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| HIGH SCHOOL SAILING |
Since its inception, one of the Sailing Foundation's primary focuses has been on developing youth sailors. To this end, it has supported development of high school sailing teams. Bainbridge Island, under the guidance of John Demeyer, became the first area high school to organize a sailing team. Others have followed. To help those who are interested in establishing additional school teams, we've collected the experiences of several area sailing coaches and present them here. |
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John Pope - Port Angeles (WA) High School In Port Angeles, we started our program by accident. I had access to 4 old C-Lark dinghies belonging to some friends and me. It occurred to me that some agency might like to get a team started, since we had a starting place. I called together several representatives of groups that might be interested, including the Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, Parks and Recreation, the high school, the county and others. The meeting was held at a marine lab on the waterfront. As we met to discuss the possibilities, the four boats sailed about in plain sight, demonstrating what fun this could be. The meeting was widely announced so several other interested parties attended. At the end of the meeting, the YMCA had voluntered to sponsor the program, and Mike Kalahar, a parent and local PHRF sailor, volunteered to coach the high school team. That was in September, 1997, and by the spring of '98, our team was up and running. We had 6 boats then. We have had 10 to 20 kids turn out each year since. The YMCA, in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club now sponsors summer youth classes, a college class, and adult classes. The fleet now consists of several C-Larks, 7 brand new Vanguard 15's, a Lightening and 3 Lasers. These have been acquired through donations from the community and with the help of the YMCA. What it takes is some creativity, coupled with hard work. Good contacts with the community are an absolute necessity. High schools will be supportive, but will not sponsor us in Washington until we demonstrate to the WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body of school sports) the viability of sailing as a team sport. The team can exist very well without a direct relationship with a high school, if it is associated with Parks and Recreation, the YMCA, or some other agency. Your approach may vary from ours, but you can do it too! |
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John DeMeyer - Bainbridge Island (WA) High School - First in the Northwest Start alone, start small, just get started. The best way is to get some events scheduled, no matter how few. Even having only one or two things the first year will pave the way to more the next. High school sailing is a great way to get kids to participate in sailing. It gives the junior sailors a chance to show off to their peers. It gets a lot of kids back to sailing who may have quit a youth program years before. It also gets new kids who have sailed very little interested in the sport. Finding a venue is important, but it shouldn't stop you from getting started. We used the Park District boats to provide enough equipment to allow both the Bainbridge and the North Kitsap High School teams to practice and host regattas. Now both teams have their own boats and venues and a fine natural rivalry. Sponsorship is important. For insurance purposes, you almost have to have some established organization say that you are part of their activities. Usually high schools won't do that the first year or two because they have no reason to stick their neck out for an unproven program. Kids at most high schools can form a club of any kind, but they can't participate in an activity like sailing under that guise and be sanctioned by the school. You need a yacht club, the Park Department or sailing society to sponsor or co-sponsor the team until you get going. If you can show them that it won't cost them any money, then it's a lot easier. If they can get some credit or positive publicity for being involved, better yet. Meanwhile, the kids form a club at the school under the umbrella of the ASB (Associated Student Body, a school group that provides services not traditionally provided by the school administration). As long as the kids participate as a group who all go to the same school and meet the eligibility requirements for the school, then the ISSA (Interscholastic Sailing Association, the national governing body of high school sailing) will let you in. At Bainbridge, we are now an official school sport. The Park District is still listed as a co-sponsor and provides the venue and the boats. The main consideration from the schools' perspective is that the program not cost them anything. Of course, the adding of the sailing team had no affect on their insurance rates. The umbrella is so huge in a school district that one small program like sailing should have no affect on rates. The same was true with the Park District; they already offer 45 sailing classes in the summer, so this was just one more activity for them. It is especially critical to find someone willing to spend some time acting as coach in whom the facility you are using has confidence, to supervise the use of their equipment. An "insider", such as an instructor or coach who is willing to help, will smooth the way for equipment use and scheduling. All the existing teams are more than willing to schedule events with new teams. Even if you have no venue or boats, schedule an event or practice with an established team and just get started. |
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Matt Mikkelborg - North Kitsap (WA) High School North Kitsap Sailing started with one creative and determined woman named Marilyn Grindrod, and a few boats borrowed from a seasonal community program. The venue was remote from the school, the boats were ill suited for high school sailing and the practices were infrequent. We were thumped regularly at regattas, but it was a start and it was fun. There wasn't a deep-pocketed benefactor, interested yacht club, enthusiastic athletic director or existing fleet around, so we scrounged. We combed the beaches for repairable boats. We turned nothing down. No Lido was too tired nor Laser 2 too soft. If it would stay afloat most of the way through practice, we were styling. Today, there are a couple of FJs, more Lidos and Laser 2s, about one third borrowed, but enough to host Team Racing in two fleets at once. We have a venue within walking distance from school. We average 30 sailors on the team and we are a recognized varsity letter sport. What do you need to succeed? Young people who want to sail. Don't just look to club sailors. It is very rewarding to teach and build new sailors. Good partners are a must. Try to institutionalize your program wherever possible, to guard against parent graduation and volunteer burnout. We work with our city's Parks and Recreation Department. They provide the muscle to work with the sometimes reluctant schools, ports and other public facilities necessary to support sailing. The Parks Department provides liability coverage, some boats and continuity. The NKHS program, in turn, provides