Developing coaches is a key priority for Australian Sailing and a key factor in the ongoing growth of sailing nationally. During this year’s Zhik Lake Mac Youth Sail NSW the team of nine coaches gathered at the end of each day to de-brief the day’s activities, successes, and areas for improvement.

Haylee Outteridge, NSW Performance Program Head Coach joined the group on the second day and facilitated a deep dive discussion on how the team of coaches can foster young sailors to improve their sailing, particularly in a more competitive larger fleet.

The coaches all shared their experiences and thoughts, and covered a breadth of topics from starting, strategy development, drills to simulate situations, pattern recognition, the importance of athlete centred coaching and developing positive routines and habits that can be built on over the years as the sailors develop.

The skills and knowledge honed by the coaches this week, on-water and off, are all transferrable to club coaching and regattas. If you are a club or class coach and would like to be involved in next year’s event, please reach out to the team at Australian Sailing.

Australian Sailing would like to thank this dedicated group of coaches for their openness and wiliness to contribute and to continue to develop their skills.

 Sailors and parents should trust that all coaches have something to offer all sailors and that all coaches deserve the respect for providing their time and expertise to help develop the next generation of young sailors.

If you are interested in becoming a qualified Australian Sailing Coach you can find more information here: https://www.sailingresources.org.au/training/coaches/