MAAQ

The next Instructors course will be held over the weekend of 16th & 17th June with the theory segment each morning at the Beenleigh Event Centre corner of Crete and Kent street Beenleigh and the after noon practical sessions at the LARCS field Logan. The course will be run by the NSW SFI ably assisted by the Chairman of the Helicopter Sub-Committee and MAAQ SFI. Clubs have been notified to advise the the State SFI the details of people wishing to attend the course. There is no cost to either the club concerned or participants in the course.

The MAAA has failed yet again to be recognised as a sport by the Australian Sports Commission and will now be some time before another attempt is made. This bid failed as did last years bid principally because the Commission could not accept that we are a sport because we do not engage in physical activities nor are we accepted by the wider community as a sport.

This is a blow to Qld as we have also been trying for recognition in this State and makes any further attempts seem fruitless for the same reason as explained above. The definition of sport is “a human activity engaging in physical activity” It would appear that we are people engaging in an activity for pleasure rather than competition although many in the Control Line fraternity as well as some other disciplines would strongly disagree.

This is not all bad as States like WA have been getting rather large Community grants that they would otherwise not receive if they were a sport. The way forward could be to strive for better recognition by the public to lift our profile and at the same time concentrate on developing new competition ideas to engage more of our members, after 60 or more years of model flying perhaps it is time to re-examine our objectives as there are very few young members interested in the hobby or the sporting aspect of it.

Click on this link for the MAAA response. MAAA responds to claims MOP ‘duds rural communities’