How You Can Support??

The Purpose “…..to develop sailors of the appropriate age and ability to win medals for RYA Team GBR at major international regattas at Junior Youth and Olympic level…..” Skill transfer (Built up over lots of different experiences in different conditions - Long pathway Purpose Raise awareness of issues/concepts surrounding supporting an elite performer Recognise different challenges of our sport Give you ideas/techniquesose – responsibility to make the process enjoyable

RYA Junior Squad Programme Raising self awareness Getting down to a behavioural level Always Purpose Raise awareness of issues/concepts surrounding supporting an elite performer Recognise different challenges of our sport Give you ideas/techniques – responsibility to make the process enjoyableoving forwards, even attending the regattas you and your child will have learnt something – not going backwards ‘Supporting the Young Sailor’

…Sailor Focus You, the parents, are: A vital part of the support team The most influential people in the development of your child We need your help!

....Learning & Enjoyment is critical! The Journey ....Learning & Enjoyment is critical! NJS Emphasise the importance of learning and having fun. The journey is long, therefore it needs to be fun for sailors first and foremost. It is important that they want to come back to sail each weekend! It is also important that sailors and parents recognise there are many paths to choose/follow on the journey, hence no 1 track or route is mapped out for them to stick to. ZONE

Why Do you want your kids to sail??.. Social & communication skills Time Management Organisation skills Physical & Nutritional Awareness Campaign Management What skills and competencies do sailors develop in sailing that are transferable in the life outside of sailing/sport? Psychological Skills Decision Making

Laying the Foundations The journey to automatic may take years, depending on the skill & Complexity. Time now responsible for putting the foundations/habits in place to be able to develop the right skills to be able to deliver at the top level. Goals/habits Reducing working memory at the early stage (Consider when you started to drive!) Don’t want to change the way we do things at a later stage. To de-learn and relearn a skill takes twice as long, therefore critical to get it right. Could show skills model at this stage. Even at ISAF YW’s level some of the sailors still have bad habits, that were so engrained that they can’t do anything at the time to resolve it. Simple analogy - Basic format - Tacking – if don’t sort out tacking at the earliest level cannot progress to roll tacking – must not let them change hands until other side of boat Joe Glanfield – biggest problem planning – parents used to do it all at a Junior and Youth level, so never tackled it as a youngster – foundations were not covered early. De-learn and re-learn takes twice as long - take out the blue print of the bad habit. De-learning takes twice as long. Breaking the habit.

Educating & Engraining positive habits

1. Non Verbal Support Projecting positive & supportive messages!! Mirroring Their own behaviours & sailing temperament will be massively influenced by body language & facial expressions… Will the vibes they pick up help or hinder their sailing!? A child will pick up on your nerves, disappointment, and over excitement They have done it from the day they were born! Looking in the mirror idea! Naturally mirror body language – goes back to when we couldn’t speak – be aware of it, as kids will adopt it. If you’ve had a good day, but partner hasn’t how quickly does your mood dampen?? If you are disappointed – take yourself away, and get positive for when you face your kids.

2. Supporting Non-Dependence Doing enough but not too much! Finding (realistic) opportunities to encourage sailors to become non-dependent in their sailing Asking questions to confirm their levels of understanding.

Developing Professional Habits Non-dependency – ‘teaching’ vs ‘doing’ Dependent Independent Commitment Self Analysis and honesty Non dependent on coach or parent. Knowing when to ask. Non-dependent

3. Reinforce Confidence & Strengths When hover over the 3. Reinforce Confidence & Strengths The more confident sailors feel, the more they will enjoy their sailing & be assertive in their decisions & ability… Focusing on their achievements & strengths will give them the self-belief they need to keep trying, working hard & enjoying their sailing They NEED to know that making mistakes is absolutely part of learning and developing skills... Do they really think they are capable? What evidence do they have?

4. Process Focused What is a Process?

4. Process Focused For a young sailor, focusing purely on outcome can be overwhelming without years of experience & the skill of emotional control. Helping to shift their attention towards the training/racing processes & away from results or outcomes will increase their feelings of control & therefore confidence

5. Self Paced Reflections… Recognising when they want to talk about the days sailing…. Do they need a cool off period!!? Open questions can help... …Changing the subject & allowing time before debriefing can also help…

1st Year Regional Squad: Events 1st Year Regional Squad: WYA, CYRCs, Nationals 2nd Year Regional Squad: IOCA/ITCA Ranking Help – IOCA/ITCA websites, help-sheets

Training www.welshsailingevents.org Regional Open Training Club – (CBYC, Mumbles, Neyland etc Open Training)

Behavior Asked to leave the room or water for the session after warning. Parents told about behavior if disruptive to the group. Yellow card displayed on white board. Repeat disruption. Asked to leave the training session for the day or weekend. Repeated problems HPM made aware– place in squad considered if required. WARNING: Discussion with coach regarding behavior. Reminded of consequences of continued disruption.

Any Questions??