Great Britain Wild Water Racing

The meeting was opening with the sad news of the death of Joel Wilson's death after battling cancer for the last year. Joel was a member of Chester Canoe Club and raced at the 1998 World Championships at Garmisch and also went on to race for Great Britain in Marathon and Sprint. The Committee held a 2 minute silence in remembrance of Joel.

1. Minutes of the previous meeting were proposed by Miranda Churchill and seconded by Andy Goodsell.

2. Actions carried forward from last meeting:

Cheap Starter Boats - It was reported that John Willacy plans transition to composite boat low cost/low volume which maybe available Jun/Jul. The cost should be around £500

WWR Development Academy update - A separate agenda item will cover this later in these minutes

AG has emailed a syllabus of levels 1, 2, 3 & 4 and will provide a list of WWR coaches and their coaching qualifications as listed on the BCU database to JC who is compiling a list.

Nigel Jones has been making good use of the WWR bus to get competitors to and from races

Alan Tordoff has produced a coaching report which will be covered under AOB.

Calendar - A separate agenda item will cover this later in the minutes.

Yearbook - This years yearbook has been issued. There are still some items that had been removed in past issues that are still relevant and arrangements are still to be made to make them accessible from the website. Any other amendments will be carried forward to next years issue.

ACM - Meeting took place and minutes listed on the Website.

3. JO gave an update on the progress so far with the WWR Development Academy.

The main points:

" Launched in Feb 2007 as planned
" Log Books have been produced and so far 9 paddlers have signed up
" The website is up and running and further updates are planned
" 2 x WWRDA Training Days have been organised in Chester & Stratford
" MEW is in the early stages of planning a summer training camp at Bala
" JO is looking into running a small trip to the Ardeche in Nov. 5/6 paddlers, 1 coach & 1 coach/driver. Others I car if they wish. It is hoped that some the Seniors will be there to help out
" John Willacy has a transition boat in planning and is hoping that it may be available in June/July
" Oli Wickham is producing some boat stickers
" There will be a article in next edition of Canoe Focus, incl. front cover
" Calendar templates being investigated

Need to address Short Term:

" Coach Education. Training Day?
" Coach registration and volunteers
" Establish Module assessors
" General drive to inform and promote to all
" Run training days in more area esp. North East, East Midlands, South or South West
" Information to JH re coach/disciplines meet March 30th
" Boat plea (Offer reg. Paddlers discount in sales?)
" Encourage large groups to join as well juniors registered for selection this year. Team coaches to address please

Need to look at in the longer term:

" Colander of training events for Autumn and next year
" More corporate imaging I.e. Beanies, Te-Shirts
" Recognition for GB Team selection eligibility
" A 'Cup' Competition
" Sponsor/adopt a young paddler system

A general discussion followed on the WWRDA and the following actions were agreed:

Action - MC to post a note on the website to advertise the article in Canoe Focus and Boat Plea

Action - JB to follow up on paperwork for the successful coaching weekend held at Langham Farm

Action - JO & BL are to attend the UK CC Competition Source Group as the Reps for WWR

Action - JO to compile a list of where Wavehoppers are currently located
All - ideas to be passed to JO on Development Academy

4. Team Manager Reports

4.1 Senior - JC reported that plans were being made for the International Competitions for the Senior Europeans and World Cup races. Due to funding restrictions it is only planned to send a small team to the trip to the Europeans in Bosnia. The World Cups races are over 3 weekends in June and the plan is to send a larger Team to support this event. Further details will be issued once the Team Selection has been made.

4.2 Junior - BL is at the planning stage and information is being collated on the logistics of organising how to get the team & boats to the USA. Enquires have been made into shipping and flying the boats over and transporting them whilst in the USA. Currently the plan is that BL - Team Manger, Michael Mason - Girls Coach and Nigel Jones - Boys Coach will be accompanying the Team. No firm decisions can be made until the size of the team is decided by the Selection Committee. The current plan is to stay in a hotel were Breakfast and Dinner is provided and so only lunches have to be found. Further details will be announced after the team is announced.

5. Washburn Selection - The races for Junior & Senior Selection are to be held on the 24th March at the Washburn Timing and backup timing has been organised for the event. Assessments have been sent out to everyone registered for selection. A thank-you to all the coaches involved in this process and work put into compiling the individual assessments.

The Selection Committee will meet on the 31st March 2007 at Nottingham. The Selection Committee is made up if the following people: Neil Blackman - Chairman, Howard Blackman, Andy Goodell, Nigel Stevenson, Paul Turner, Jamie Christie and Bill Lawerson. Bill will beable to vote for the senior team only and Jamie for the Junior Team only. Also in attendance is will be Phil Caunt representing the Coaches but he will not be involved in the vote.

6. 2007 Calendar Preparation - AG informed the Exec of the new calendar page in the Canoe Focus magazine. It is intended that the page will be a regular feature in the magazine providing up to date information on races in all disciplines. He did stress that he is happy to add WWRDA dates and amend any race information but the cut off date for changes would be a the 10th of the month before publication. A decision was made to hold a short meeting at the Nene on the 21st April to discuss the 2008 Calendar.

