Grenada Sailing Association has been successful in its application to host a second World Sailing Technical Course for Coaches, which will be run from 21 – 27 August, taking place at Petite Calivigny Yacht Club’s base at Le Phare Bleu Marina. World Sailing (formerly known as the International Sailing Federation, ISAF) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is responsible for promotion, development, training and administration of the sport of sailing throughout the world. Grenada, via the Grenada Sailing Association, is a ‘Member National Authority’ (MNA) and because of this is eligible to apply to host one of the prestigious Technical Training Courses that the organisation runs.
Carol Gorvett, GSA Vice President, worked in close liaison with World Sailing’s Training & Development Department and the Grenada Olympic Committee, successfully completing all the relevant paperwork and administration required; gaining the necessary funding via Olympic Solidarity and sealing approval to host the course. Ms Gorvett commented: “It is excellent news that Grenada is to host a second World Sailing Technical Course. It will provide extremely valuable experience & knowledge to another group of keen young trainee coaches and is an important step in building the National Junior Sailing capability, which is a core objective of the Association. I would like to thank everyone involved in making this happen once again.”
The course will be a 7-day programme and will be run by Mr Rod Holden, World Sailing Training & Development Nominated Expert, who will be flying to Grenada from South Africa specifically to take part. The course will be a combination of theory & class work as well as practical experience on the water. Grenada Sailing Association has been able to offer places to 12 trainee coaches from across the Tri-Island State: one representative from Petite Martinique; two from Carriacou and nine from Grenada. The participants are Karina Benjamin; Tivonne Bernard; Elleje Bernard; Kishon Bruno; Dunason Compton; Jaydell Compton; Alvin Ferguson; Clyde Frank; Rondel Ferguson; Sharevin Joseph; Azelia Renaud. The aim of the course, as specified by World Sailing, is as follows:
‘To teach potential coaches how to introduce the fundamental skills required for non-sailors to be able to take part in their first experience on the water learning how to independently manoeuvre a boat on all points of sail in no more than moderate conditions. The Level 1 course candidates will need to be competent sailors who wish to pass on their passion, knowledge and practical experiences to anyone (youth or adult) wishing to take part in the sport of sailing. The Level 1 course covers the skills required to deliver entry-level participation-oriented practical and theoretical sessions and includes the development of skills required to turn novices into independent sailors
The Grenada Sailing Association is pleased to have achieved another important goal in the development of quality technical training in Junior Sailing and would like to thank the Grenada Olympic Committee for its valuable assistance. The Association would also like to thank Camper & Nicholsons Marinas, Port Louis, for providing a drone videographer to record valuable training footage of the course and Budget Marine for sponsoring sailing rash guards for all the participating trainees.
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