Minutes of Meetings 2006

It was proposed that future development is regionalised, potentially cloning the Bath model. One or more clubs per region would take a lead on WWR development. Regional PDOs to be
involved. These clubs would access funds from sources, including PDOs, other than just WWR, although WWR would assist in some yet to be agreed specific areas of development. These
clubs would be encouraged to hold regular, at least weekly, WWR specific training sessions. First few sessions to be 'free'. Later ones to be charged for? Further development would be based on
regional wavehopper and WWR championships. Talented individuals would then migrate to the existing junior, university and senior development process for consideration for the relevant
international teams etc. as per yearbook diagram. Coaching could be developed, at Bath, Ironbridge etc. Bill Lawrenson to be contacted for assistance. Adverts as necessary for clubs
and coaches to be prepared for Canoe Focus. A flow diagram is to be produced showing the model for development to be added to the yearbook.

Many challenges remain. Recent work by Gilly Mara and Kevin Bowerbank noted.

Use of specific journalist expertise, some in Bath, to be investigated.

Howard Blackman developing a model for generic use - to be presented at an Exec meeting in the future.

John Handyside made some comments on development in general, he is looking at it across all kayak/canoe disciplines, course development and finances. It was noted that the coaching
format will be changed for all BCU activities. John noted that Direct and Specific Mail was still the best way of contacting relevant clubs and individuals, rather than generic shots. Washburn
may get further generic kayak/canoe development funding. Teesside also likely to be developed. Nottingham may change hands, but is also likely to get more funding. BCU may get more
involved at Nottingham.

There is still a need for a parents guide.

Junior profiling continues and individuals are continuing to submit profiles. Limited take-up on junior weekends - distance and cost most usually described issues - emphasising need for
regional approach.

Maitland Hyslop still constrained by work in Scotland.

BRITISH CANOE UNION
WILD WATER RACING EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

John Dudderidge House

9th September 2006

Present:- Peter Schofield (Chairman), Howard Blackman, Michael Mason, James Wingfield, Miranda Churchill

Also in attendance:- Alan Tordoff, Phil Caunt

1. Team Managers' Reports (given by coaches in absence of team managers)

The senior trip was a success, very well organized and in general the athletes had performed to their abilities. The lessons learnt from the World Championships were applied during the World Cup and helped result in Jonnie Schofield's win. Knowledge gained during this trip will be applied to improve preparation for the next World Championships in 2008.

The junior trip was also very well organized, in spite of some logistical difficulty with access to the river, and although the river was technically easy, it was hard to race well. Again all the athletes performed well. The 2007 Junior World Championships appears to be on faster flowing water and large rapids and the executive committee will continue to monitor information on the courses and use this to aid selection decisions. Concerns were raised over the number of pre-existing injuries.

Thanks were expressed to Jamie Christie, Maitland and Jackie Hyslop, Alan Tordoff, Phil Caunt, Neil Stamps and all the other coaches whose hard work resulted in these two highly successful trips.

2. Finance

In the absence of Simon Wright, no detailed financial information was available. Some of the minibus fund has been used due to lower Wavehopper revenues and high water charges, and junior competition costs next year will be high. Running youth events along with Division A should help to defray water costs.

3. Academy

Alan Tordoff reported on discussions held with Jes Oughton and Peter Schofield. There is still the intention to have a coaching squad and a pool of other coaches, but also need to draw experienced coaches into club level assistance. AT has produced resources to assist with this, and also to ensure progression of paddlers, using log books, national Academy days, more support at Division B races and to WWR regional groups. Kevin Bowerbank is already operating a very successful regional group in the SW which needs more support from WWR, and it is hoped to roll it out throughout the country. A suitable club still needs to be identified in the NE and it is hoped to get assistance with this from the BCU LTPD programme. Jes Oughton will be Academy Director and will liaise with the BCU.

