Nominations sought for 2012 Coach of the Year Awards

by Dana Paxton on 6 Dec 2012 US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) is seeking nominations from the public for the 2012 Coach of the Year Awards in Sailing. The OSC will select coaches in five categories that recognize outstanding achievement at the local, national and international level. The awards are a part of the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Coach Recognition Program which recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of U.S. coaches who train athletes at all levels of sailing.

Nominations will be accepted from the public until Dec. 31, 2012, via e-mail to olympics@ussailing.org.

Each nomination should include the nominee’s coaching record for 2012, any honors or recognitions the nominee has received, and a description of their service and support to the sport. In addition to this information, the nominator should include a phone number for both the nominator and the nominee. After nominations have been submitted, a panel designated by the OSC will evaluate each nominee’s accomplishments and submit candidates to the USOC. All awards are based on the accomplishments of the coach for the 2012 year and each nominee must currently be a coach or within one year after their retirement.

The five categories for National Coach of the Year nominations:

1. National Coach A National Coach of the Year nominee is a coach of an Elite Level Club, Collegiate, Pan-Am Championship or Olympic Games coach or the coach of an elite athlete who competes at the highest level in sailing.

Nominations should include details about the performance of the nominee’s athletes, including national and world championship medals, the caliber of the wins and/or the extraordinary measure of the wins.

Previous winners of sailing’s National Coach of the Year Award are Mark Ivey (Tiburon, Calif.), Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.), Bill Ward (Newport Beach, Calif.), Zachary Leonard (Branford, CT), Rollin 'Skip' Whyte (Wickford, R.I.), Roger 'Scott' Ikle (Geneva, N.Y.), Serge Jorgensen (Sarasota, Fla.), Jay Glaser (Long Beach, Calif.), Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) and Luther Carpenter (New Orleans, La.).

2. Volunteer Coach A Volunteer Coach of the Year Nominee is a coach who does not receive payment in any form for their involvement in coaching at any level.

Previous winners of sailing’s Volunteer Coach of the Year Award are Greg Koman (Burlington, Vt.), Carrie Rohde (Richmond Hill, Ga.), Matt Dubois (Grosse Ile, Mich.), Ryan Hamm (Charleston, S.C.), Susan Kaseler (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) and T. Park McRitchie (Port Clinton, Ohio).

3. Development Coach A Development Coach of the Year nominee is a coach of youth club, high school or junior-level coach, or a coach directly responsible for coaching athletes to the junior and/ or elite level.

Previous winners of sailing’s Developmental Coach of the Year Award include Jay Kehoe (Annapolis, Md.) Ryan Minth (New York, N.Y.), Brett Davis (Naples, Fla.), Ben Glass (Seattle, Wash.), Duffy Markham (Wellesley, Mass.), Tom Coleman (Hixson, Tenn.), Rob Hallawell (Marblehead, Mass./Coronado, Calif.), Brian Doyle (Darien, Conn./Hanover, N.H.), Amy Gross-Kehoe (Bayville, N.Y.), Adam Werblow (St. Mary's, Md.) and Mike Zani (Bristol, R.I.).

4. Paralympic Coach A Paralympic Coach of the Year nominee is a coach of an Elite Level Club, Collegiate, Pan-Am, World Championship or Olympic Games coach or the coach of a Paralympic class athlete who competes at the highest level of sailing.

Nominations should include details about the performance of the nominee’s athletes, including national and world championship medals, the caliber of the wins and/or the extraordinary measure of the wins.

5. 'Doc' Counsilman Science Award The nominee for this award is a coach that utilizes scientific techniques/ equipment as an integral part of his/her coaching methods, or has created innovative ways to use sport science. The 'use of science in sport' includes, but is not limited to, biomechanics, nutrition, psychology, strength and conditioning, exercise physiology, etc.

In January, the OSC will announce US Sailing’s Coach of the Year Awards. The committee will then nominate the winners to the USOC for consideration as Coach of the Year Awards recipients across all Olympic and Paralympic sports. The USOC will announce the National Coach of the Year Award sometime in the late spring 2013.

The goals of the USOC’s Coaching Recognition Program are to recognize the accomplishments and contributions coaches make to sports at all levels of athlete development and to elevate the status of coaching as a profession. For more information about these awards or to submit a nomination, please e-mail US Sailing website