JanetL Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 (edited) Summer Skills sessions return for 2022! Skills Practice sessions are a series of on-the-water events offering NSPN members opportunities to practice and improve their fundamental paddling skills. These sessions will be held in coastal saltwater locations, allowing us to practice in a range of real-world conditions from protected water to open ocean. Sue H and Janet L are the organizers for this year’s program. Each session is dedicated to specific kayaking skills, with peer facilitators from the club who will assist the practice and development of strokes and other ocean kayaking skills. The goal for these sessions is peer-facilitated practice, not professional coaching or instruction – those are great things, but not what we are offering with our sessions. Sessions will typically split into pods, each with its own facilitator(s). Although there will be a topic-of-the-day for each session, the activities of each pod are steered by its members, so not all pods will do the same things in the same way. All attendees are encouraged to contribute their own practice ideas. Skills Practice is a dogma-free zone! Who can benefit from Skills Practice? Any NSPN member, from newbie to expert, can get something out of a Skills Practice session. Practice at the level that works best for you. If you are familiar with a topic and want to help others gain that knowledge, consider being a facilitator. Is this some kind of official NSPN course on “How To Paddle”? Nope, it’s not official, and it’s not even a set course. The focus is on picking up skills from each other, without prescribing any single way to paddle. What you get at a given session depends on who is there and your willingness to “practice” (sometimes this is simply listening, observing and asking questions, remember, you are in the driver’s seat!) Where and when does this happen? Sessions begin at 9:00 am sharp on Saturday or Sunday mornings at various locations in the North Shore/NH area, and will usually end from 1-2 pm. See date listing below, and NSPN trip calendar for dates. Exact locations and activity focus will be announced a few days in advance to reflect weather and sea conditions. Some sessions will incorporate a brief paddling trip. Want to attend a session? A link to a sign up form will be posted about 1 week before each session. There are no level requirements: all members are welcome. The number of slots will be limited depending on the number of facilitators available for a given session. However, some sessions may work best if you’ve done a preceding session that lays some foundation. What do I need? Our sessions are using American Canoe Association insurance, so you will need either an annual ACA membership ($40) or a 1 day membership ($10) for each session that you attend.. You will need a closed-deck sea kayak suitable for coastal paddling, with sealed bulkheads or float bags, and grab lines along the perimeter. Dress for immersion and a spray skirt are required (and for a few sessions, a helmet). Bring lunch, snacks and fluids for yourself. Optionally, bring a tow line, radio, and spare paddles. (Don’t have something? Contact the organizers and we’ll try to scare something up for you.) Want to facilitate a session pod? We want you on board to share your knowledge! Please PM the organizers with your availability, contact information, sessions of interest, experience helping other paddlers improve, and gear you may be able to lend. How does facilitation work? Although demonstration and explanation are part of the picture, the main aim of Skills Practice is to give paddlers the experience of performing a skill. This often involves breaking it down into clear, approachable steps. Before each session, we’ll have some online exchange among facilitators to share our thoughts. Got another question? Post it here or send us a PM (JanetL / Sue H.) Tentative dates: subject to change and will be kept up to date on the NSPN Calendar. June 26 July 10 July 17 July 31 Aug 21 Sept 25 Edited January 20, 2022 by mhabich ACA day cost updated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rmrand Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 Janet - I am game for getting on the water more and I can use some skill sessions. Thanks for organizing. Please include me in future details. Thanks, Romaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Martin Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Thanks in advance for setting this up - would love to help out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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