There are certain niches of RC that are never going to attract a wide audience. Watching a great top-notch FAI Pattern flight is boring for the average Sport flier, so imagine what it is like for the general public with practically NO understanding at all about what is going on. Not to pick on any other disciplines in particular, but can you envision yourself getting all hot and excited about thermal duration soaring or rubber powered peanut scale? Only a very small slice of the RC community will have the appreciation for Pattern and the time, the patience and the self-satisfaction to stick with it for the long haul. The associated start-up and ongoing expenses are minor considerations over time.

If you need a 40% Yak with smoke and strobes to get your jollies, Pattern ain't for you.

I don't know what the protocol is in SA, but here anybody can fly pretty much any airframe in Sportsman as long as it isn't too noisy. I've only seen one airframe declined and it was a very loud Ultimate 50cc.