Youth and Coach Development

Sentinel Ocean Alliance’s Youth and Coach Development programme provides employment, mentorship, and skills training for young adults from coastal communities who show potential as ocean leaders. 

The development pathway equips coaches with both practical and professional skills. Coach training includes adaptive swim instruction, ocean safety, mindfulness facilitation, first aid, and trauma-informed coaching, as well as workshops in financial literacy, communication, and leadership. Coaches also receive ongoing mentorship to support personal growth and long-term career development.

This approach strengthens our programmes while creating real employment opportunities in communities where access to sustainable work is limited. Coaches become role models — representing the success of ocean-based education in action and demonstrating that stewardship of the sea can also build livelihoods.

Our coaches now play a key role in delivering Ocean School, Turn the Tide, and our Special Needs Programme, ensuring each child receives consistent, informed, and compassionate support in the water.

Through this model, the organisation builds local capacity and invests in a new generation of ocean professionals — young people who not only teach others to swim but who embody the values of connection, inclusion, and care for the ocean.