There are concerns over the new coaching qualifications coming in next year, but it is intended to devise a scheme whereby parents can assist without being a coach. The aim is to launch the Academy at Matlock in the spring.

Action: PJS and JO to discuss integration with the star tests with John Handyside and Mike Devlin

4. Competition review
Howard Blackman introduced the competition review which has been produced in consultation with Andy Goodsell and John Embrey.

It is felt that the current competition structure for the younger paddlers is too complicated with Perception Wavehopper Challenge, Youth and Division B events often running concurrently. The competition review looks at ways to redefine the structure from club time trials up to elite. It is aimed both at bringing in new people (greater participation levels = greater funding) and providing good progression for existing paddlers, whilst ensuring they paddle on appropriate water.

There would be four divisions:-

Division 1 - a small group of paddlers aspiring to national teams. A small number of events styled to give familiarity with international events. The low number of races should help to increase participation and thus help with selection.

Division 2 - The rest of the current Division A and most of Division B

Division 3 - Youth series

Divison 4 - Club time trials

There will also be a progression to fewer quality races with added value, perhaps in the form of coaching or guided runs down the river. Team racing will be given increased importance, both at the top end to improve international results and at the bottom end to address safety concerns of paddling alone on a river.

Discussion will continue at the next meeting.

5. ACM

A vote was taken and the motion carried to hold the Annual Consultative Meeting in Llangollen on Saturday 4th November.

6. AOB

It was noted that PC has been unable to confirm the Usk race with the Glenusk Estate, but it is still hoped that the race will run.

John Embrey is standing down as calendar compiler at the ACM. The Executive Committee expressed huge thanks for his hard work over the past 8 years.

BRITISH CANOE UNION
WILD WATER RACING EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

Top Car Park, River Washburn, Blubberhouses, N. Yorkshire

30th September 2006

Present:- Peter Schofield (Chairman), Maitland Hyslop, James Wingfield, Miranda Churchill, Simon Wright, Jamie Christie, Jes Oughton

1. The accounts for the year to date and the budget for 2007 were presented by Simon Wright. It has been an expensive year for team trips and combined with expenses from the 2005 World Cup has resulted in a drawdown in reserves. Wavehopper revenues have been good, but water fees are now greater than race levies. The budget was agreed with provisos over the size of the World Cup and European teams. Juniors will have to look for individual sponsorship as amount of junior team funding will not cover trip to US for Junior Worlds.
Action: PJS to ask JB to write to 2006 team juniors.
Action: MC to put up piece of web asking for assistance with seeking sponsorship for teams
Action: MH to investigate cheapest way of getting boats to the US
Action: PJS to e-mail David Mason

2. The WWR Academy and Calendar for 2007 will be discussed at the next meeting on 11th October, but the overall structure will remain the same with consideration of the new proposals for 2008.

3. Concerns over high number of late entries were raised. PJS and MC to discuss with James Lee how to get entries via the website.

4. ACM
The venue has been fixed, and food will be available at £6 per head.
Action: MC to advertise on the web site and ask for numbers

5. It was agreed to charge a 10% royalty on use of the Mezzana C1 mould. Investigations are still underway to try and get cheap C2s into clubs.

BRITISH CANOE UNION
WILD WATER RACING EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

11th October 2006

Birstall, Leicester

Attending: Peter Schofield - Chairman, Miranda Churchill, Jes Oughton, Jamie Christie, Andy Goodsell, James Wingfield, Janine Baker

Apologies: John Embrey, John Handyside, Maitland Hyslop

1. Agreement was noted for James Wingfield's proposal of a flat rate fee of £25 per boat for the use of the Mezzana C1 mould. The possibility of arranging for some cheap starter K1 boats being made up to help with the move on from Wavehoppers to Composite was discussed.

Action: JC to contact Chris Chorley about use of the K1 mould.

2. JO asked AG to explain John Handyside's role in WWR. AG said that John is the BCU National Development Coach and his job entails developing the coaching structure across the country. The BCU have signed up to the UK Coaching Certificate UKCC and John's role currently is heavily involved in the introduction of this at present.

