Fox hunting is a sport – and so is the QRQ!

You may find this interesting: just one in five Australians now regularly play competitive sports, down from 27 percent in 2001, the latest sports participation data from Roy Morgan Research shows.

Tennis lost almost a quarter of a million regular players since 2001 (down 35 percent), more than any other competitive sport. Almost 100,000 fewer Australians now play netball regularly (down 24 percent), and 41,000 fewer play cricket (down 10 percent).

Why is it so? There are a number of reasons for the decline – but the research concludes that ‘Australians are losing their competitive spirit when it comes to playing sports. Instead, more of us routinely go cycling or jogging, hiking and bush walking, or head to the gym or yoga class’.

Loss of competitive spirit! Fairly daunting – knowing that healthy competition is actually good for us, our well-being and our spirit.

But did you know that in some countries amateur radio was – and still is – regarded as an actual sport?

From the very early 1920s to 1940s shortwave radio competitions have been held regularly in Great Britain, USA, France and Scandinavian countries, as well as USSR. From fox hunting, to rapid reception competitions, to the establishing of radio links. In 1977 there were 200 military radio contesting clubs in USSR with 800 radio sections and 400,000 radio personnel with 1,000 Masters of Sports – the elite instructors actively participating in International Amateur Radio Union competitions.

Both military and commercial operators regarded amateurs as valuable assets encouraging personal development through competitions.

DX chasing was never an official sport discipline, however there are tens of thousands of amateurs worldwide who take chasing seriously, competing with each other year after year while trying to make as many DX contacts as possible within a specified period of time. And in a way, our own DXer of the Year marathon is a sporting event in itself.

I can think of dozens of reasons why you should join us in 2024, with actually winning the radios being the least important one. If you are a serious chaser then your participation is simply a must. For the rest, this will be the perfect excuse to spend more time enjoying the wonderful hobby of ours, an opportunity to improve our setups, or simply to see how they measure against the rest.

Competitive spirit is what keeps us moving. Competing respectfully but also enthusiastically is something we should embrace and be proud of. If for no other reason but to pass the torch to the next generation of radio enthusiasts.

In that spirit: good luck to all and let the best take the trophy.

To register your interest, go to https://www.dxing.com.au/dxer-of-the-year-2024.html