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Almost 100 sailors, coaches and parents attended the first of Yachting New Zealand's coaching webinars last month, and - as the topic of the first webinar suggests - it's only the beginning.
Hosted by Yachting New Zealand women's sailing manager Jenny Armstrong and talent development manager Geoff Woolley, the first webinar covered everything young sailors wanted to know about starting routines.
"It was a really good opportunity to keep building on some of the work we've done with the Yachting New Zealand Starling Girls Accelerator programme but on a much bigger scale," Armstrong explained.
The Starling Girls Accelerator Programme was launched earlier this year to fast-track the development of a select group of female sailors under the age of 18. The 12-month programme consists of intensive on-water clinics, coaching support at key events, online workshops and individual check-ins along the way and will be supported by experts in the Starling class, NZL Sailing Team members and coaches, as well as High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) support staff.
The first session was held at Royal Akarana Yacht Club in early June.
Armstrong says she was surprised by the strong turnout to the first webinar, with 93 people from a range of ages and locations logging on.
"It shows the desire of sailors and coaches to upskill during the winter months as well as how much easier it is now to get a large group of people in the same virtual room. It's something we will be doing more of for the remainder of the year.," Armstrong said.
Three more webinars have now been scheduled and participants are encouraged to register early. The dates and topics are:
- August 13 (7pm): Youth to Olympic pathway webinar - register here.
- August 20 (7pm): Junior to youth pathway webinar - register here.
- October 17 (7pm): Nutrition - fuelling for performance - register here.
Meanwhile, registrations are also open for Yachting New Zealand’s annual race officer conference on August 31 at Evans Bay Yacht and Motorboat Club. The conference brings together race officers from all levels of experience and serves as a platform to connect, share ideas, and explore innovative approaches to race management.
Register here to secure your place at this one-day conference.
Check out the full course calendar here.