NOTE: The UK Coaching Certificate is an endorsement of sport specific coach education qualifications that are aligned to an agreed framework. By creating a recognised standard for coach education the UKCC will make it easier to identify a quality coach in any sport at any level and contribute immeasurably to the professionalisation of coaching. The UKCC will ensure that sports are delivering the best available, athlete centred coaching and in due course reap the rewards of sporting success, both in performance and recreational enjoyment of sport.

3. JO had a meeting at Nene with some of the regional coaches and the main two issues they saw as a hindrance to development continuity were:
Rules preventing U12/U14 groups using composite boats in National Junior Championship (NJC) races.(also better paddlers choosing their boat dependent on % allowance)
Too many NJC races. The suggestion here was that NJC target 5 or 6 'Quality' races per year and find an alternative comp. for the 'Easier' race courses.

These issues were discussed and the % allowance is going to be addressed by a motion to change the rules for next year at the ACM. It was decided that the number of races for the NJC should remain the same with the emphasis put on progressing through the new WWR Development Academy.

4. JO plans to introduce the WWR Development Academy to the coaches at the Burrs race in February and to the Paddlers at Matlock later that month. He wants the Academy to tie in with other BCU training schemes as it will give useful skills that are valuable in all disciplines and transferable skills within paddlesport. Plans are also being made for a Development Trip for aspiring juniors in the summer to France.

Action: JO to circulate Academy papers for comment and keep Exec informed of progress.

5. There is a desperate shortage of qualified coaches. People have the skills but don't have the all the formal qualifications. To help solve this problem there is a need for John Handyside to run courses as well as facilitate them and alongside this Coaches need to get together a CV of what training they have completed including First Aid & CRB.

Action: AG to email a syllabus of levels 1, 2, 3 & 4 and to provide a list of WWR coaches and their coaching qualification as listed on BCU database.

Acton: JC to put together a list of Coaches names that need to be added to the list.

Action: JC to contact Nigel Jones about getting bus to races for use by competitors but the cost of fuel must be covered by the passengers.

Action: PS to speak to Alan Tordoff to clarify roles of coaches.

6. Calendar - John Embrey has produced a draft calendar. Some minor amendments are needed to fit in with Development/Academy plans. John is stepping down as race officer and volunteer is needed to take over this role. A list of the minor amendments to be forwarded to John.

Action: AG to provide dates of Sprints and other major events to JE.

Action: MC to put piece on web asking for volunteers to organise race calendar and to join WWR Exec to help develop Academy.

Action: JO to produce a list of Academy/Development Training dates.

7. AG explained that there is a new organisation that has set up a website called Catch Sport. Website address is www.catchsport.co.uk Catch Sport are an online sports sponsorship company that brings athletes and sponsors together. The BCU guidance is that the agreement is between the athlete and the sponsor any team sponsorship organised by the BCU would override individual sponsorship deals.

8. JC asked that the 'Code of Conduct' for Team & Paddlers be placed on the WWR Website. It had been removed from the Yearbook and not placed on the Website

Action: PS to research past WWR Yearbooks to find items that have been removed that are still relevant and arrange for them to be accessible from the website.

9. Gary Baker has been looking into the purchase of some Fastwave kayaks. He asked the Exec if they are interested in placing an order as they work out cheaper if purchased in a bulk buy. At present there are no plans to purchase any of these boats.

10. The next meeting will be the ACM on Saturday 4th November at 7pm at the Bridge End Hotel in Llangollen.

Action: MC to arrange for Secretary Email address to be transferred to JB.

Action: JB to send out invitation to Clubs registered on BCU database who have expressed an interest in WWR.

