Manor Park SC in Staffordshire saw a fantastic turnout for our first 'Women On the Water' (WOW!) session on Saturday.
Aimed at getting more women out on the water and at least having a go at sailing, 'WOW!' saw the staggering arrival of 22 eager local ladies all keen to take their first steps along the dinghy sailing path.
Manor Park Rear-Commodore Emma Dodd commented: "Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent were keen for us to provide a women-only environment for new lady sailors as part of their 'This Girl Can' campaign, so we set about putting a plan in place."
The project itself is aimed at getting women involved in sport who otherwise may not put physical activity at the top of their social pastime.
"We were able to provide a primary female instructor, as well as several of our young female Assistant Instructors, so that our ladies might feel just that bit more relaxed" said Emma, "Our fleet of Coypus, Quests and Bahia training boats give us stable, non-scary platforms to work from and, of course, lots of free cake was also on offer."
After advertising the event via social media, club website, local supermarkets, county council intranet boards and local village magazines Manor Park had a very busy first session on Saturday.
"We were amazed by the response on the day - with others already having emailed or called to say that they couldn't make the first session but were keen to take part in subsequent days."
"Ultimately, we're attempting to take a group of fairly physically inactive women through their RYA Level One and Level Two programmes and, hopefully, beyond into sailing as a hobby in general."
The sessions at Manor Park take place every Saturday afternoon from 130pm to around 4pm and Wednesday evenings from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
A fantastic start to a project that is hoped to draw even more people into our sport. For any other details, contact Emma Dodd at editor@mpsc.co.uk
This initiative is supported by Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
