Together with the Danish Sailing association, Estonian Sailing Federation, Latvian Sailing Union and Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation, Foreningscoach.dk have got funding from the Nordplus Adult program to develop the next eneration umpire training.
Background
National sailing federations in Nordic/Baltic region face similar challenges in relation to umpire education. The number of match racing, team racing, and umpired fleet events is limited in each country, which makes it difficult to justify running national seminars with small groups. At the same time, the training of umpires requires a higher level of supervision and logistics than other official roles, making it more demanding to organise.
As a result, many umpires are trained informally or not at all which limits quality and consistency.
This project builds on existing collaboration within the Nordic Sailing Federation and aims to pool resources in a way that is both economically efficient and educationally strong. The initiative is also motivated by the increasing potential of online and blended learning to reduce barriers and modernise traditional training structures.
Each participating organisation sees this project as a way to improve its own capacity for training umpires, while also contributing to the development of a shared Nordic/Baltic model that can be used well beyond the scope of this project.
Project Aim
The project aims to establish a shared Nordic/Baltic training model for umpires that increases the quality and accessibility of umpire education. On the participant level, the goal is to provide learners with a modern, practice-oriented training path that qualifies them to umpire at regattas.
On the organisational level, the project supports national federations in developing costeffective, repeatable training formats.
At the regional level, the aim is to strengthen Nordic/Baltic collaboration and create a common standard that can also be applied to other race official education programmes. The combination of online tools and physical seminar delivery makes it possible to reach more learners with fewer resources, while maintaining educational quality. This format also accommodates diverse learning preferences and makes it easier for volunteers to balance learning with work and family life.
The model can later be adapted for training race officers, judges or other specialised volunteer roles.
Output
The project will deliver three things:
Online learning modules
A series of digital training resources will be developed, covering core umpiring disciplines (match racing, team racing, and umpired fleet racing).
The main part of this will be AI generated videos that explains the basic theory, so the learners are strong enough to participate at a seminar.
Facilitator manual
A guide for course instructors will be produced, detailing how to plan and deliver a highquality umpire training seminar. It will include pedagogical guidance, example schedules, checklists, and assessment templates. This will make it easy for national federations to run future seminars.
Tested and documented seminar format
The in-person seminar format will be piloted twice during the project and evaluated thoroughly. The final version will be documented in a way that makes it easy to replicate in new contexts.
Access and Feedback
We will publish all material on this homepage and everybody is welcome to give feedback. The material is not necessarily finish when published, as we will be developing it all the way through the project period. So instead of downloading it, bookmark this page and return later to look for updates.
You can send feedback to Søren: soren@foreningscoach.dk
Material
| Version and date | Name and link | Description |
| General | ||
| V1.0 – 20/6-2026 | Welcome | First video – an introduction to the course and how to study. |
| V1.0 – 31/8-2026 | The Role of the Umpire | Why do we have umpires? What is the task? What is a good mindset for an umpire and what skills does a good umpire have? |
| V1.0 – 20/9-2026 | Equipment, Communication & Decision Making | A discussion about what equipment an umpire need, and how they communicate and take decisions. |
| Team race | ||
| V1.0 – 14/9-2026 | Team Racing Rules, courses and format | Short walkthrough of rules used in Team Racing and how they differ from the normal rules. A overview of the most popular courses and a discussion about the format normally used. |
| Fleet race | ||
| V1.0 – 07/10-2026 | Fleet Racing Rules | Short walkthrough of rules used in umpired Fleet Racing and how they differ from the normal rules. |
| Match race | ||
| V1.0 – 05/11-2026 | Match Racing Rules, course and format | Short walkthrough of rules used in Match Racing and how they differ from the normal rules. A overview of the most popular course and a discussion about the format normally used. |
| General | ||