GB WILDWATER RACING ANNUAL CONSULTATIVE MEETING

Llangollen- Bridge End Hotel
4th November 2006

1. Attendees

Peter Schofield - Chairman - Clitheroe Canoe Club
Jamie Christie - Soar Valley
Simon Wright - Lincoln
Sarah Wright - Lincoln
Andy Goodsell - British Canoe Union
John Handyside - British Canoe Union
Neil Stamps - Royal
James Lee
Mark Williams - Caergwrle Kayak Racers
Maitland Hyslop - Hexham CC
Jackie Hyslop - Hexham CC
Jennifer Hyslop - Hexham CC
Sandra Hyslop - Hexham CC
Mike Baker - Griffon CC
Iain Baker - Griffon CC
Alec Baker - Griffon CC
Alan Tordoff - Stirling
Louise Tordoff - Stirling
Jo Oughton - Soar Valley
Jes Oughton - Soar Valley
Miranda Churchill - Royal
Gareth Farrow - Caergwrle Kayak Racers
Lynne Farrow - Caergwrle Kayak Racers
Fred Farrow - Caergwrle Kayak Racers
Rob Vincent - Soar Valley
Jon Schofield - Soar Valley
Anna Wise - Royal
Martin Steele - Northampton
Janine Baker - Griffon CC

2. Apologies
David Jefferies - Pennine
Nigel Jones - Nottingham
Michael Mason - Durham
Howard Blackman - British Canoe Union
John Embrey - Burton

3. Approval of minutes from last ACM
Minutes of last year's meeting were proposed by Jamie Christie and seconded by Jackie Hyslop.

4. Chairman's Address

INTRODUCTION
It is great to welcome you to our Annual Consultative Meeting at Llangollen. It is good being back racing the Dee, with special thanks to Mark Williams for taking on the race organisation. We have food laid on so please stay and take this opportunity to meet and get together and enjoy the hospitality of the Bridge End Hotel.

John Embrey and Howard Blackman are both standing down at this year's ACM. I'd like to thank them both for their contribution to WWR over many years. John has heroically run the competition calendar and Howard started the Wavehopper Challenge and built our links to the young people's programme. I'm pleased to welcome Janine Baker as our new Hon. Secretary, David Jefferies for taking up the role of Publicity Officer and also to Jes Oughton for his continued involvement in WWR Development.
We have a continuing need for volunteers. Please see me, or any member of the committee, if you would like to be more involved!

GENERAL
2006 has been a year that improved as it went on! After the low point with the cancellation of the Bala WWR Worlds we have had some excellent results in competition. We have also developed the WWR Academy and associated coaching framework. This will provide a common template for the development of paddlers, coaches and clubs. The aim is to dovetail with similar initiatives in the other competition disciplines and also the new coaching framework. Particular thanks go to Jes Oughton and Alan Tordoff for all their hard work making these ideas a reality.

I'm pleased to say we had another great year in competition. We had Jonnie's Gold Medals at the World Cup & Student World's and Jessica's Bronze medal at the European Championships. The Masters Worlds, which were instituted for Bala with the ICF and successfully transferred to Karlovy Vary, delivered absolutely fantastic results. Tina Parsons Ladies K1 and Colin Smith & Brian McNulty's C2 Gold Medals as well as John Willacy's C1 Bronze were really well deserved and show what it is possible to achieve in top quality competition. Most of our athletes achieved or exceeded their targets. What for me was very impressive was the way that issues and problems were analysed, learnt from and corrected. This is vital to winning at the highest level in the sport. As always I'd like to give a special thank you to all the coaches, team management, parents and other helpers who made this all happen. For me this remains one of the great strengths and joys of our sport.

Particular thanks go to Miranda Churchill for her fantastic contribution to our WWR Website - which continues to go from strength to strength; also to Phil Caunt, Jonnie Folland, Neil Stamps and Alan Tordoff and all the class and squad coaches for their continuing development of our coaching expertise; to Jamie Christie, Gilly Mara and Jackie & Maitland Hyslop for organizing and running our successful team trips this year; and to Simon Wright for his sterling role as treasurer. Having such an experienced team, with all the support they get from across the sport has been essential to delivering the great results we have achieved. Finally I would like to thank all the Race Organisers - without whom we would not have a sport! .

