JoeyGlide 2025 celebrated 20 years of Junior Gliding in Australia by returning to Narromine for the Junior National Championships and National Junior Coaching Program.
The view from Charlie Abercrombie's glider.
James Nugent
Competition Director
JoeyGlide 2025 celebrated 20 years of Junior Gliding in Australia by returning to Narromine for the Junior National Championships and National Junior Coaching Program. Entries were received from almost all regions of Gliding Australia, bar one, with a genuinely impressive level of talent and diversity in both the Competition and the Coaching program. A total of 19 junior participants flew in excess of 16,000km, with the highest number of female participants ever seen.
Thanks to the contributions from parents, visitors, coaches, general supporters of junior gliding, and the organising team, the total attendance at JoeyGlide 2025 reached over 70 people, making this one of the biggest events on the Gliding Australia calendar at present.
The re-development of the Australian Junior Gliding community following the pandemic has been welcomed by the long-time supporters of Junior Gliding, including myself. Across the country, clubs and regions are doing good work in nurturing junior talent. The Junior Committee also deserves praise for its dedication and resilience in rebuilding events and increasing participation.
Kira Mack in the front with coach Toby Freeland.
This development of Australia’s junior talent is timely. In January 2029, Australia will play host to the 14th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships at Lake Keepit. Preparations for this world-class event are already underway. Since the bid was awarded, a dozen (and counting) junior pilots from across the country have started preparing for their shot at representing their country on home soil. JoeyGlide will likely see participation continue to increase in the lead up to the 2029 Championships.
When you consider that JoeyGlide is a gathering of like-minded, friendly 15 to 25 year olds from all across the country, coming together to compete with their friends and receive world-class coaching, it’s a good place to be as a junior glider pilot.
I would like to give a big thank you to the JoeyGlide class of 2025 for being such a pleasure to work with. All participants, parents, friends and mentors really got into the JoeyGlide spirit and all played a role in creating such an enjoyable, rewarding and safe event for all.
Having been involved in the Australian Junior Gliding community for 15 years, I believe the current group would have to be among the most respectful and capable juniors I have seen. Kudos to the clubs across the country who have nurtured this generation through their training systems. It does make it easy to commit time and effort when the reward is watching the rapid development of our home-grown talent.
Thank you also to the ever-professional coaching team of Matt Atkinson, Mike Durrant, Dan Summers, Andrew Edwards and Toby Freeland (GBR) for their dedication to the craft and thank you to the organising team of Beryl and Arnie Hartley, Neil Campbell, Matt Scutter and Lumpy Paterson for their efforts.
To anyone thinking of getting involved in JoeyGlide next year, I am sure the Junior Committee and the broader group would make you most welcome. The event will be hosted at my home club, the Gliding Club of Victoria, and I am happy to have been invited on to the organising team once more. So come along and join in the adventure, the challenge and the fun!
Charlie Abercrombie
Charlie Abercrombie
My experience of participating in JoeyGlide’s Coaching program was one of the best flying experiences I have ever had. The group of people involved with both the competition and the coaching were both very kind and ready to listen to all you had to say. Everyone was very down-to-earth, and it was great to be a part of such a large group of young people that all had the same interest as me.
As a 15 year old kid, I had no idea what to expect, but after the first day I was already buzzing with excitement and ready to see what JoeyGlide had to offer. Seeing such a large amount of teamwork from all the competitors was inspiring. Instead of everyone keeping to themselves, everyone helped each other out, all conversing with one another and helping to form great friendships.
I learned so much through my time being coached that I went from achieving my first ever cross country flight at the start of the week, to completing my Silver C in a Discus at the end of the week. The coaches were all fantastic and had tremendous experience and different techniques to pass down in all sorts of weather conditions.
The food, accommodation and people involved with setting up the event, operations and cooking were all fantastic as well. There was even an aerobatics display on the rest day with Marek Vesely, the six time world aerobatic champion, which were some of the best aerobatics I have ever seen.
So many achievements and life long memories were packed into that short week that if I were to write them all down, this article would be at least 1,000 words long. So, if you are someone looking to join in, then don't hesitate. JoeyGlide was one of the BEST weeks of my life.
Leonard Freitag in the front and coach Daniel Summers in the back ready to launch.
Aidan Curtis flew a Standard Libelle.
Amelia Steadman
My experience was incredible. It went beyond just flying. JoeyGlide was an opportunity to immerse myself in the gliding community, refine my skills, and grow as both a pilot and a person. The education and coaching were second to none, with highly experienced mentors sharing not just technical knowledge but their passion for aviation.
