ACA Level 2 SUP Instructor Certification Workshop - February 27th - March 1st

Fifteen years ago when I was in my first year of paddling I got some great advice from a mentor.  "Don't worry about the certifications" he said, "focus on your paddling."  From that point on I've never taken an assessment until I was absolutely, positively sure I was ready and able to pass.

• personal paddling skills
• teaching skills
• technical knowledge
• rescue ability 
• safety / judgement / leadership ability
• ambassadorship

These are the six criteria we're using to judge where people fit on the ACA SUP instructor scale.  It's a difficult job assessing multiple candidates over multiple days on multiple things.  It's difficult to decide whether a candidate really has their skills down or if they just seem to be paddling well at that time.  Will they stick with it and maintain their skills or will they get certified and become complacent, neglecting to improve any more.  

Assessments are subjective and difficult.  I do my best but many times it's not black and white.  When it's questionable, I'm now in the mindset to make the candidate work harder, reinforcing their skills and making my decision less questionable.

This past weekend, Mitch Silverstein and I ran an L2 Instructor Certification Workshop in Half Moon Bay for 6 candidates.  Fun people, fun conditions, fun course.