Paddler Focus - To make the sport accessible to all who want to participate
Development work has continued in many different ways. The Perception Wavehopper Challenge continues to bring newcomers into the sport. Kevin Bowerbank at Bath Canoe Club ran the successful training camp for paddlers and coaches at Langham Farm This will be followed by a development weekend at the Burrs at the end of November that Jes Oughton is running. The WWR Development Academy and Coaching structures will be introduced in the spring of next year. The aim is to provide a greater level of WWR specific skills and expertise to clubs across the UK and to increase WWR support by involving friends of WWR wherever they might be. We will be working with John Handyside on competition development, BCU Paddlesport Development Officers and Youth Programme to make the sport more accessible to newcomers to the sport. This will result in some changes to the competition structure to provide clearer development pathways for aspiring club level and international level paddlers. We have also continued increasing focus on university students to try and get more new entrants into the sport. The Student Worlds in Krakow were a good example of this and I'm sure the Hopper Lane Hotel is looking forward to the National Student Championships at the Washburn!
As always we continue to need volunteers in any capacity. The great thing with development is the more we do - the more there is to do!

International Success - To help paddlers realise their full potential in International competition.
I'm pleased to say we are continuing to achieve our very stretching performance targets with another great year. Jonnie's World Cup Overall Gold Medal, plus his Three Gold's in the Sprint races and Student World Championship were really well deserved. We also had brilliant results in the Masters Worlds with Tina Parsons Ladies K1 Masters Gold and 10th at the Worlds as well as Colin Smith & Brian McNulty's C2 Gold Medals and John Willacy's C1 Bronze.

The Junior Team achieved good results at the Europeans. Jessica Oughton's bronze medal was a great result against the incredibly strong Czech team. Team Racing results were not as good as last year although there were some great individual performances.

The focus has now moved to preparing for next year's Junior World Championships at Charlotte in the USA, where again we will be aiming for medals, and the 2008 Worlds in Italy. The USA is a major logistical challenge and will require considerable preparation and investment from the WWR committee and the athletes selected. We now have in place a seasoned team supporting all our athletes both with technical training, coaching and good management support, which is now in place and delivering our performance plan. Andy Goodsell is providing an invaluable link with the sports management committee to ensure we remained aligned with the BCU's overall direction.

Raising the Profile of Paddlesport - To manage and run an enjoyable programme that meets the needs of the whole WWR paddling community. Deliver a competition programme that attracts and stretches all our paddlers
We continue to have a good and full calendar. I'd again like to thank John Embrey for all his dedication to developing and running the competition calendar. John is standing down at this year's AGM after eight very successful years. I'm pleased to say that it is great to be back on the Dee. The first part of the competition review has taken place. The plan is to include junior events over the summer, more regional events and to bring different levels of competition to the same venue on a weekend to facilitate interaction between athletes at different stages of their development in the sport. This work will continue in 2007 with the aim of bringing specific recommendations to next years ACM,

I'd also like to again thank Miranda and Chris Churchill, Pete Ford and James Lee for their continued work on developing the website as our primary communications medium. The gallery, bulletin board and regular news are great but the best bit is how Miranda always manages to find the international race results before anyone else!

So to conclude I would again like to thank everyone for coming to the ACM and wish you all the very best for the coming season. Happy Paddling!

Following the Chairman's address John Handyside raised the point that the Team Events at International Competition could be GBR greatest chance of winning medals. Alan Tordoff agreed with this suggestion and welcomed the introduction of more team events. It was agreed that a full weekend of racing such like the Dee weekend would be idea for this to take place but it needs to be planned into the calendar. Further investigation of the introduction of more team races alongside normal racing and changes to start times to fit them in needs to be done. Peter Scofield asked that any ideas/suggestions should be forwarded to him for further discussion by the Exective Committee.