expertise, energy, instructors, volunteers and customers to the community program. Boat donations to Parks are hustled by the high school coaches and sailors, who also perform upgrades and maintenance. Sailors pay a $35 fee to join the team, which provides a travel budget for local regattas. Parks provides a van, when available, to assist in travel. The proximity of your sailing venue to your school is important. We felt daily practices, close to school, were vital to mainstream the sport and gain acceptance. We found within our local port an area ill suited to deep-water moorage. The tidal nature requires some advanced planning, but it is little trouble for the types of boats used in school sailing. We built the docks with volunteer labor by recycling retired wooden finger piers as the Port updated to concrete. The Port lends the space and the team in turn gives energy, activity, positive publicity and a dry sailing venue right back. Our dock has become the home for a year-round community sailing program that is largely driven by the NKHS team and their families. Supportive parents really help. You need a wrench turner or preferably several. Things break, especially with old donated boats such as ours. Parents can be trained to coach and help provide transportation. In a coach, look for maturity, continuity, and ability to teach. Require a US Sailing Instructor rating and current first aid and CPR training. You don't need a young rock star. The students do the sailing, not the coaches. Welcome everyone, teach sailing and racing and emphasize the fun. Success will follow. There are lots of ways to get there, but first you have to get started. Are you still sitting there? |
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Grey Hawkin - Anacortes (WA) High School Our local Lido 14 fleet started to notice that there were kids hanging around, looking for a way to get out on the water. Some of them were fleet members' children; some of those kids were bringing friends. The fleet was getting some of the kids out on the water as crew, but when we started to see the kids wanting to race with other kids, we knew that we needed to channel that energy. The Lido fleet was willing to donate the use of members' boats for practice, some of the parents banded together to help with the coaching, and the local yacht club let us use their basement for classroom sessions. The boats are kept on a float in the Port of Anacortes marina with the individual boat owners paying the moorage charges. The high school was cool to the idea, but has let us operate as an off-campus club sport. We have recently formed our own organization so we can buy our own insurance, etc. Hosting District Championships raised the profile of our team within our community. The Port has donated use of certain facilities, local businesses have offered support and even the Salvation Army has let us use their building for billeting visiting sailors. We have worked with our local newspaper to promote the program and keep them apprised of special events. We practice twice a week after school during the spring sports season. Practice has been difficult to schedule because of conflicts with other sports. Some of the team members participate in softball and swimming, which overlap the sailing seaons. Parents with cars big enough to take several kids provide transportation to regattas. The high school sailing team has provided a launching point for some of the team members to compete in national competition and has introduced several kids to sailing that otherwise might not have had the chance. |
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Scott Boye - Friday Harbor (WA) High School Marjorie Smith's son had completed all the sailing lessons offered by San Juan Island Parks and Recreation District (Island Rec). He wanted to do more sailing but didn't have a way to get out on the water. Marjorie proposed the idea of a high school sailing team to Island Rec, the local chapter of the Sailing Foundation and to the high school. By cajoling, prompting and doing a lot of legwork, she got the team off the ground. Island Rec provided the coaches' stipend, the Sailing Foundation provided the boats and the school provided transportation for away meets. The Port of Friday Harbor donated the use of an old storage building and parking space for gear and boats. The first year was mostly a matter of getting kids out on the water. With only four boats, it was difficult to host regattas and most of the practice time was spent on teaching basic sailing skills. The second year, I came on board as coach and saw a need for six boats that were somewhat equal in speed. Peter Risser and I spent time lobbying the local yacht club and sailing club for a donation of one Laser II each. With similar boats, we were able to start hosting regattas. In 1999, we hosted the double-handed district championships at a local resort. Seven schools attended and we lucked out with great weather and a good venue. With a lot of luck, Friday Harbor won the district championship that year. Local press coverage brought public awareness to an all-time high. The press coverage convinced the high school to include sailing as part of the spring sports awards presentation. Since that time, the public has offered support to the team in both time and money. This has allowed us to upgrade the fleet of boats and add a second safety boat. Now there is a group of alumni that offers support to new sailors. The real key has been to involve as many of the community members as possible. The program is a cooperative effort that really couldn't be done by only one person or group. |
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The Sailing Foundation - Dedicated to high school sailing in the Pacific Northwest |
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888-892-SAIL - 360-754-6506 |
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| Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association - www.nwisa.org | |
District Member of ISSA |
Burke Thomas 360-376-2926 |
| High School Teams | |
Anacortes |
The high school links will take you to each school's information page on the ISSA website. |
Collegiate Sailing Teams |
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| Northwest Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America |
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| Parks and Recreation Sailing Programs | |
Anacortes Parks and Recreation |
360-293-1918 206-842-2306 206-684-4074 360-378-4953 503-697-6500 1-888-INFO-MWR 503-281-6529 360-779-9898 206-386-1913 360-733-2900 |
| Sailing Clubs | |
Anacortes Yacht Club |
360-293-5277 |
| Sailing Camps and Foundations | |
Camp Four Winds - Deer Harbor |
360-376-2277 |
| One Design Sailing Dinghies | |
Cat's Paw Boats - Poulsbo |
360-799-8920 877-779-2525 |
| Corporations that help and support | |
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| Who has boats suitable for High School Sailing in the Northwest? Here are just a few candidates for use by High School Teams |
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Sail Sand Point |
C 420, JY 14, Laser |
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The Sailing Foundation
2609 151st Place NE
Redmond WA 98052-5522
1.425.869.2727
info@thesailingfoundation.org