Independent Instructors.
The people who teach swim lessons, tennis, pickleball, fitness, music, and dozens of other things across the peninsula. NDSR gives them a straightforward way to be found — without running their own website, marketing, or registration system.
For Independent Instructors
Where Local Expertise Meets Local Families.
Independent instructors are the people who teach swim lessons, tennis, pickleball, fitness, music, outdoor skills, and dozens of other things across the peninsula. Many of them work on their own — no staff, no big organization behind them — just their expertise and the desire to share it.
They contribute something the community relies on. They give kids their first lessons, help adults stay active, teach skills that keep people engaged year-round, and fill gaps that larger programs can't always cover. In a place like Door County, where options can be limited and travel is a real factor, independent instructors make recreation more accessible.
They also face real challenges. Finding new students often depends on word of mouth or social media. Scheduling and payments can turn into constant text threads and follow-ups. Getting visible to the people who are already looking for lessons takes time and tools that most independent instructors don't want to build themselves. The work of teaching is the part they care about. The rest can get in the way.
How Northern Door Sports and Recreation Helps
Northern Door Sports and Recreation (NDSR) built DoorCountyRec to make that easier. The platform gives independent instructors a straightforward way to be found by the local audience that's already looking for them — without requiring them to run their own website, marketing, or registration system.
Instructors keep full autonomy over their programming. What they teach, how they teach it, and how they structure their lessons stay entirely theirs. NDSR provides the infrastructure and the local connection. The instructor stays in control of the teaching.
What We Provide
There are two ways we help support the important work you do.
Online Listing + Sports & Rec Guide
Get found online and off.
Everything you need to be visible to new networks, online and off — no website or marketing of your own required.
A Listing on DoorCountyRec
Puts your name, specialty, and availability in front of local families already searching for instruction, with a link that lets people connect with you through your preferred method of communication, whether that's email, phone, or text.
Inclusion in the Sports & Rec Guide
Our semi-annual digital guide with seasonal listings for programs, classes, events, instructors, and leagues, giving you a second visible touchpoint alongside the website and reaching readers who browse the guide directly when planning their season.
A Mailed Postcard to Every Household
A postcard physically mailed to every resident in the Gibraltar, Washington Island, and Sevastopol school districts when each new guide comes out, so even households who never open a website still hear about the instructors and programs available to them that season.
Social Media Promotion
We highlight what local instructors are offering, share seasonal reminders, and point followers back to your listing when families ask who's teaching what this time of year.
Full Setup in Rec.Us
Run it all through Rec.
A full instructor setup in our admin system, Rec.Us, for instructors who want more than visibility and are ready to run registration and scheduling through the platform.
Schedule Your Available Times
Students can see when you're open and book the slots that work for them, cutting down the back-and-forth texts and letting the calendar fill itself while you focus on teaching.
Manage Bookings in One Place
A clear view of who's coming, when, and what they've signed up for, so a single dashboard replaces the scattered texts, emails, and notes you're keeping track of today.
Collect Payments with Clean Reporting
Fees come in ahead of the session, no-shows are handled up front, and you have a simple record of what came in and when without running a separate ledger.
Handle Waivers and Registration Support
The required paperwork is collected and stored for every student before the first lesson, so you're not chasing forms or keeping binders of signed sheets.
Connect With Us
If you're an independent instructor and want to be listed, or if you're already listed and have questions about the structure, we'd like to talk.
Email Rachel Stollenwerk at signup@northerndoorrec.com or use the contact form below. A short conversation is usually enough to walk through the options and answer questions.
Northern Door Sports and Recreation and Door County Rec exist to make it easier for people to participate in recreation here. Independent instructors are a big part of that and we are here to support you.