5. Treasurer's Report

Simon Wright presented the accounts for year ending 31st October 2006. The main points he raised were:
" The income for the year has been heavily supported by paddler contributions towards International Competition (Senior Training, Senior World & World Cups, Junior European and Student Worlds) and the insurance payout after the minibus crash last year.
" Wavehopper royalties for the year amounted to £3.5k.
" The £8k carried over from last year for Holme Pierpoint, accommodation and Watersafe fees up to the final cancellation of the Bala Worlds has now been settled. There are no more liabilities outstanding and the budget line can now be removed from the accounts.
" The running costs for the mini buses have been much higher than budgeted for. The Executive Committee have analysed this expense rate and decided that it was still worthwhile compared to hiring. Peter Schofield added that the buses are there to be used in the sport but the costs must be covered by paddlers to travel to races and shuttle runs.)
" Reserves have been reduced by £6.6k over the 3 year which is a £5k bigger reduction than the budget mainly due to the high spend on minibuses and the net World Cup spend which was budgeted at £3k for this year.
" The intention is to keep the overall reserves at around £20k going forward as the float required to remain liquid throughout the year and the Minibus NBV.
" The main issues for 2006/07 will be the Junior Worlds Trip to the USA and the high contributions which will be necessary to support this. There is a need to ensure that clubs still make some money from running Wild Water Races and that the revenue covers the costs of items such as the annual prizes.

A discussion followed the accounts on paddler contributions in other disciplines of the sport. Jamie Christie asked how much paddlers had to pay in other disciplines. Andy Goodsell replied that the Polo contributions were approx the same as the WWR ones. The BCU have continued to recognise the old historical funding to the discipline and no other funding is currently available.

Paddler contributions for 2006 for the International trips were:
Senior Competition £500 pp
Junior Competition £200pp
Student Competition £350pp

It was also noted that with the rising costs of holding the races for Local Clubs various ways of keeping the costs down need to be explored. The Executive Committee are going to discuss this further and they welcome any ideas/suggestions.

John Handyside raised concern that some races this year had been cancelled due to lack of entries. It is very difficult for the race organiser if paddlers do not pre enter for races as it makes their job harder on the day sorting late entries and knowing the amount of prizes that are required. Alan Tordoff said that the on-line entry system had worked well for the Tour d'Ecosse. The Executive Committee are going to look further into introducing an on-line race entry system for all WWR and whether the system the BCU is introducing would suit their needs. There maybe a need to look at further ways of encouraging paddlers to enter before the day by cutting off race entries for Div A by a certain date so late entries can only be made in the Open or introducing a higher late entry fee.

6. Secretary's Report
There were 3 committee meetings and a development discussion held in the last year:
Nottingham 09/09/06
Washburn 30/09/06
Leicester 11/10/06
Development Discussion - Washburn 22/04/06
Attendance was as followed:
Name Exec Meeting Development Discussion

Peter Schofield 3 1
Howard Blackman 1
Michael Mason 1
James Wingfield 3
Miranda Churchill 3 1
Maitland Hyslop 1 1
Simon Wright 1
Jamie Christie 2
Janine Baker 1
Alan Tordoff 1
Phil Caunt 1
Jes Oughton 2
Andy Goodsell 1 1
John Handyside 1

7. Election of Officers

Peter explained that John Embrey and Howard Blackman were both standing down from the Exec this year. He thanked them both all their hard work with Development and the fantastic job John had done preparing a full racing calendar. No volunteers have come forward to fulfil these rolls and so positions of a Calendar Organiser, somebody to help with Junior Development as well as a Safety Officer (vacant from last year) so these positions will remain vacant.

Jamie Christie, Miranda Churchill and Jes Oughton were re-elected for another 2 year term - proposed by Simon Wright and seconded by Jackie Hyslop.

