Sailors Worthy of School Affiliation

Sailing should be added as an official after school sport at Campolindo. While there is a sailing team recognized by the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association made up of Campolindo students, it is not officially affiliated with Campolindo High School.

Senior sailing captain Ryter Ullrich said, “Even though the school would have another liability it would allow for more funding and would allow more diversity in the sports offered by Campo.”

While the sailers refer to themselves as the “Campolindo Sailing Team,” they currently have no official connection to their school, and as a result, the school is missing out on a great opportunity to improve its reputation.

Although sailing may be regarded as a luxury activity rather than a high-intensity sport such as soccer or football, it requires many hours of work and dedication to excel.

Linking Campolindo to the program would encourage students who are not interested in more conventional sports like football or volleyball to take part in a school connected activity.

Another reason the school should sponsor the sport is so that participants are not burdened by the prohibitive costs. Senior member Derek Nelson said, “The price for sailing at a club is fairly expensive, but if Campolindo did support and recognize the Sailing program as one of the school sports, the program could be better funded and it would not be as expensive as a program, and this allows the program to be more available for those who are less financially stable, but still want to be included in a water sport.”

Sailing should be another sport, like lacrosse or track and field, accessible to all students, regardless of their financial situation.

Sailing is a sport that looks good on college applications, especially in California because most of the colleges in California are near a body of water and have their own sailing programs.

Another plus is that sailing teams are coed. 

An official association of Campolindo with the sailing team would be a benefit to both parties by fostering an increase in participants, funding, and a positive addition to campus culture.