By Airwaves Writer Sara Morgan Watters
Part 2: Growing the sport of sailing at the national level (This article follows up from the first, “How to Grow Sailing: A Wellington New Zealand Case Study“)
What is the role of a countries governing body of sailing and how can it best contribute to the sport in that country?
The U.S. Sailing mission statement reads, “provide leadership, integrity and advancement for the sport of sailing”. If you compare that to Yachting New Zealand’s (YNZ) mission statement, “helping New Zealanders access, enjoy and succeed on the water for life”, you can see a clear difference in priority. With a big push to get as many people involved in the sport now and for life, YNZ has been developing a very successful program over the last eight years to try to achieve its mission.
It shouldn’t be surprising, however, that in a country of only 4.5 million, surrounded completely by water, with a long tradition in the sport, that sailing isn’t a highly supported and mainstream sport. Nonetheless, the past and future success in the sport hasn’t come with out the efforts, investments, and support from their governing body of sailing.
In a recent article Growing the Sport of Sailing: a Wellington New Zealand Case Study, I described how the Wellington Ocean Sports Centre that has successfully introduced and involved many Wellingtonians to sailing and other water sports through an accessible and affordable program. But locally driven support for growing the sport doesn’t stop in New Zealand’s capital city. In fact, just to be sure sailing reaches as many small towns and clubs as possible, YNZ has designed an outreach program that brings sailing to kids, thus encouraging people from all across the country to get involved in the sport.
Volvo Sailing… Have a Go! began in 2006 operating out of one trailer and fulfilling the dream of Sir Peter Blake that all children should get the chance to go sailing. The Team New Zealand 2000 trust provided the original funding to get the program started and has since been supported by the Lion Foundation and in 2013 Volvo Cars New Zealand. The Volvo Sailing… Have a Go! YNZ program is run by three instructors assigned to different regions of New Zealand who each trailer the provided boats, coach boat, and equipment to different sailing clubs around the country, giving students between the ages of 8 to 12 a chance to try out the sport. Offering two half days or one full day ‘challenges’ students will take part in a variety of sailing activities and games which focus on physical and personal development, science and the environment and technology.
Not only does this program expose more people to the sport, it is great for the clubs as well since it helps boost membership from returning students with their families. With a happy memory of sailing while growing up, have-a-go kids will also be more likely to sign up with a yacht club later in life. Since it started in 2006 the program has grown each year, especially in the past three years with more yacht clubs and sponsors taking part. Just in the last season alone 3,586 kids took part in the program, which has introduced 1,234 students to sailing for the first time.
This program is just another example of how YNZ and many yacht clubs are committed to fulfilling their mission, with strong evidence that it is working. All sailors, yacht clubs, and national sailing bodies should be concerned with getting more people exposed and involved in the sport not just for altruistic reasons, but also for the indirect benefits it has for filtering support for the sport at the higher levels. So the question remains, what comes first; a push from the ground up for building programs like this or support from the top down to implement them?
To learn more: http://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/learn-to-sail/volvo-sailing-have-a-go
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Growing Sailing at the National Level, Part II – Sail1Design
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