I can't believe anyone going to blame the squad coaches.  They get a group of kids which they can only assume want to be there and the coaches do their best to help the sailors improve and get the most out of their sailing. 
I don't know of any coach who will try and talk kids into doing something they don't want to. 
The kids who really want it and are more likely to go far are quite obvious to the coaches.  They'll have more enthusiasm, complain endlessly when you say it's time to go back to shore, and they'll be the ones paying full attention and bugging you with questions in the debreifs. 

The coaches I know doing the zone squad stuff for toppers of a certain region say they luckily haven't yet met any oppy style parents and as if by magical coincidence all the kids they currently have seem really enthusiastic to be there. 

I think that the RYA Squad training scheme is extremely detrimental to club sailing and sailing as a whole and feel very strongy about this.

Many generations of youngsters have been natured through our club and when they get to a stage of showing talent the RYA scoops them off into squads, discouraging them from club sailing leaving there peers demoralised and also lacking a depth of competition , those left behind become disenfranchised and generally dissapear . Of those that go on to squads only a few will remain after selection whittling down and burnout leaving few sailing,

This system however has worked in RYA's eyes as their  goal ultimately is excellence in Olympic Competition as stated in their objectives

"Britain's champions 

Promotion through excellence.

Supporting performance
As the national governing body, the RYA has the responsibility to help Britain’s brightest sailing and windsurfing talents fulfil their potential, from the early stages of their competitive careers to the pinnacle of winning Olympic medals."

 

With the last crop of medals one can hardly argue that they have failed in this respect.

 

But in the course of persuing this a lot of people are left by the way side , club junior training programms are decimated and the natural  flow of members from young to old seriously undermined , clubs work very hard to build a foundation of young sailors to build on for future membership and the RYA just takes it all away.

 

i speak from experience , my childrens generation , started off with over 80 Children at start and finished with a handful , of those that went down the squaddie route only 1 still sails regularily .

 

The same process is going on again allready with the next generation , same pattern

 

My Club HSC is an RYA training establishment , the first Volvo Youth Club In Scotland for what that was worth , nothing , We produced an Olympic Gold Winner in Mike Mc Intyre whose grounding was in STRONG club racing .

Finally I hate to think of the RYAs CO 2 footprint , forceing squaddies to travel near every weekend to far flung corners of the country .

Surely developing STRONG CLUB racing /training and supporting same developing talented sailors that way and sharing their abilities which increase competion as a whole must have its merits .

To the vast majority of sailors winning gold medals either way is not going to meet a scrap of difference , and I detect a lack of respect from other countries for  our highly focussed highly funded Olympic targetted programms , hardly the corinthian objective of Olympic sailing .

 

Guess I have issues 

 

 

 

it seems to me, that as a country we spend a lot of time complaining about how bad our sportspeople are.

and hear we are complaining that we are producing olympic winners!

the squad system should be left to do what it does well, but the rya should have other programs to help sailers who leave the squad system to stay within the sport, and also have programs to help attract people to clubs and the joys of club racing.

not all footballers go to the world cup, most just play for a pub team on a sunday!

See my post under "big handicaps".

My son is in an optimist zone squad. He loves it, the coaches are great, he's making loads of good friends, learning lots and enjoying every aspect of his sailing.

He doesn't sail at our home club much at the moment, but when he does he is welcomed by all. Our club is very proud of our youngsters achievements. 

I think it is short sighted to look at the impact as a 'now' thing.

Whilst the youths may not be at their clubs much right now, as they get older they will return, bringing a lot of experience to share, perhaps even with kids of their own.

It may not even be their childhood club they return to, but it will be a club. This is where the 'putting back' happens, not when they are 16.