Middlebury College Sailing would like to introduce our new head coach, Connor Needham! He has recently joined us and put the wind back in our sails for an exciting new season! Here is what Connor has to say: Just graduating from RWU last Spring I was very sad to be leaving the collegiate sailing level. Collegiate sailing proved to be some of the toughest and most competitive sailing I have ever encountered in my life. The pure talent form the many schools I sailed against not only pushed me as an athlete to become a better sailor but it also helped me become more professional with my time management. I found myself planning my class schedule around workouts, practice and night chalk talks, all of which consumed more time then my actual education. In the 4 years at RWU I had the unique experience of having one of the best team race coaches in the country along with one of the best teams, winning a national championship in my freshmen year. Not only did my coach help with the foundation to my success in sailing but my teammates were the structure that held everything together and helped me grow rapidly as a sailing athlete. Constantly everyday in practice as a freshmen I was always being toyed with by the upperclassmen. They would always find humor in purposefully sitting on my breeze upwind and matching my tacks so that I couldnt get away. As annoying as this was at the time, I later learned that through this horse play I slowly became better because it pushed me to become faster then them so that they couldnt continue their shenanigans on the water. As the years progressed I rapidly became faster and smarter on the water. Towards my Junior and Senior year I had finally picked up team racing to the point that I was moved into the 3 spot on the team, making it to nationals in the spring of 2014. Over spring break senior year I outdid my coaches expectations and exponentially grew as a team racer. My coach awarded me the MIP (Most Improved Player) Award and the Coaches Award, for my outstanding performance both on the water and in school, completing my B.S. in mechanical engineering. This all has led me to the path of wanting to continue sailing and to share my knowledge with others so the sport can continue to prosper. When in contact with the Middlebury sailing team it was clear that they were very focused and organized students. The team is unbelievably organized and extremely well structured, this helped me immensely since I was stepping into the job weeks into the season. As much as money plays a role in many peoples job selection, I chose this job due to the organization and dedication that I had observed from the team. Now working here, it is clear that I made the right decision. Each and every sailor has their own personality but ALL of them are committed to becoming better sailors. I am 22 years old and as much as this could be seen as an issue, I see it more as a challenge to keep me focused everyday on making this team better. Every single person on this team is an amazing and fantastic human being and it makes me more driven to coach them everyday. I am very excited, proud and thankful to have this job at Middlebury and I look forward to a very good two seasons with this team. Welcome Connor!
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 19:31:32 +0000
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