US Sailing National Sail Training Symposium, Report #3

Thursday was a long day. I thought I would have time to type notes
between sessions or during breaks. Wrong. There was always someone to
finish a conversation with or someone stopping me to talk about Sea
Scouts and some common issue. It is impressive to know many of these
people understand a lot about our program. Yet, there is an even deeper
lack on the part of so many others. I am going to touch on some of the
highlights of the day, but am omitting much due to limited time. I'll
try to post the agenda after I get home next week and can scan rather
than retype it.

The Welcome and Introductions included brief talks by Jim Muldoon,
President US Sailing Association, Steve Colgate, Chairman US Sailing
Training Committee, and Glen Brandenburg, Chairman US Sailing
Community Sailing Council.

These speakers discussed the mission of US Sailing as the governing
body of the sport of sailing in the US established by the National
Sports Act of 1978. US Sailing is to serve ALL aspects of the sport,
not just racing. It should open the sport to all interested
participants including ethnic groups and handicapped people. US Sailing
establishes and maintains a uniform and very high level standard for
instruction. Jim Muldoon stressed the importance of development and
maintenance of quality instructional materials for all programs and
described some of the most recent progress, notably with handicapped
sailing programs.

The second speaker was Tim Gibbons, Endurance Training Coordinator, US
Olympic Committee, Colorado Springs, CO. He discussed "Exploring the
Development Phases of Sport." He described how the three phases of
Romance, Precision and Integration fit into Bloom's Model of Talent
Development. The importance of fun, freedom and reward in creating a
romance for the sport in younger children was stressed. Later, teens
will develop precision in technical mastery, skill, techniques and
habits of accuracy. Finally comes the integration of knowledge and
skills, individuality, insight, and realization that sport is a
significant part of one's life. The importance of systematic training,
motivation, family influence and support, and rewards was stressed.

After a short break, the morning offered choices of 2 workshops from a
list of seven. Topics were: 1) team building techniques for
administrators and volunteers; 2) youth sailing program basic building
blocks; 3) all the business stuff you wish you knew before you decided
to run a sailing program; 4) risk management and site assessment; 5)
team building techniques instructors can use with students; 6) adult
program basic building blocks; and 7) developing excellence in youth
racing.

There were three key speakers after lunch. First, Steve Baker, race
coordinator, American Sail Training Assn. (ASTA), presented "Challenges
and Adventures of Sail Training on Tall Ships." He presented and made
available (free) the ASTA book "Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail
Training and Adventure at Sea." Through his talk, I was reminded of the
movie "White Squall" and Richard Henry Dana's classic book "Two Years
Before the Mast."

Kim Hapgood, master instructor trainer and Sail Newport director,
presented "The Latest and Greatest in US Sailing Training Programs."
She also talked about the training opportunities the preceded this
symposium. Instructor and IT courses at all levels were available.

Then, Cory Sertl, US Sailing Olympic path working party
chairman,presented "Fun, Learning, & Competition: Components of Junior
Olympic Festivals." The schedule for 17 festivals scheduled for 1999 was
presented and the plan to greatly expand the program described. US
Sailing is looking for host sites for regional festivals for the year
2000 and beyond. Festival requirements and instruction about proposals
for new sites was distributed.

To complete the afternoon, there were again 2 choices from 6
workshops. These included: 1) effective publicity and public relations
(a panel of three San Diego media professionals); 2) Olympic path
youth development program; 3) hiring, training and maintaining your
sailing staff; 4) keel boat program basic building blocks; 5)
effective use of the world wide web for your program; and 6) team
racing as a tool to teach sportsmanship.

The evening offered the opportunity to unwind and explore San Diego
dining opportunities. After a wild ride with Capn Jim U. at the wheel,
a failed attempt to find burgers on the Navy Antisubmarine Warfare
Base, and a second harrowing drive through uncharted parts of San
Diego, we ended up having a great oriental dinner somewhere not too
far from where we started... next time I think I'll ride with someone
else! But, the company and food was good. There were nine of us at the
table, all from Sea Scouts, including Charles Holmes and Jimmie
Homburg.

After arriving back at the hotel, I left roommate Jeff at the front
desk. I think had fallen in love with the desk clerk, Katie. There was
a party in one of the IT's rooms and I think many of the younger
participants were late for the morning sessions on Friday!



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