclone moore speed going to be competive, though is it down to your driving.

sosidge · #15 03-04-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportp4ck

Im 15 years old and always wanted to race I have a few rcs about 8 scx10, sprint2 etc etc, So I got a saturday job £35 every weekend valeting high performace cars, like swindon towns fc cars and other very expensise cars it not easy, 7am to 5pm. I buy abit every weekend like the tyre warmers one weekend then the set up board trailing for second hand deals including the car , Dad has snap on account so thats the tools covered

. Its just got soo expensize these days guuna have to miss the first and second race, Because I ve just found out the local club Cotswold, Don`t do transponder hire so that will be another thing to get!

The thing is, you don't need those things to race.

Tyre warmers and set-up boards are a long-way down the list (actually a flat board is useful but it doesn't have to have an RC manufacturers name pasted on it). This is a big problem in on-road, people see these things in the pits and assume they need them. You don't.

All you need is a well-built car (it doesn't have to be an expensive one), the right motor for the class, and the right tyres for the track.

If you have spent the pocket-money you should have been using for racing on the "bling", then that is a terrible waste. Much better to be at the track than scouring eBay for stuff you don't actually need.

I race at Cotswold fairly regularly, and until now I haven't used tyre warmers. I put my 4-year-old car in the A-final of the BTCC in 13.5 last year, which is a pretty competitive field. I used one set of tyres for the whole outdoor season last year (half-a-dozen race meetings), one LiPo (which lasted me 2-and-a-half years before giving up) and the same 13.5 motor (which is still going strong after nearly 3 years).

RC racing does not have to be expensive. This is the message we need to try hard to get across - the "bling" is a personal preference, it doesn't actually make that much difference to your laptimes.

PS I didn't realise that Cotswold didn't have any "club" transponders. That is a shame, but I am sure they will still allow you to race.