Point taken Chaz on #2...membership requirement for competing. I thought about this before but didn't throw into my comment. Entry level, Open and possibly Advanced classes may not have a membership requirement but I think Team and Expert should. If qualifying for the Champs is the goal...and who doesn't want to improve??...membership SHOULD be required to compete there. Competition is a sure road to improvement of one's skills. When one sees what others are trying, doing and succeeding at it lights a fire. At least it does for me. Sorry about making this public Dave but I'm sure you'll be OK with this....Dave Johnson ,Cocoabear, one of the best modelers and flyers on the planet attended a local USSMA qualifier and got hammered in the static portion of the judging. If I'm not mistaken it may have been his first scale contest.
What did he do after his ego got repaired? He took the crticism constructively and made the necessary changes, "improved" his entry so that next time he'd be right up their before becoming one of the "Big boys" himself.
USSMA fills a huge gap by offering scale competiton at all levels and by having the regional qualifier system it allows us "locals" to compete in a real scale contest....not a fly-in (they surely have their place). Are there any AMA scale contests near you (everybody)? Not near me.
The USSMA motto is "Keep the Dream Alive". Good words. Mitch Epstein...the other Mitch