Summary

Australian Sailing conducted two FREE Instructors Conferences over the last two months. The North Queensland Instructors Conference was hosted by Townsville Sailing Club attracting 25 participants from 6 different clubs. The South Queensland Instructors Conference hosted by Southport Yacht Club attracted 31 participants from 7 different clubs.

From 2020 and beyond, Australian Sailing will deliver one Instructors Conference per year alternating between North and South Queensland. 2020 will be in South Queensland, stay tuned for a venue and date to be released later this year.

Register for your local Instructor conference here

South Queensland Wrap Up

Hang on a minute – I thought conferences were boring! Well the SQ Instructor Conference was nothing like I thought it would be.  

The on-water sessions were fantastic and covered a lot of new practices, the information sessions actually were interesting, the stories from the Chief Instructors made us all laugh and we got to go sailing, hang out, eat some great food and meet instructors from other clubs. 

We learned about feedback and how important it is – and where to find it in revSPORT.

We learned about the new OutThere Sailing program for teenagers, the importance of being contactable in revSPORT so clubs can find the instructors they need and we touched on multiskilling as an instructor and how you can add to your qualifications with either dinghy, windsurfing, keelboat or powerboat accreditation.

Not only did instructors get the opportunity to network, but some got asked to become senior instructors, work in different areas and learn new ways to teach the same skills.

The girls all got together and talked about SheSails and how they can influence other females to get involved in sailing and in instructing and got to meet the Yachting Queensland President and talk informally about all things sailing.  

The conference was also a great opportunity to get Qualifications Reaccredited for another 5 years and to check if your prerequisites were up to date - not to mention a reminder about how important it is to annually renew your qualification so that you are covered by the AS Insurance.

There were 2019 Queensland Sailing Award finalists present and the on water sessions were fun, with instructors taking it in turns to be instructor and student.  

Southport Yacht Club’s Watersports Centre was a great venue to hold the conference.  A short walk to plenty of water, a great room for briefs and debriefs, plenty of equipment on hand and a fantastic room overlooking the water for our information sessions.

The food was delicious .and the network evening didn’t disappoint with some great homemade pies and drinks to help cement new friendships.

We finished on Sunday after lunch and even though most could go home, they stayed chatting with the chief Instructors, gaining further insight into how other clubs do things, the importance of a team and how best to learn from their experience.

So if you think you’ve got better things to do with your weekend next time the Instructor conference comes around – think again!

Written by QLD Club Services Officer Annie Watson.

If you have any questions regarding your instructor qualifications or how to become an instructor please contact the QLD Office on 3393 6788.