Re thread title as a whole; yes.
I speak from my own experience, as well as that of many other cadets who were either my peers, or are now under my charge.
Let’s be honest, we know the stereotype of air cadets. While I acknowledge that it doesn’t apply to all, of course, there is still a hefty number of cadets for whom the geek / nerd / swot / academic label does apply. These kids typically don’t do well at sports. They’re outclassed at school by the sporty kids, the ones who’ve been playing whatever sport since they could walk.
Our kids come to the sports later, in their teens, by which point they can’t catch up with their school peers.
Of course they’re not going to join external clubs, because why would they want to be embarrassed like that??!
So we get a group of kids who, actually, come to like sports, but in a slightly more controlled atmosphere, against like minded people. The competition does them wonders, they build confidence, build ability, and then when they’re ready, take it external and build on from it.
If I hadn’t won a couple of medals at Wing Athletics, I wouldn’t have put myself forward for school sports days, I wouldn’t have enjoyed sports to the point I proactively joined clubs at uni, and I wouldn’t have built up my fitness for joining the UAS and then joining the RAF proper. But it’s not even about the point that I won something. By being in a team that had my back I had confidence to try. And I enjoyed it. I wanted to do more.
Anyone who says air cadets sport isn’t worth the time doesn’t truly understand what we’re trying to do here.