David Jefferies has agreed to become the Publicity Officer and Janine Baker the Secretary and their appointment was agreed - proposed by Simon Wright and seconded by Jackie Hyslop.

8. Proposed Motions

Miranda presented the following motions.

10.9.2 Be revised to read: There are four age categories, Under 16, Under 14, Under 12 and Under 10, for all of K1 Men, K1 Women, C1 and C2. Competitors must be below the relevant age at the beginning of the calendar year of the relevant race season. The date of birth must be included on the entry card.

10.10.1 Be revised to read: There are five age categories, Under 18, Under 16, Under 14, Under 12 and Under 10, for all of K1 Men, K1 Women, C1 and C2. Competitors must be below the relevant age at the beginning of the calendar year of the relevant race season. The date of birth must be included on the entry card.

Proposed by Miranda Churchill
Seconded by John Embrey

This motion was discussed fully and only 1 objection was raised against it. A vote followed with the motion being passed to the change of the rule.

10.9.4 Be revised to read: In all of the kayak classes, competitors may use WWR kayaks, Wavehopper or any other kayak not longer than 4.0m and without a rudder. For those in WWR kayaks the actual run time will be used. For those in Wavehopper and other kayaks the actual run time will be reduced by 7% for determining position and points.

10.10.2 Be revised to read: In all of the kayak classes, competitors may use WWR kayaks, Wavehopper or any other kayak not longer than 4.0m and without a rudder. For those in WWR kayaks the actual run time will be used. For those in Wavehopper and other kayaks the actual run time will be reduced by 7% for determining position and points.

Proposed by John Embrey
Seconded by Miranda Churchill

Motion was discussed and everyone voted in favour of making the change to the rule.

A discussion followed on 7% Wavehopper allowance given to Youth Series and Div B Events. It has been recognised that some paddlers have been racing Wavehopper on certain races to get the allowance on their time. The Development Academy structure will go some way to address this with the Wavehopper Series being used as the introductory level into the sport.

9. AOB

Maitland Hyslop expressed thanks to the coaches and support structure involved in the successful Junior & Senior Trips.

Jackie Hyslop asked when details of 2007 selection are to be announced. Early selection is needed due to the logistics of the trip and organisation needs to be started soon. Peter Schofield replied that discussions were well underway and that details should be published by the end of the week.

Neil Stamps asked for details on the new WWR Development Academy. Peter Schofield explained the background into why it is being introduced. He said that the Executive Committee focus had moved away from development in the past couple of years and that their priority is now to promote the discipline at a junior level to get new blood involved in the sport. It is extremely important to get WWR out to the Clubs and so the Academy needs to tie in with other BCU training schemes as it will give useful transferable skills that are valuable in all disciplines and raise the profile of WWR. The Academy Framework is being designed to support paddlers starting within the discipline and the launch is planned for the Matlock Race in February. Jes Oughton (Academy Director) is currently liasing with the BCU and regional coaches and further details can be obtained from him. The Academy is at the planning stage at present and more details will be posted on the WWR website as decisions are made. Jes Oughton added that he welcomes any new ideas and feedback to enable the Academy to progress and he can be contacted on the new email address academy@wwr.org.uk

Fred Farrow explained that he is a new parent to the WWR discipline and he welcomed the introduction of the WWR Development Academy. He said that although the WWR Website holds some useful information on how to start in WWR there is a held to have a more publicised way to find out details of development, training and racing. Peter Schofield replied that the Academy should address some of the problems and that he would look at putting something into next years handbook as a contact in the 1st instance for information on the sport. Races are still organised by local clubs and race control is organised differently. If you have attended the event the year before you know the setup but to new people it can seam like a closed shop so more publicity is required.

Jo Oughton suggested that stickers for boats and cars could be given as prizes to promote the discipline and advertise the sport. Peter Schofield said that he is going to speak to Olly Wickham regarding this idea.

The meeting closed at 8:30 with thanks to ACM attendees.