US Sailing Instructor Training - Level 2 at Pettipaug Yacht Club

Last week, I had the great luck to be at Pettipaug Yacht Club in Essex on the Connecticut River for the last hour of the two day Level 2, taught by US Sailing Instructor Trainer, Rachel Miller.   This course is for young people aged 18 and over who have already taken the four day Level 1 course and are planning to be Youth Race Coaches, or more advanced Youth Sailing Instructors.  There were about 16 young people between the ages of 18 through 24.

When I arrived, the Level 2 students were in groups of 2 or 3 taking turns role playing various situations similar to some that had occurred in junior sailing programs.   These situations involved written scripts they had to act out in front of the class and teacher who would then comment and make suggestions on different ways to handle the situation if need be.

It was inspiring to see these how well these young people roled played this situations and had figured out appropriate, positve ways to handle situations that required a lot of responsibility, maturity and professionalism.   One example was a 16 year old sailing student who handed in an unsigned permission slip for a 3 day travel regatta on the morning they were leaving.  She really wanted to go with her team and was upset when the instructor looked at the unsigned slip and told her it needed to be signed or she would not be able to go away with her team. The instructor, who was only 3 years older than the student, tried to call her parents, who happened to be in the midst of a divorce, but couldn't get ahold of them.  The student tried to talk the instructor into letting her go anyway, but the instructor held firm on the fact that no one could go without a signed permission slip as there could be serious consequences for the parents and the sailing program if this rule was not followed.  The instructor told the student he would try to arrange for something really fun for her to do at the club instead.  Everyone in the Level 2 class appeared to feel badly for the student and thought this was a good way to handle the situation.  Rachel emphasized how important it was for all students to have signed permission slips from their parents or guardians, especially in this age of litigation and custody battles and suggested that instructors set a "fake, early deadline" for permission slips to be handed in so that there is a week or so left to resolve issues like finding the time to get a parent to sign the necessary paperwork.

Other topics presented were:  underage sailing students drinking at a high level "away" regatta which caused their team not to be able to compete which led to discussion on the importance of having a "contract" signed by the parents and students ahead of time spelling out the penalty for an infraction, ie.. the parent has to come get the student immediately or fly them home at their expense.  Another topic was:  "benching" a sailing student who had been "not paying attention and not trying hard during the practices, who happened to be the child of the Commodore; another was involved a younger sailing student who was upset and didn't want to participate because "no one liked her".  The instructor did a great job of addressing this issue - asking the girl what she thought she was really good at and telling her he would work with her to let the other kids know about this so that they would think she was "really cool".    Besides sailing technique and having a good, safe time on the water - sailing instructors help their young students build a solid sense of self-esteem, good judgment, respect for others and good teamwork, respect for equipment, good sportsmanship and appropriate behavior.  Hopefully, this augments those same lessons learned at home. 

Youth Sailing Programs are most frequently managed in a "hierarchy" of adult volunteers and paid college/high school age instructors.  Yet often these young instructors, especially the race coaches, have a tremendous amount of responsibility.  They not only teach their charges sailing/racing skills that will enable them to get around the course in the best position possible and the rules that one must not break that guide this sport, but also to exercise mature judgment in cases relating to safety and appropriate, legal behavior both on and off the water.  These young coaches may travel miles from their home club with their team of half a dozen or more teenage or younger students and be responsible for them for several days while they are sailing and sleeping away from home.  Of course, there are adults there as well, but it is the young race coaches who influence their sailing students the most at this age by their expectations and their own behavior.   The young people who do this well, (and I consider myself very fortunate to have known a number of them over the years), are outstanding examples of skilled, caring human beings with maturity and wisdom far beyond their years.   They usually do very well in whatever they undertake as adults.

Kudos to US Sailing for their rigorous, effective and fun methods of instructor training and for their high caliber instructor trainers who prepare sailing instructors of all ages for the joys, challenges and responsibilities of transferring their sailing knowledge and experience to their young charges!   And kudos to all the sailors and their parents and loved ones who support them in stepping up to the challenging, yet very rewarding opportunity to participate in US Sailing Instructor Training!  For further information on US Sailing, go to:  www.ussailing.org .  For more information on Rachel Miller, US Sailing Instructor Trainer, go to:  www.rozaliaproject.org .