World Sailing launches new four-year coaching scholarship programme

World Sailing launches new four-year coaching scholarship programme © World Sailing

World Sailing is celebrating the launch of the World Sailing Coaches Scholarship 2025-2028, a brand-new programme for Member National Authorities (MNAs) which targets coaches and instructors working in grassroots sailing through to national level.

Supported by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Olympic Solidarity, each programme combines experiential learning on the water with in-person sessions and online modules for a flexible approach to delivering high impact coaching.

The updated programme will introduce two separate Coach Scholarship options, the Development Coaches Scholarship and the Performance Coaches Scholarship, each providing specific in-depth skills development for an athlete in preparation to attend an international event.

Development Coaches Scholarship

This programme is aimed at Coach and Instructors with a drive to develop their grassroots sailing program. The course will focus on the skills to teach sailing as well as how to develop a Learn to Sail and Learn to Race Programme for Sailors of all ages, how to run a sailing school, how to manage coaches and volunteers, and end with progressing to learn to race coaching.

Performance Coaches Scholarship

This programme aims to develop High Performance Coaches working at a national level within their MNA. Attendees will be working with national level Youth to Adult athletes and want to improve their skills and knowledge as a coach, as their athletes start to compete internationally. Coaches will receive a year-long programme that can be applied to their own sailors and competitive landscape.

Read more about both scholarship programmes on the World Sailing website.

Applications for the first Performance Coaches Scholarship, beginning in September 2025, will open on 11 April 2025 and will close on 30 April 2025.

For more information, MNAs and their prospective coach attendees are invited to register for the upcoming online information session. The session will be held on Thursday 10 April 2025 at 1100 UTC/1200 BST.

Fiona Kidd, World Sailing's Head of International Development, said, "The 2025 to 2028 World Sailing Coaches Scholarship is an important step forward in the worldwide growth of the sport and ongoing development of sailing from grassroots to high performance competition.

"With the support of the former World Sailing Development and Regions Committee and World Sailing Coaches and Team Leaders Commission, each program has been designed to address the current and future needs of the sport. Over the next four years, we are committed to equipping coaches with the skills and resources they need to develop sailors at every stage, from beginners to the highest levels of competition."