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The Canadian Yachting Association Instructor Development Program is one of the most highly regarded instructor training programs in the world.  Certified instructors are in high demand across Canada and around the world.

Becoming a sailing instructor is a great way to teach others how to enjoy and excel at our sport.  It’s also one of the best ways to spend your summer!  There are hundreds of jobs and volunteer opportunities within BC to work with sailors of all ages and abilities.

Current coaches: All currently trained and certified coaches must take the online Long Term Sailor Development (LTSD) Module from CYA prior to 2012 registration.  This module provides information on Canadian Sport for Life’s Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), CYA’s Long Term Sailor Development (LTSD) Module, the stages of sailor development, and how this affects you as a coach.  It is important that all coaches and instructors, not just high performance coaches, are familiar with the LTSD and stages of sailor development.  The module is available here.

CANSail

The Learn to Sail system in Canada is undergoing a big change in 2012.  Click here to learn more about CANSail and how current coaches can be become CANSail trained.  More information on CANSail Accreditation for existing coaches is available here.

How to Become a Coach

There are 4 steps to becoming a certified sailing instructor: prerequisites, theory, technical and evaluation.  All instructors have to read, sign and adhere to the Code of Conduct.  Trained and certified instructors must register with CYA and submit the annual coach/instructor dues to the CYA office.  These annual dues cover the cost of instructor liability insurance as well as contributing to program development.  In 2012, these dues are $160.

Prerequisites:

The minimum age to become a CANSail instructor is 16.  You can participate in clinics in the year you turn 16, but you will not be insurable until your 16th birthday.

Exception: Community Coach candidates can be 15, however will not be able to apply for CYA insurance until their 16th birthday.  Community coaches are able to work as an assistant coach provided they are insured by their employing yacht or sailing club.

The prerequisites are a Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC), emergency-level first aid, a swimming award, and the appropriate sailing level (minimum Bronze 4 or CANSail 3).

Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC): Every operator of a motorboat in Canada now has to have proof of competency in the form of a Pleasure Craft Operator Card.  If you do not have your PCOC yet, you can take a test online or in person from a Transport Canada accredited school.  You can also email your LF to arrange to take the test.  This card never expires.

First Aid:  Emergency level is the minimum required for a learn-to-sail coach, but Standard or higher is perfectly acceptable.  The courses offered by St. John Ambulance or Red Cross are the recommended courses, as they are nationally recognized and offered in various locations across Canada.  These courses expire every 3 years.  It is strongly recommended that you complete your First Aid course before participating in the Coach Boat Safety course.

Red Cross – Emergency First Aid http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=32876&tid=001

St. John Ambulance - Emergency First Aid Community Care http://www.sja.ca/BCYukon/Training/EmergencyFirstAid/Pages/default2.aspx

Coach Boat Safety (Swimming Awards): Coach Boat Safety is the recommended course, and is a one-day course offered through BC Sailing.  Coach Boat Safety expires every 3 years.  It is strongly recommended that you complete your First Aid course before Coach Boat Safety.  You must also have your PCOC before participating in a Coach Boat Safety clinic.

Sailing Certificate: The minimum sailing level for coaches varies depending on the level of sailing the coach wishes to teach.

	Minimum Sailing Level
Coaching Level	"Old" System	CANSail
CANSail 1 & 2	Bronze 4	CANSail 4
CANSail 3 & 4	Bronze 5	CANSail 5
CANSail 5 & 6	Silver 6	CANSail 6

Proof of sailing level is shown by providing a copy of the CYA certificate you received at the end of your learn to sail course.  You may also have the opportunity to prove your sailing ability at the technical clinic.  If you did not participate in a learn to sail course but know your sailing level meets the requirements, please email your LF.

A copy of all prerequisites must be sent to BC Sailing prior to registration with CYA.  Please attach a copy of this form when submitting your prerequisites to BC Sailing.  It it ideal to send a copy of all prerequisites to BC Sailing prior to your technical clinic.

Theory:

The Fundamental Course is the required theory portion, and is a prerequisite for all future coaching courses.  The Fundamental is a 2-day course which covers the theory behind coaching including professionalism, ethics, risk management, skill development, teaching methods and planning a practice.

Ethics:  The online ethics test is offered by the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC).  The ethics module is taught during the Fundamental course, and coaches are required to take the online ethics test prior to registration with CYA.  CANSail coaches must take the Competition Introduction (Comp-Int) exam.

