With the sailing season just around the corner we encourage clubs to provide instructor and coach induction training day as an effective and efficient means to plan for fun, enjoyable, and safe delivery of training and coaching programs at your club. In providing a training day for your workforce clubs can provide updates on important club policies and procedures, upskill your training team, and allow your clubs management to set expectations within the larger context of the club’s goals, objectives, and operations. 

An instructor and coach induction training day can also help to build a positive culture at your club, as the whole training team get to know each other better and grow their social connection to each other and to the club itself. 

Instructors and coaches are often the first people that new participants and members at clubs connect with when they first start sailing, therefore it is important that they role model the behaviour and values set by your club and act as ambassadors of your club and the sport throughout the season.

In addition to setting expectations and responsibilities, an induction training day should include training on how instructors and coaches do their roles safely, and what to do in the event of an emergency at your club, this training will assist your club with Discover Sailing Centre and State work health safety requirements.

A well delivered instructor and coach induction training day can provide the opportunity to build rapport amongst the team, provide up-skilling and ongoing training to individuals, and provide the necessary tools and knowledge to deliver successful training activities throughout the season.

Adopting an induction process and delivering training annually (at least) for your instructing and coaching team, can have many benefits for the club, as well as for the instructors and coaches themselves.

For clubs, an induction process can:

• Contribute to a positive culture as it helps to create a sense of teamwork and social connection amongst the instructing and coaching team.
• Saves club leadership time, as the whole training team can be informed at once rather than having to repeat information to every instructor and coach individually.
• Helps the club to value its instructors and coaches.
• Ensures operational efficiency and increases retention of sailors and members, as instructors and coaches have a full understanding of the club and their significant role within it.
• Educates instructors and coaches on compliance with club policies and procedures, and safety matters.
• Helps the club with Discover Sailing Centre, State Work Health Safety, and child safeguarding requirements
• Enhances club reputation by creating a professional impression and ensures that sessions are delivered to a high standard consistently throughout the season.

The benefits of induction training for instructors and coaches:

• Helps new instructors and coaches to settle into their role quicker.
• Instructors and coaches better understand their role and how it fits into the organisation.
• Instructors and coaches feel valued by being provided ongoing training to do their roles better.
• Instructors and coaches better understand club processes, policies and procedures and their role in creating a fun safe environment for participants and members.
• The induction process helps establish effective communication with club leaders and other team members.
• Instructors and coaches increase their skills and knowledge by learning from others in a team environment.
• Instructors and coaches strengthen their social connections and enjoyment of their roles.

What should an instructor and coach induction training day include?

Australian Sailing have developed an induction training day pack for you to use, and to deliver your induction training day this season, the resources can be accessed via the participation hub and by following the links at the end of this article. The list of topics below is intended to assist you with some key items which you should cover, in addition there will also be specific topics relevant to your own club and environment that you may wish to include,

• Club vision, culture, and values
• Code of conduct
• Workplace health and safety
• Club operating procedures and polices
• Child safety
• Responding to incidents and emergencies including entrapments
• Acceptable use and storage of club resources (e.g., club boats)
• Learn to sail and coaching programs offered by the club in detail, including any new programs
• Administration (e.g., availability, records of current qualifications, rostering)
• Introduction to key people within the club (e.g., committee members, Management)
• How the instructors and coaches play a significant role in the club’s success
• An opportunity to learn new skills or develop existing ones further
• Setting of goals and expectations

Whilst the above list represents some of the more formal aspects to an Induction training day and is essential, the opportunity for your club to bring the training team together as a whole at least annually, is a fantastic way to build and foster a team culture. All the instructors and coaches do what they do, because they love sailing, the club environment, and the social connections it creates.

Because of this, some social activities should also be included, for example, include a fun race or activity afloat at the conclusion of the formal part of the training day, or finish off with pizzas and a social gathering, or a BBQ put on by the club to thank the team for everything they do.

We want to run an Induction training day for our instructors and coaches what should we do?

Once your club has decided that it will deliver an instructor and coach Induction training day this season, the next thing to do is to schedule the day at a suitable time that will fit with most people’s availability, and be delivered close enough to the start of the sailing season so that the information presented on the day, remains fresh in the minds of your instructors and coaches once they start delivering the bulk of the training at your club this season.

Next, begin to work out the key details and information you wish to communicate to your instructors and coaches using the prompts and resources linked in this article as a guide. 

You can set up the induction training day as an event in your revSPORT portal so that your instructors and coaches can register to attend (here are some examples from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and Townsville Sailing Club who are already doing this).

Contact any key persons who should also be present on the day to ensure they will be available, e.g., your clubs Commodore, Flag Officers, Club Management, etc… 

Consider if there is someone from your local community that you could ask to present something of Interest on the day, for example does your club have a successful local sailor who may be able to provide an inspirational speech or Q&A session, a local coach who is well respected by your training team, or a guest speaker from your State maritime safety department.

Lastly, ensure that all the equipment you need for the day will be available and in good service to use, and that you are prepared with what you will deliver and how during the day. Below is a sample schedule of how your day may run:

Australian Sailing have created a suite of resources to assist you with delivering your instructor and coach induction training day, these resources contribute to great Club Participation Program delivery and can be found here ready for you to adapt and use.

Should you require any further assistance with planning or delivering an instructor and coach induction training day at your club this season, please contact your local Club Support Officer.