On January 23rd, the Grapevine Sailing Club named their top sailors and members of the year. Each year the organization gives out 4 major awards including Yachtsman of the Year, the Bill Mentzer Award, Sportsman of the year and Junior of the Year. In addition, the club gives out medals of distinction to the top volunteers of the year. This year the junior team brought home 3 awards for all of their hard work.
The Junior of the Year award recognizes the top Junior Sailor from Grapevine lake in both off the water support and on the water performance. Candidates should have volunteered and provided significant support off the water to help foster the junior sailing program, represented GSC in an outstanding manner in both on the lake and off-the-lake Junior regattas, and should have developed a reputation for performing with distinction and honor. This year’s winner is Lex Meyer. She has provided a major service to the Grapevine Sailing Clubs Junior program. Lex Meyer volunteered for three full weeks of summer camp this year, helping the new head instructor learn the ropes and get his bearings managing 25 kids at a time. She is always ready to lend a helping hand to the younger kids. She has raced in numerous regattas both on the lake and off finishing the year at one of the country’s premier events – the Orange Bowl regatta which had over 600 boats participating.
Like the Junior of the eyar, the Sportsman of the Year, should represent GSC in an outstanding manner in off-the-lake regattas, make significant contributions to the GSC racing program and helped others get started in racing. The sportsman should be someone who not only displays above average racing skills but who also conducts himself/herself in a sportsman like manner, someone who is a good player. This award is open to all members of the Grapevine Sailing Club and for the first time ever it has been awarded to a Junior Sailor. This years award winner is Ben Lipari. Ben has represented GSC in 7 off lake regattas in 2009 as well as in on lake events. Ben has provided support to new sailors to help them get into racing by helping them out during practice, sailing with new sailors during racing events, and working with new team
members. More than one team member said that Ben has helped them to stay with the program because of the help and support he provided both during regattas and practice. For the winter regatta, Ben stepped up and volunteered to run the regatta as PRO even though he really wanted to be on the water racing and spent over 30 hours getting the Junior boat ready to race in the regatta. He has performed well on the water and continues to put sportsmanship and the good of the overall team above individual accomplishment. For these things Ben is the recipient of the 2009 Sportsman of the year award.
Finally, Hannah Callahan received a Medal of Distinction for all of her hard work and support of the program. Medals of Distinction go to members that have provided a significant contribution to the club in the time that they volunteer. Hannah was one of 8 winners. Hannah volunteered over 3 weeks of support to the summer camp program. At practice she is always willing to help and take a leadership role in getting kids on the water and practicing. For 2010, she will become one of our official instructors and is the Junior Director for GSC.
I want to thank all three of the kids for their work and support. Without them, the junior program would not be as strong. Although sailing at the junior level is typically an individual sport, nobody is able to do it on their own. It requires help and support from people like Hannah, Ben and Lex and all of the parents that come out and help.
On January 24th we will have an annual parents meeting. This is your chance to let us know what you want for you and your kids from the Junior Sailing program. We want to hear from you. As an organization, we try to provide a learning enviroment with an inexpensive way to get out and sail sail.
Goals: Our goal with the Grapevine Sailing clubs Junior Sailing Team is to:
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Foster seamanship, sailing and racing skills in a safe and fun environment
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Encourage growth in skill and competence through both individual and team participation
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Promote Juniors attendance at all Junior activities and regattas and represent the Grapevine Sailing Club in Events throughout the state
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Develop parental involvement that will support various fleets and activities of the Junior Program
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Develop curriculum that promotes self-esteem, camaraderie, and sportsmanship both on and off the water
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This team is one of the strongest junior teams in the state of Texas. The team is made up of young boys and girls between the age of 7 and 19 that love the sport of sailing and want to get more experience on the water and in races.
Our program is focused on:
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Sailing Camps: for both racers and new recreational sailors.
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Boat Charters: we have a wide range of boats to fit any racers needs including use of support boats
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Coaching and regatta support: weekend and weeknight coaching sessions and support at the regattas
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Racing Events: we run a major TSA event (Silly String Regatta) each year as well as support our fun races for the MSA and GORC.
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Other then the paid instructors for camp, the program is all run by parent volunteers that give their time and energy to make sailing better. We want to hear what you think about the program, how you would improve it, and where we should go in the future. Please take a minute to complete this survey. And then join us on January 24th to discuss the future of Junior Sailing on Lake Grapevine.
