Youth: The Future of ASA?
By Captain Thom Burns
We at Northern Breezes Sailing School decided that we would start a youth day camp to supplement and cross-support our adult sailing programs. This became a dramatic eye-opening experience which was both rewarding and extremely frustrating at times.
Instructors/Counselors and a Camp Director are all critical to a youth day camp. The better they are, the better your camp will be. We decided early on that we needed one strong sailing instructor who could act as our on-site "sailing director" Dan Fisher, a high school teacher who had been certified in Basic Keelboat and Basic Smallboat in 2000 and 2001, was that person. The other counselors who would also assist the sailing director could be grown from various sailing backgrounds. We recruited heavily from the Girl Scout counseling program because they seemed to be well trained in proper camp behaviors, dealing with youth and organizing activities. The decision to accept weak sailors was made easier in that we had two Instructor Evaluators who could help bring the counselors who were strong on camp but weaker on sailing up to par.
We held a small boat clinic the week prior to camp to evaluate the counselors and to train them. This was difficult in that both the weather and the counselors schedules from both high school and college were hard to mesh with the clinic. Three of our counselors could only attend part of the clinic. Only one of our counselors, the sailing director, met standards in all areas. In order to not overwhelm our inexperienced counselors, we limited enrollment the first two weeks of camp. We also decided to concentrate first on boat handling with the chase boat, which turned out to be a wise decision, since a chase boat operator can set up on the water games, etc. while the sailing director would concentrate on land preparations for the sailing activities. The whole training process for counselors turned out to be slower than expected. Fortunately we usually had sailing experts less than ten minutes away from the camp. Most of the calls came for assistance with the outboard engines. Occasionally, we were called for help with high wind reefing or sailing bigger boats to give the kids some on-the-water experience. There is a fine line between a self-sufficient camp which lets the counselors grow and the safety and fun being had by your customers' children. We were always risk adverse.
 ASA has a youth sailing certification book which was well received. Rather than using the ASA textbook, Let's Go Sailing, we chose to create our own materials and give campers handouts in a folder. Several youth coaching books were purchased for counselors.
A fundamental question in the youth camp experience is where to focus? When talking with parents from my yacht club who had kids in youth sailing camps, they seemed to divide into racing, heaviy racing, moderate racing and "sailing isn’t a serious part of this camp". A lot of youth did not like the racing programs because of the pressure whether that came from "coaches" or parents. Our focus became empowerment through sailing with a small dose of competition here and there. The fun quotient is a big thing. When a camper successfully solos for the first time, it is hard to appreciate how well the person feels. Some kids are in your face with excitement, others dribble the excitement out in small Norwegian doses here in the land of Lake Wobegon!
Once focus is determined, different sailing program levels for different ages and experience come into play. We divided into Dinghy Basic, Dinghy Advanced and Small Boat. There are a lot more boats out there than various Vanguaard products. The Blue Max from Walker Bay with the high performance rig was our choice for Dinghy Basic. The Walker Bay 10 with the high performance rig was our Dinghy Advanced boat. Both Walker Bay boats have tube kits which enhance their stability. The WindRider 17 was our Small Boat platform. These choices were based on the stability of the boats. It also gave variety in that the Blue Max has a main only, the Walker Bay 10 has a main and jib and the WindRider 17 trimaran is also sloop rigged. This allowed campers to move up in boats as they progressed. Even crewing on the trimaran was exciting. We never rescued an overturned boat all season! All three boat types held up to the camp environment very well.
One of the most frustrating aspects was insuring the camp. Our main school insurance company didn't want to insure kids swimming even if they were in a swimming area like ours were. This launched us on an insurance quest. Some underwriters wanted to insure our whole operation or nothing. A CNA affiliate eventually ended up with the business on a liability only policy. The insurance quest is on the top of the list for resolution in year two.
Marketing of the camp is a little tricky. Our graduates' kids were a good source. Other major sources of campers were the schools and the park system itself. There are a lot of rules about for profit organizations and their literature in students' literature packs. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Church Groups and other community groups are also good sources. There are always two or more customers. In addition to the camper, they are usually parents and grandparents. If half day and full day sessions are offered, the appeal to working parents is stronger.
From the one hundred campers came numerous rewarding experiences. The camper with cerebral palsy, another with MS and two deaf campers all presented challenges. But the rewards were great for both the other campers and the staff. We scheduled them on lighter weeks so the staffing was stronger. The grandmother who enrolled her three grandkids from Switzerland was welcomed as a language volunteer since none of the three spoke English. She was great and the kids came back for a second week. Grandma took out a WindRider for a little sailing time with one of her friends. Watching the kids grow and become empowered as they crewed, skippered and soloed was great fun. The camp counseling crew became a tight unit over the summer. They were a pleasure to work with. The park loved the new sailing program. They want to "do everything possible to assist us in year two".
The youth market in sailing is far too big to cede to anyone. There is a great need which can be filled by some ASA schools who can develop strategic relationships with park districts and sailing clubs. We are very happy at Northern Breezes that we branched out there with a youth camp. Has it been profitable the first year? No it hasn't. Did I expect it to be profitable? We are excited about year two and forward. Did the youth camp add to our adult business? Absolutely, the bridge has been established and it will only grow.
Captain Thom Burns started Northern Breezes Sailing School in 1999. He also publishes the regional sailing magazine, Northern Breezes. He became an Instructor Evaluator in 2003.
All articles are copyrighted by the American Sailing Association Top |
