Teflon doesn’t really run an ATC squadron, he’s got a 1970s ATC themed youth group.
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Many cadets who do sports do more than one, you cannot regard representing at swimming, athletics, football, hockey, rugby or netball especially in combination as a single activity. I don’t know many cadets to do just one sport, remembering the variety of individual parts in athletics and swimming, that are distinct skills…
All cadets do PTS but for some it’s not be all and end all and these make the better NCOs, in my limited experience.
It’s not like sports happens all year round, even if they do 3 sports at Corps level (unlikely) that’s only 12 days in a year of activity. We don’t have weekly training for sports like you would in a proper sports club.
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That’s if sports will continue at Corps level 
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Lots don’t actually happen at Wing Level anymore, things like 11 A-Side Football are generally just trials rather than a Competition as few Squadrons can put a team out using the FA age groups.
As a Sgt who has 90% of the PTS badges, I thought I could offer an insight as to how I view it as a “Sgt who has no particular interest in any one subject”.
With many courses/quals I’ve done recently, it’s more been a recognition that my cadet cadet career is coming to an end shortly, and I want to try everything first. It’s entirely possible for a cadet to realise that a lot sooner (in your case, with a Sgt, I’d imagine they’re late 16, 17+) than myself, as coming out of the lockdown I realised I had 18 months left to do what I want/could out of cadets.
Also, with completing activities to a competent, but not mastered degree (bronze/silver courses), gives enough knowledge to help springboard and coach cadets into those areas. The bulk of what I have done as an NCO in terms of cadet development is pushing them to try courses that they express interest into, giving them a foundational amount of knowledge of the course and pointing them in the right directions for extra information.
I can definitely see how it can be seen as a negative, however post-COVID there will be many cadets like myself who went into lockdown as a 16 year old cadet, missed opportunities, and are now trying to do what they can with the time they have left. Hopefully in your case, the Sgt is at least giving back to the squadron.
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Well said, Sgt
What do you say to a cadet, with no interest in aviation, who wants a valuable place on a gliding scholarship because, “I’ve got one of everything Sir, but not a gliding badge!”
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I’d say there’s no such thing as a gliding badge anymore, it’s a single common badging system for all of the flying syllabus (powered & gliding). If they want a set of wings to complete the set then send them up on an AEF/GIF sortie and get blue ones. With zero interest in aviation they would be unlikely to pass the Wing/Region sift for award of a Gliding Scholarship.
MB
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Dont forget that application for GS needs OCs recommendation, so that would sift out the cadet with no interest.
Looks like the Sergeant in question may need to take a look at themselves and their demeanour - sounds like a deeper rooted issue if they’re actively elbowing younger / more inexperienced cadets out of the pool of choice purely for personal gain.
But as others have said: if the cadet is getting as much out of the corps as possible, it’s definitely not something to be discouraged, and there is definitely no harm in signing up for actively everything they can - most of our NCOs are struggling to attend anything at present due to exams, so an active event attendee, who I’m assuming is willing to teach and dispense their knowledge, is no bad thing.
From an onlooker perspective, it is infuriating: but if it’s an overwhelming issue, surely OC / Trg Off / CWO(s) would weigh in and correct?
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Can’t eat your cake and keep it.
The badge system engenders this collector mentality regardless of personal intrinsic interest in the subject area. I can’t see HQAC etc being interested in the cadet’s interest over the headline statistics. You can see sqn cdrs not bothering too much about whether or not someone is really interested in a an age when flying of any description is like unicorn poo, over the potential for an article.
All the while a culture of quantity over quality persists, this mindset in cadets will not be diminished.
Isn’t trying something - or many things - that you wouldn’t typically consider or have access to kind of part of our purpose for existing?
If you want to either venture or adventure then you need to go to where you haven’t been and do what you haven’t done.
That aside, breadth of experience can be as valuable as depth and if cadets become habitualised to try or learn things outside of their comfort zone I don’t see that as a negative.
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I too think that badge collecting is a good thing. Also, with the new cadets missing out because this Sgt is taking the space, that will all balance out because those new cadets will soon be a senior as that Sgt and be in her position to have that space. So no-one is missing out at the end of the day.
This is an interesting thread looking at the pros and cons, there’s no right or wrong.
But let’s look at this from another way.
What about the staff out there who are ‘course collectors’, goes on courses but then gives absolutely nothing back.
AT, shooting, Leadership courses to give them the tick in the box!!
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So those staff only get it for the shiny certificate and the promotion. But given that it should be clear that they don’t care about using such training, someone should replace them with someone who does care. Or is the org desperate enough to allow everyone in hopes they’ll all do their job.
Similar to cadets. How do you know if you’re going to like something without trying it?
Staff are allowed to enjoy their time in cadets as well, despite that being an unpopular opinion amongst some at HQ…
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Ah! The promotion matrix rears it’s evil head again!! 
… i dont want to sound like a bore…
But isnt ‘badge collecting’… just a cadet making the most of their cadet experience???
Or am i missing something?
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