Technical:

The technical portion is completed at a Technical Clinic.  At your technical, you will be using the theory you learned in the Fundamental to create and teach land and water lessons.  This is a very hands-on course, so come prepared to go out on the water every day!

Candidates at the technical clinic are split into 3 levels – CANSail 1 & 2, CANSail 3 & 4, CANSail 5 & 6.  Coaches can only teach the levels they are certified in (eg. CANSail 3 & 4 coaches can only teach CANSail 3 and 4 unless they are also CANSail 1 & 2 trained/certified).  It is strongly recommended that first-year coaches become certified as CANSail 1 & 2 coaches before moving onto other levels.

There are 2 outcomes from a technical clinic: in-training and trained.  Coaches who are in-training need to work more on their coaching skills in order to become trained and coach on their own.  This usually involves spending time with an LF or other senior coach working on specific skills, and then teaching a lesson with an LF when the coach and LF feel they are ready.  Trained coaches are those who have completed all aspects of the course and, provided they have sent in all of their prerequisites to BC Sailing, are ready to pay their CYA instructor dues.  Once instructor dues are paid, the coach can teach the appropriate CYA course.  In past years, most coaches are successfully trained at the end of their technical course.  Once you are trained, go out and coach!

Evaluation:

The final step in completing your coaching course is the evaluation; BC Sailing offers many one-day evaluation clinics throughout the year (more dates are added throughout the year).  If these dates do not work for you, contact BC Sailing to arrange an evaluation.  Evaluations are completed by attending regular race team training with an Evaluator, or the Evaluator can come to your club or school (this may have a higher fee due to travel costs).  Upon a successful evaluation, you are certified and can then further your coaching career by taking more courses.  Your evaluation must take place within 2 years of becoming trained.  For example, if you received your trained status on March 20, 2012, you must complete your evaluation by March 20, 2014.  This may seem like a long time, but many instructors forget about the evaluation until it’s too late.  We encourage all instructors to complete their evaluation as soon as they feel ready.

Professional Development Courses:

2012 Course Dates

In addition to the technical clinics, BC Sailing offers professional development courses to all instructors and coaches, including first year instructors.  All professional development courses are taught by expert Learning Facilitators.

Program Manager

The Program Manager module is open to coaches and others looking to take on an administrative role within their learn to sail program.  Topics covered include marketing, registration, communication and safety.  This course is not recommended for first and second year instructors.

Course Fee: $200

Wet Feet/Optimist Module

The one-day Wet Feet/Optimist teaches instructors about rigging and technical skills specific to optis.  There are also discussions on how to teach younger sailors, and a variety of games to keep children interested in the sport.  Access to the opti manuals are included in this course, which include course curriculums, lesson plans and report cards for Wet Feet, Opti 1 and Opti 2.

Course Fee: $80

Opti Race Module

This is a new course offered this year for coaches with some basic optimist experience.  Candidates will work with optimist racing team sailors and will focus on developing racing skills and new coaching techniques specific to opti sailing and coaching sailors ages 10-14 who are interested in racing.

Course Fee: $150

Double-Handed Module - Chutes & Wires

The Double-Handed module focuses on rigging and double-handed specific skills, like skipper/crew roles and communication.  Discussions include how to teach both a skipper and crew at the same time, introducing double-handed roles to sailors of all ages and best practices for a variety of skills.  The main focus is on 420s, however 29ers and 470s will be discussed as well.  Upon successful completion of this course, coaches will be able to teach Chutes and Wires 1 and 2.

Course Fee: $150

Community Coach

The Community Coach module is a new course developed by BC Sailing and is supported by CYA.  This course is for people wishing to take part in a sailing course as an assistant coach or volunteer.  In 2012, Community Coach courses in BC will be taught alongside the Opti module.  Community coach candidates must be at least 15 years old.  This one-day course provides candidates with the tools to assist on and off the water, and includes a series of lesson plans for teaching basic sailing skills.  The prerequisites for the community coach course are similar to CANSail coaches:

• PCOC
• Valid first aid (minimum emergency level)
• Coach Boat Safety
• Take the Community online ethics test from the Coaching Association of Canada
  

After completion of the prerequisites and the community coach course, coaches are trained and have the tools to be a valuable member of the coaching and volunteer staff for a sailing program.

*Note: community coaches may not be eligable under CYA’s coach insurance policy.  It is strongly recommended that community coaches confirm they are covered for liability under their employing yacht or sailing club’s insurance policy.

Course Fee: $80