I gained countless new experiences, including my first cross country flights, advanced thermalling, longer flights and outlanding experience. These challenges pushed me to become more confident and capable in the cockpit. Adding hours of flight time to my logbook and flying multiple types of gliders also deepened my understanding of the sport.
JoeyGlide introduced me to a network of like-minded individuals, from mentors to friends. Whether we were learning together, encouraging each other, or sharing stories after a long day, the sense of community was amazing. By the end of the week, I felt not only more skilled but more inspired to continue pursuing my passion for aviation.
I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who attended, as well as the organisers who made it all possible. JoeyGlide is an experience I’ll never forget, and I hope to return in the future to keep building on everything I learned and achieved. This program wasn’t just about flying. It was about growth, connection, and setting new milestones in my gliding journey.
Charlie McKay in the front with coach Andrew Edwards in the back.
Ethan Blunt
Joeyglide 2025 took place at Narromine again this year, bringing together keen pilots from all around Australia. With a wide range of weather conditions this year, it was a great opportunity for everyone to test and extend their abilities across the board.
With Joeyglide being my first official competition, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Thankfully, with the help from Mum, Dad, Liam, Richard and Jacob we were able to efficiently make it up to Narromine and get the glider rigged and prepared for the practice day.
This competition offered a wide range of weather, from 8,000ft cumulus to broken, blue days, Narromine definitely tested us with nearly everyone outlanding at least once during the competition. The official practice day was set to be one of the good days, and with high cloud bases and fast cross country speeds everyone did an awesome job blasting around the task. The strongest climb I saw was 9.6Kts bottom to top peaking at 12kts through the middle!
Of course, it wasn’t straightforward all the time, with everyone having low points. Personally, my low point was the day I outlanded. After pushing too deep into the second last turn point, I enjoyed a fast downwind run towards the last turn. Unfortunately by the time I was ready to turn around and hit the finish line I found myself pushing into a 20Kt+ headwind. With the day dying, I had to assess my options quickly. This was quite a unique situation for me. I found a couple of weak climbs, but in anything below 2kts I was blown further away from the airfield, and getting further below final glide. Eventually I had to give in and found a good paddock, where I landed and met a nice farmer, successfully completing my third outlanding. As it turned out, Amber outlanded just a few kilometres north of me and Mike outlanded just a few kilometres south.
Beyond the flying, Joeyglide was a great opportunity to make new friendships with other young, like minded pilots from around Australia and was an awesome experience. The days off were almost just as exciting as the days in the sky. As a collective we visited the Royal Flying Doctor’s museum, swam in the local river and played a lot of backyard cricket.
In the end, Tom took home first place but everyone learned something, especially those who flew in the coaching program with highly experienced cross country coaches. Joeyglide proved to be fantastic experience and event and I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity. I can’t wait until next year's Joeyglide.
Ethan Blunt, Tom Jamieson, Anoushka de Chelard
Anoushka de Chelard
AJGC Vice President
Looking ahead, the 20th anniversary of the JoeyGlide competition is set to be our biggest event yet! From 17 to 24 January 2026, we’re heading to the iconic Gliding Club of Victoria in Benalla for a week of unforgettable flying, camaraderie, coaching and competition as junior pilots from across the country come together to celebrate 20 years of JoeyGlide - Australia’s premier junior gliding event. This milestone year promises incredible soaring, great fun and even better memories - whether you're a seasoned competitor or first-time participant.
Everyone is welcome, and we can’t wait to see you all at Benalla to share in the excitement and spirit of junior gliding. We’d also like to extend our sincere thanks to the Gliding Club of Victoria for their ongoing support in hosting this event, and we’re incredibly grateful to the surrounding clubs and dedicated volunteers who have already offered their assistance - your generosity and enthusiasm help make JoeyGlide what it is!
Entries are now open at joeyglide.juniorsoaring.org, so mark your calendars, grab your spot, and get ready to help us celebrate two decades of junior soaring!
JoeyGlide 2025
Narromine
12 - 18 january 2025
1 Tom Jamieson Hunter Valley GC Club Std. Cirrus 4,111
2 Mike Develin Hunter Valley GC LS 4 3,916
3 Ethan Blunt GC of Victoria Speed Astir II 3,905
Full results at soaringspot.com/en_gb/joeyglide-2025
