Regional focus to promote girls sailing

There wasn’t much on the 2020 racing calendar that survived the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the casualty count was the US Junior Women’s Singlehanded and Doublehanded National Championships for ages 13 to 18 years.

For 2021, with uncertainty still in the forecast, a Plan B is underway to fulfill the mission of these events to promote female sailing.

In place of these national championships, US Sailing is offering a series of seven regional junior women’s clinics. This unique, all girls regional clinic series provides junior sailors with a chance to build their skills in an all-female environment and foster friendships for a lifetime.

The three-day clinic will be comprised of group presentations, on the water drills, and practice racing. US Sailing Coaches are provided to lead training and coach all competitors to enhance the experience, sailing skills, and competitive sportsmanship of the group. No private coaching is allowed.

“When we were planning these clinics, keeping everything local was the way we could ensure that they happen,” said Alana O’Reilly Marks, chair of the US Junior Women’s National Championships. “If we need to cancel one clinic due to restrictions, we can still deliver on all the other ones.

“We have also noticed with our events that we get strong local attendance and are hoping that by having regional clinics, we will be able to reach more girls that may not know about our events or may not be able to travel far to participate.

“Our goal is also to have all female coaches at the clinics, and for some regions, this program will assist their female coaches to gain more exposure to higher level instructors. Overall, we see this regional clinic series as a great way to familiarize the regions about our events.

“This plan for 2021 will help us prepare for when we return in 2022 to hosting the U.S. Junior Women’s Singlehanded Championship for the Leiter Trophy and the U.S. Junior Women’s Doublehanded Championships for the Ida Lewis Trophy.”

Registration opens May 3. For event info and clinic regions: https://www.ussailing.org/competition/championships/2021-u-s-junior-womens-singlehanded-championship/