Committee
ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE
The Australian Junior Gliding Club Committee is the official team behind all junior Gliding development and promotional activities in Australia.
The committee is a voluntary group of eleven members who take care of the affairs of the Club. Each individual is nominated and elected by the AJGC’s members at the Annual General Meeting, usually held at JoeyGlide.
The executive works behind the scenes all year round on various different projects. The executive’s main roles are to manage the club’s fleet and finances, help it’s members to achieve their soaring goals by providing contacts and networking opportunities, organising events, providing financial support, and working to promote and develop junior soaring in any other form.
The AJGC is here to voice your needs and opinions as an junior pilot in the Australian Gliding community.
Of the eleven members, four make up the Executive, three are Ordinary members and four are State representatives. The Executive consists of the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. The President is the face of the organisation, main point of contact and oversees all projects, delegating accordingly. The Vice President is the second point of contact and main advisor. The Treasurer takes care of funding, accounts and financial affairs. The Secretary looks after all the records and administration of the Club. The role of the Ordinary Members is to provide council and ensure that the committee is not biased by providing views of the members at large. The role of the State representatives is to sit on their respective regional boards to form a link between the regions and the AJGC. They are also required to run 'local series' events to attract and engage new and existing juniors in each state.
CURRENT COMMITTEE
EXECUTIVE
PRESIDENT- BELEN SWART (SA)
"Swatty" became a member of the AJGC after she attended her first JoeyGlide in 2018, which we so graciously located in her home state of SA. Belen joined her family at a young age flying gliders - perhaps the only interesting activity that you can be involved with in SA. "Swatts" has also been the SA state representative on the committee, stepping onto the executive for the first time in 2021. She enjoys long walks on the beach and misspelling her name on entry forms.
VICE PRESIDENT - RYAN DRISCOLL (VIC)
"Inverted" as his nickname suggests, Ryan loves being upside down in gliders! He joined the AJGC in 2019 and after success in 2020 as Victorian State Rep, he was elected into the executive team in 2021 making sure he provided a strong case to hold JoeyGlide 2022 at his home club...which worked. With a smile that never leaves his face, "inverted" brings a wealth of gliding experience to the committee. If you need IT support, get in touch with Ryan - you'll often find him cutting out and buffering in online meetings and zoom calls.
SECRETARY – AIDAN CURTIS (QLD)
"Hollywood" was introduced to gliding clubs in 2014 and has since spent time flying in the Torres Straits. He has been a member of the AJGC for two years after he attended JoeyGlide 2019, where he willingly subjected himself to being in front of the camera everyday (hence the nickname). After a year tenure as ordinary member in 2020, he steps into the secretary role for 2021. Aidan enjoys having the cleanest glider on the grid, however it usually goes to waste after outlanding on the first day of a comp.
TREASURER – LACHLAN BROWN (VIC)
"Browny" hails from sunny Mildura and has been on the AJGC committee for a number of years now in various guises. Most notably, working many long hours (willingly?) with Chris to produce the club websites and many other club resources. Lachlan is famous for taking incredibly picturesque photos after outlanding halfway on task. An all-round nice bloke and always willing to lend a hand.
COMMITTEE
ORDINARY MEMBER – ALEKS POZORSKI (QLD)
Aleks is passionate about all things aviation. He is a currently an RAAF Defence Force Academy member and an L1 Instructor with Kingaroy Soaring Club. His first AJGC event was in 2020 at the QLD Junior Regatta and is planning to compete at Benalla in 2022. He enjoys his 4WDing and if you ever need a ride around the airfield, jump in his canopy covered tray, where you're treated to colourful LED lights and music!
ORDINARY MEMBER - AARON HANNAFORD
Whilst it may be his first year with the AJGC, Aaron is absolutely no stranger to junior gliding, with an absolute wealth of experience running university soaring clubs and ensuring everybody is having the best possible time! After he stumbled upon a commercial pilot's licence in his morning cereal, Aaron has become one of the best operators getting on the scene and is always willing to have a chat about flying/life.
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
NEW SOUTH WALES & ACT - CAMERON BARTLETT
"Cam" is best known around gliding circles for sporting the most glorious moustache that mankind has laid eyes on. When he's not devoting his time to studying or general "mo maintenance", he enjoys sitting in the backseat of two-seat gliders and carefully "scuplting" his student's abilities. Always willing to lend a hand or an ear, Cam is some of the best company going around if you're enjoying a nice hot coffee or a cold beer.
QUEENSLAND - AARON HANNAFORD
Whilst it may be his first year with the AJGC, Aaron is absolutely no stranger to junior gliding, with an absolute wealth of experience running university soaring clubs and ensuring everybody is having the best possible time! After he stumbled upon a commercial pilot's licence in his morning cereal, Aaron has become one of the best operators getting on the scene and is always willing to have a chat about flying/life.
VICTORIA & TASMANIA - RYAN DRISCOLL
Refer to our previous. Champion in (almost) every sense of the word. Maybe this year?
WESTERN AUSTRALIA – JOSH GEERLINGS
If you happen to find a more relaxed pilot, we'll beat it by 10%! Josh Geerlings is possibly most famous for being one of the pioneering Western Australians of the current junior era. Josh also represented Australia at the 11th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships in Szeged, Hungary. He's reclusive and quiet, but we've found that through sheer determination and multiple years of poorly delivered sledging that he's capable of smiling and occasionally even returning serve!
OTHER
GFA BOARD JUNIOR REPRESENTATIVE – RYAN DRISCOLL (VIC)
Ryan doesn't know how to turn down nominations.
WEBMASTER – CHRIS JESSE (QLD)
Chris first attended JoeyGlide as a coachee in 2014 and has returned to compete poorly every year since. Chris' excellent character often sees him fall victim to a multitude of nominations over the years, including the junior National Competitions Committee (NCC) representative, Secretary and VP. Chris enjoys the finer things in life, including traveling over country Australia in gliders at very low altitudes. You'll often see Chris on your FLARM, following you lower and slower.
OUTGOING PRESIDENT – MICHAEL KELLER (WA)
Michael made the trip from his hometown of Northcliffe (WA) across continental Australia to attend his first JoeyGlide in January 2018 at Narromine, NSW. In July 2019, Michael represented Australia at the 11th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships in Szeged, Hungary. He is also the JoeyGlide in-house competition scorer, so if you want your trace scored any time before midnight, it's generally a good idea to leave a nice tie-down spot for the fastest Ventus in the west.
