SWSA Young Instructor Programme

What is the young instructor programme?

The young instructor programme is designed to improve employability and encourage young people to learn more about leadership. The programme will aim to help participants acheive numerous internationally recognised qualifications as listed below:

  • Royal Yachting Association Small Craft First Aid

  • British Canoeing Paddle Sport Safety and Rescue Training

  • British Canoeing Paddle Sport Instructor

  • British Stand Up Paddleboard Association Level 1 Instructor

  • Royal Yachting Association Power Boat Level 2

Each of the qualifications listed above will be acheived through training at Stranraer Water Sports and will be assessed by external trainers. These qualifications will enable the participants to continue their watersports journey as instructors both within the UK and abroad.

A large part of the training to acheive these qualifications will be through practical learning. Our aim is that this learning will be consolidated by the participants running “Kids Club” sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights whilst being supervised by SWSA staff. This will allow participants to take ownership over the delivery of sessions and will provide opportunities to better understand the needs that different participants have.

When is the young instructor programme?

The young instructor programme will begin in the summer of 2023 and will run through to the summer of 2024. There is a high level of commitment required to acheive the qualifications listed above which means we would expect involvement of participants on average a few hours a week. Predominantly we would meet with participants on Tuesday or Thursday evenings, however, there may be requests of additional days, for example, to take part in training and/or assessments. If you wanted to come down for more days then we would be happy for you to do so too!

Who can Apply?

We encourage anyone who is enthusiastic about watersports to apply for the programme! If you have previous experience - great! If you don’t have as much experience but you’re willing to work hard - that’s also great! We do require participants to be between the ages of 14 (by the end of 2023) - 24 in order to be eligible for all training and qualifications.

How to apply

Understandably we expect this programme to be very popular and as a result we will need to run an application and interview process. If you do feel like you’d be a good fit for the young instructor programme in 2023 please send your CV to stranraerwatersports@gmail.com by the 7th of July and we will contact you to arrange an interview.