Clubs 

As a Team15 club you should be running regular weekly sessions for your Team15 members and as a result you will be seeing sailors develop their skills as well as your coaches.

• So what are the next steps open to you?
• Funding opportunities
• Developing club activity for Post Team15 sailors and adults
• Upgrade to become a Volvo Champion Club and reap the benefits
• Attend one of the RYA Clubs and Coach Conferences

So what are the next steps open to you?

We’d definitely encourage you towards joining in with the inter-club challenges. To start with you don’t need a large team – you can turn up with just one or two children – but from this you may discover there is more interest and very soon you’ll be up to a full team of 15. The camaraderie the kids get from sailing as a team is amazing and will really strengthen your Team15 club. Local media is very good at picking up press releases relating to inter-club activity, so by participating you could help raise the profile of your Team15 club in your local area, which in turn will help your club grow.  

Funding opportunities

Many Team15 clubs operate on a small basis due to a lack of club equipment and volunteer instructors and helpers; funding may be available to help both of these areas. If you are interested in increasing the size of your Team15 club to allow you to offer Team15 to more children, then make contact with your RYA Regional Development Officer (RDO) to find out what funding pots may be available to you.  

Additionally, we know how hard it is for Team15 clubs operating out of commercial and LEA centres (rather than constituted sailing clubs) to gain funding. With this in mind we have worked with the RYA legal department to try and find a solution. The 'Friends of Team15...' legal pack is the answer. It just might help Team15 clubs gain outside funding to help expand their club. Worth a try perhaps? We'd be interested to know how many Team15 clubs proceed down this route and how many are successful in gaining funding.

Developing club activity for post Team15 sailors and adults

Additionally, Sport England (who part fund the RYA) have a new focus on encouraging adults into sport. As a result, adult participation in windsurfing and sailing are now a major focus for RYA Sport Development, with resources for the first time to support this area of development.

With the target age group being 16+, this dovetails very neatly into Team15. There are some great examples of clubs who have developed club activity for post Team15 sailors, Team15 parents and the wider windsurfing community which your Regional Development Officer (RDO) can discuss in detail with you. Funding may be available to get new initiatives off the ground so make sure to engage with your RDO.

Click here to read how members of the Axbridge Animals Team15 applied for and received funding to set set up their post-15 club.  

Upgrade to become a Volvo RYA Champion Club and reap the benefits

You can still keep your Team15 status but you will also benefit from funding opportunties and volunteer support, currently not available through the Team15 programme. It may even help you to get to the Champions Cup!

We would encourage all clubs currently taking part in Team15 inter-club challenges to consider becoming an Volvo RYA Champion Club (VCC). If some of your team are sailing Techno boards then without realising, you are probably already achieving some of the requirements to fulfil VCC status.

A number of Team15 have already applied for or achieved VCC status; they are still allowed to participate in the T15 inter-club events. So why not give your Team15 club a bit of a boost and help your club gain a place at the next T15 Champions Cup?

If you are interested in taking this next step, which would encourage all Team15 clubs to do,  then please liaise with your High Performance Manager (HPM). ‘See also’ for more in depth information.

Attend one of the RYA Clubs & Coach Conferences

The RYA Club and Coach Conferences are aimed at all those with an interest in or involved in delivering, planning or coordinating club training, racing and coaching for both juniors and adults. This includes Team15 clubs. The conferences take place at various venues around the country with a view to encouraging attendance. They are one day affairs, taking place usually over the first weekend in December. Once details are confirmed, dates and venues will be updated to this page.