COLLEGE SAILING LIFE
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
The University of Georgia Sailing Team hit a high
point this spring when named Competitive Sports
Club Sport of the Year at the university. For the
sailors, such recognition is four years in the making.
“We’ve been working tirelessly for the past four
years to check all of the boxes, satisfy the club
sports requirement, and most importantly—to be the
best club we can be for our members,” says Allison
Chenard, the race team captain. “It’s a huge accom-
plishment as the university has 40 club sports. Being
recognized for our hard work was a great pat on the
back and motivation to keep growing.”
To be eligible to win this award, the team had
to meet administrative compliance by following
club sport policies and attending mandatory
training sessions, as well as performance criteria
by representing the team and UGA within the local
community, the general sailing community and at
regattas outside the area.
About four years ago, sailing team members
decided to expand the sailing club to be more
reachable and therefore more successful as a
whole with the goal of getting more students out
on the water in the capacity they desired.
“We worked to make it a ordable, accessible,
and diverse, and because of that we grew from
12 members in 2015 to upwards of 85 at our highest
point in four years,” Chenard says. “Running a clubsport is like running a small business,
and there’s a staggering amount of
paperwork, emails, meetings, etc. As the
club grew, those requirements with UGA
only amplifi ed and it was a task for the
o cers to operate on a bigger scale to
be awarded this honor.”
Changes the team made include
expanding from the race team format,
which has existed at the school for
40 years, to include a cruising team and
an o shore team. The team practiced on a small
lake near the school with only two boats, but now
has a membership with the Lake Lanier Sailing Club,
which allows the sailors to use the facilities, eight
420s and coach boats, as well as being a part of the
yacht club community.
“When the team joined Lake Lanier Sailing Club
our program began to come together into what it
is today,” Chenard says. “Joining also gave us the
ability to expand and train properly to compete at a
higher level with the other teams in SAISA.”
The team used to have about 12 dedicated
members, but grew to about 34 members in the
2018-19 school year. It held nearly 51 practices this
year and traveled to more regattas.
“The recent expansion of the team is being
supported by a healthy cycle of bringing up new
members in the values we hold to eventually hand
the program to those who have the same drive,”
Chenard says. “Our current seniors and recent
alumni should be credited with setting the tone
of the new program. They’ve attacked the goals
of the new team with such vivacity and, in turn,
have attracted students with the same goals and
mindset to carry it forward beyond their time at
UGA. It took the dedication and vision of that small
group four years ago to build the strong foundation
that we have today.” —Jennifer MitchellMYLOR BOARD
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COLLEGE RANKINGS
PRESENTED BYCOURTESY UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SAILING TEAMGetting better recognition as
a club sport at a big university
requires great e ort and
determination.COED
01 Stanford
01 Yale
03 Charleston
04 Dartmouth
05 Navy
06 Georgetown
07 Bowdoin
08 Hobart & Wm. Smith
09 Boston College
10 BrownWOMEN
01 Brown
02 MIT
03 Yale
04 Charleston
05 Boston College
06 Cornell
07 Dartmouth
08 Pennsylvania
09 Hobart & Wm. Smith
10 HarvardSPRING RANKINGS, NO. 4.
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