Coaching Education

Coaching Education at Craftsbury

If you are enrolled in the USRowing Coaching Educational Program you can earn continuing education credits by coming to a week or weekend camp at Craftsbury.

Those attending Craftsbury Sculling Camp, as a camp participant, earn ten (10) credits.

Those attending Craftsbury Sculling Camp, as a staff coach, earn twenty (20) credits.

At the conclusion of your camp, a Continuing Education Credit Form will be available to send into USRowing to receive credit towards your certification. Questions about the USRowing program should be directed to Willie Black, willieb@usrowing.org.

Q & A: Becoming a Better Coach
Being a Camper at Craftsbury

Continuing education is a vital and necessary part of developing your skills as a coach or as an athlete in rowing. As you learn more within the sport, you will be able to perform at higher levels, interpret training methods more comprehensively, and have a greater understanding of technique. Most licensed professions have continuing education requirements to stay updated on new methods or developments within their profession. In occupational therapy, for example, 25 continuing education course hours are required every two-year period to maintain licensure. Requirements vary between professions but the need for professional development is universally accepted. When you look at your own rowing career whether as a coach or an athlete, investing in education periodically is a natural part of improving. Here we take this concept and apply it to our own situation as coaches and rowers to answer the question: How would going to Craftsbury Sculling Camp benefit me?

Question: I have been rowing for 5 years and would like to get into coaching, how would coming to Craftsbury help me learn?

Answer: A sculling camp situation is a concentrated situation. As in a language-immersion program, you have the luxury to "live in a rowing environment." You devote your time at Craftsbury to learning about rowing without outside distractions. If you have rowing experience, but have never coached, coming to Craftsbury is a productive way to listen to how other coaches present concepts of the stroke in both discussion and demonstration. Also, since you will be a sculling student you will be able to experience first-hand how our coaches identify faults and make corrections. Through your Craftsbury experience you can be introduced to the steps of how to approach coaching and work with other athletes.

Question: I am a high school sweep coach, what could I gain from coming to a Craftsbury camp?

Answer: Putting yourself in the role of the student instead of the coach gives you the opportunity to receive new information about the stroke, as well as, new ways of communicating important concepts to your athletes. When several coaches are on our sculling camp staff you can learn from each individual's experience and coaching style plus you have free time over meals or in the evening to talk about ideas you may have in a setting outside of your daily situation. Many successful sports coaches continually put themselves in the role of the student to broaden their understanding of teaching methods and experience the styles of other coaches who are highly regarded in their respective fields. A recent swim coach explained that going to the clinics and camps of other sport disciplines have been the most helpful means of becoming a better teacher; by experiencing different personal approaches and styles of many professional coaches.

Question: I coach sweep rowing but I don't feel confident coaching sculling, how can Craftsbury benefit me?

Answer: Because you choose to play the role of a student, you will go through the process of learning the skills yourself. Experience by learning will give you insight to the novice's situation, as well as give you time for experimentation. Trial and error learning combined with the accelerated learning curve that you get in a camp situation will help you make the transition to coaching sculling faster and more confidently. When you are at Craftsbury you have the knowledge of professional coaches at your disposal, ask lots of questions, get advice, network, and have fun absorbing as much information as you can.

Question: I am a competitive sculler and row year-round with our club's coached program; does it make sense for me to come to Craftsbury though I have a coach?

Answer: It does. The main reason being that no matter how good you are or how good you think your program is there is always more to learn within the sport if you are open to it. The world of sports is a blend of art and science. Sculling is no exception. Putting yourself in a position to hear different points of view, new coaching styles or to experience a fresh way of executing an element of technique can be very valuable and refreshing to your progress as an athlete. Besides, having some days of uninterrupted concentration on your own rowing gives you the time to make breakthroughs you might not have just rowing 90 minutes a day.

Question: What else is good about Craftsbury Sculling Camp? Why go?

Answer: Craftsbury is the most established sculling camp and one of the best parts about Craftsbury is to be with other people who row (they are fun people by nature). After the formal classes, training, and lectures; meeting people like you who all have a passion or at least a curiosity to know about this sport is usually the material for great conversations around the campfire. Off-water times are as memorable and valuable as on-water time. You make friends from around the world, you meet top professionals in the sport, and most of all you have fun doing exactly what you love to do. Row.

Looking forward to seeing you this season. Enjoy sculling and keep on learning.