Tim Duffy, K3LR, Chief Executive Officer of DX Engineering, is once again giving some talented young Hams the opportunity of a lifetime in a high-profile contest.
Seven youth from five countries and three continents will meet this May at superstation K3LR in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, to compete for 48 hours in the CQ WPX CW contest in hopes of contending for a top finish, inspiring more youth radio sport events, and ultimately bringing down the average age of today’s contester. The teens and early-20-somethings who make up Team Exuberance CW are already accomplished contesters with many individual victories. Team members are:
- David Samu, VE7DZO
- Marty Sullaway, NN1C
- Bruce Yang, KN8U
- Tomi Varro, HA8RT
- Philipp Springer, DK6SP
- Mathias Acevedo Von Frey, CE2LR
- Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO
Team Exuberance members were handpicked for this contest and are all highly skilled and experienced CW operators, especially considering some of them are still in high school. Several of them were WRTC 2018 competitors. Tomi, HA8RT, age 21 from Hungary, was the 2014 HST champion. Georgia Tech student Bruce, KN8U, age 21, was the World Rookie champion for the CQ WPX CW 2019 contest.
Last year, the first Team Exuberance competed at K3LR in CQ WPX SSB. This entirely youth-driven and organized endeavor was the brainchild of Violetta Latham, KK8AT. The team won the Multi-2 category for North America but more importantly brought attention to the small but growing sect of radio sport enthusiasts under the age of 25.
The name Team Exuberance was gleaned from the saying, “Old age and treachery will always beat out youth and exuberance.” By winning the Multi-2 category for North America with a score of 22 million points and 5,700 QSOs, the team did indeed show that there is a next generation of top contesters. All members can copy CW at 50-plus WPM. Read about their past success here.
Prior to the contest, the team will be working on raising money and publicity. Currently, there is a GoFundMe page set up to cover team travel expenses.
“We hope TE CW will encourage other youth-driven events and attract more youth into radio sport,” Bryant, KG5HVO, said.
You can visit their GoFundMe page. Any excess funds will be donated to the David Kalter Youth DX Adventure.
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