Get the lowdown on Volvo RYA Champion Clubs
 
Becoming a Volvo RYA Champion Club has never been easier or more worthwhile thanks to the launch of the scheme’s new website.
 
Following the recent announcement that Sport England is committing £1.1m to the RYA’s flagship Volvo RYA Champion Club, OnBoard and Team15 youth initiatives to further enhance club coach and volunteer development across England over the next three years, the new website tells clubs everything they need to know about just what becoming a Champion Club could do for them and how to go about applying.
 
The site also offers a multitude of best practice tips, downloadable resources such as exercises and games for coaches and instructors and case studies of some of the 143 clubs in the UK that already proudly bear the Volvo RYA Champion Club banner.
 
Launched in 1997, the Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme recognises those sailing clubs with a commitment to youth sailing and race coaching in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
 
It aims to encourage young sailors and windsurfers at grassroots level to stay in the sport and learn to compete while encouraging clubs to introduce youngsters to the sport and help develop their skills through quality club-based activity and RYA race training programmes.
 
For many clubs it also proves to be an effective way of motivating and empowering volunteers, increasing membership, and raising revenue. Involvement in the programme often inspires clubs to take a more structured approach to their development leading to a club’s long-term success.
 
RYA Champion Clubs Liaison Officer, James Tilley, believes there has never been a more exciting time to get involved in the scheme.
He said: “Being a Volvo RYA Champion Club has always offered clubs who want to progress and move forward fantastic benefits and opportunities to help them achieve their ambitions and make sailing and windsurfing increasingly accessible to young people in the UK.
 
“The desire for a website to act as a one-stop shop for existing Champion Clubs looking for further advice and guidance or new clubs exploring the possibility of becoming a Champion Club became apparent at our Club Conferences last Autumn and we have endeavoured to provide a site we hope will assist clubs whatever their query or requirements.
 
“For the first time clubs can download Champion Club and volunteer grant application forms from the website while workshop notes from club conferences, such as Running Effective Race Training, are also available to download.”
 
James added: “It really is an exciting time to be involved in the Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme and the incentives are there for every club to take full advantage of. The easier we can make it for more clubs to do that then the quicker the sport of sailing will benefit.”
 
Get the full lowdown on the Volvo RYA Champion Club Programme at www.rya.org.uk/vcc now!