everthing for free. . .
Published October 7, 2007 | 
Don’t tell me you don’t use money in the 23rd Century. . .
Now of course most coaches like myself spend more hours than we can count helping, coaching and answering questions outside of our more “official” situations. Heck even when we are getting paid, we are lucky if the stipend we get covers fuel. No one is getting rich here. Really, no one wants to either. Most coaches just enjoy sharing their joy of paddling with you. But do you really expect THEM to pay for your instruction? Either the organization pays the coach, or the shop, or you. If none of those happen, we as coaches take on the expenses ourselves. Most active coaches will happily tell you the kind of expenses they actually take on for their own love of helping others enjoy the sport.
Look at it this way. For the average symposium coaches may or may not get a small stipend for attending. (small meaning. . small. . LOL!) They may or may not get food or lodging covered. Whatever costs you take on beyond that for travel, food lodging and such are your own. Of course if you are going to bring your family since you are gone a few days. There is more cost. Or you leave them home which has a cost of it’s own! LOL! Last summer for the average symposium where I taught, I still spent about $300 (each) of my own money when all was said and done.
For our investment we arrive a day or two early, run to meetings before and after classes, teach our classes, haul gear, drive shuttles, skip meals (and sometimes showers!), and all the other bits that go into making an event run smoothly. Frankly we LOVE it. Still though, when someone questions having to pay anything for instruction. . I keep hearing Captain Kirk telling Scotty to “beam him up!”.
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5 Responses to everthing for free. . .
I agree with you 100%. Thanks for the note. I am amazed that people grumble at the costs of paddling courses. For argument sake, most courses average $100-150/day to take. That is chicken feed compared to many of the advertised corporate “leadership” courses that get advertised at my work. They average $500-800 per day! And there is no certification attached to it!
Cheers,
David H. Johnston
http://www.paddlinginstructor.com
You know there are just some people who cant afford $150 a day! For some people $150 is 2 days net wages.(Maybe there the grumblers?) I dont mind paying for classes but you know for some people thats a lot of money! Also Corporate “leadership” courses for $500 – $800 must be nice for corporate types. Thats 1 week or 2 weeks wages for 60% of our great USA. Most of them are not kayakers. I wish when we become affluent enough to pay $800 for a leadership course we wouldnt forget that not all are as affluent as they.
People ARE making money in the sea kayaking business — the manufacturers of kayaks and gear. I recently heard about a certain kayak manufacturer in Canada that is tripling the size of their facility to meet demand. Why is it that people are willing to pay over $3000 for a kayak but nothing for certification? It’s almost criminal that kayak manufacturers should be making money when instructors aren’t. The way instructors can really make money is to promote and sell stuff — kayaks, drysuits, equipment — and take a cut.
Another problem is that there is what sea kayaking IS, and what sea kayaking ASPIRES TO BE. I’ve heard people in the trade grumble about how they need to get more athletic YOUNG people involved. The average age of the reader of Sea Kayaker Magazine is 48! Well face it — young people don’t have the money, and don’t have the time. If people in the trade want to make money, I suggest that they market the sport to the people who have the leisure time and who can pay for instruction — the well-heeled middle age crowd.
You skip showers?
lots of good points. Sea kayaking is not cheap by any means. It was certainly hard for me to get the cash up to take classes, go to symposiums or whatever too. Still, it’s just the way it is. Hell, even if classes were free, the cost of owning the gear is pretty intense as it is.
I think too sea kayaking appeals to the 40s crowd because YOU CAN. In a sea kayak the reality is that in your 40′s you are not really hampered by your age. My own experience is although I could’nt race skilled 20 somethings. I can paddle distance with them just fine, handle rough water, etc. So in the sport we can keep going much longer than in some sports. ah, well maybe we get tired a bit faster LOL!