JB - To inform James Perrier of this BCU initiative for Calendar and to email James tel number and email address to AG.

7. AOB

a. C1 & C2 Points - National Youth Series - An email was received after the National Youth Championships in November regarding points awarded for Canadian classes. In the rules published in the Yearbook it states that instead of the 25 points for 1st, 24 points for 2nd as in the Kayak class the Canadian class scored 10 points for 1st, 9 points for 2ns and so on. This point system dates back to when there were only a few kayak classes and represents the fact that there would be only 1 or 2 Canadian but would be lots of kayaks. The email also raised the issue that there were no prizes for the C2s and at a youth event there ought to be at least a 1st prize for all classes even if there is only 1 entry. The Exec discussed the points issue and decided that there should be no change to the rules and if any changes are required in the future that they can be raised at the yearly ACM. The Exec fully support Canadian paddling and would encourage any paddlers interested in trying the discipline at events. The issue of the prizes is also important for juniors and it was felt and pre-entry to races would help the organiser in knowing how many prizes need to be purchased before the event and how many WWR medal were required.

b. Child Protection Policy - The BCU has issued new guidelines on Child Protection. MC is the Child Protection Officer and will update WWR documentation to reflect those changes. DJ asked what the policy was on photographs on the gallery of children and if permission is needed to post them. This issue has been looked at in the past and it was suggested that there be a box on the entry form to tick to say photos could be posted. It was felt that this may not work as this would be too differcult to police. MC has permission to remove any photographs and so a statement could be added to the Gallery page on the publication of photographs and what to do if you want them removed.

Action - MC to write statement and pass to James Lee for Gallery Front Page.

c. Minibuses - JC raised his concerns on the costs of running the 2 buses. There have been a couple of major repairs to the bus and trailer in the last few months. It would seam that the repairs were done without regard to cost and more should be done to keep costs down and get more than 1 quotation for the repair work. The Blue Bus insurance is due at a cost of £2000 which is 7% of the total WWR budget. A decision needs to be made on whether this bus is kept and if so how the costs of it can be kept to a minimum.

Action - JC to get further quotations for the insurance

Action - PS to contact Wiltshire Youth who currently have the bus to ask whether a contribution could be made towards running costs.

Next Meeting- The Exec need to discuss the possibility of upgrading the bus as new buses will become available in January of next year.

Action- AG to market the bus for hire by other parts of the BCU as done in the past with a donation for its use

d. Publicity/PR - DJ asked to committee what they feel are the important messages that WWR need to have publicised in the coming year and what they are trying to achieve

It was agreed that Increase participation in the sport that is enjoyable.

Good quality paddling range of equal balance of Div A, Div B and Junior Events.

Whats happening with participation at all levels.

Need to target existing canoeing that we exist and what we are doing
" Selection Event
" Press Releases
" Biography of paddlers/ Head Shots
" Articles for International Events
" Talk to sport editors before the dates
" Co-ordinate with Chole at BCU

The subject of a Survival Guide for Parents was also discussed. There is a DVD which Ben Brown has produced on flat water which is a great source of information. Perhaps a similar thing could be produced for WWR. AG said that JH has a lot of video which could be used to promote WWR. This information needs to go out to the Clubs

e. AT could not attend the meeting but he sent the coaching report listed below. He will endeavour to produce a report for each Exec Meeting.

Coaching Report
March 2007
1 Academy
1.1 Academy Syllabus
The Academy syllabus, along with the aims of the syllabus was published, on the website on 26 Feb, under a re-organised Coaching section on the main website and the Academy website. The syllabus cross-references with the Academy Handbook.
1.2 WWR Manual
The first issue of the WWR manual should be published on the website later this month. This will be the main reference to support the Academy syllabus.
1.3 Academy Trips abroad
A number of regional and club coaches have expressed an interest in taking young athletes on a trip abroad, most suggesting the Sort race in July. I think this should be encouraged under the guise of 'Academy' trips. I would like to suggest this is encouraged tangibly by offering committee resources in the form of the minibuses and trailers.
2 GBR Training Squads
2.1 Training Weekends
2.1.1 January Lakes Weekend - 6/7 January
Training weekend based in the Lake District for Senior Elite, Senior Potential and invited juniors.
Some high water conditions allowed us to use the Eden, Lune, Leven and Lune again providing 4 high quality sessions allowing focus upon two of the key aims for this year, namely improving whitewater skills and developing fitness to cope with high volumes of river training. Good coach attendance and very helpful support with driving and logistics from Jes Oughton and Jackie Hyslop.

2.1.2 February HPP day - 17 Feb
Training day at HPP for Senior Elite and Senior Potential.
This was a repeat of the monitoring time-trials first held last October. Athletes were close to the end of the base training phase and the time-trials were to provide information to athletes on how they were doing against the targets we set at the start of the base training phase.
A slightly disappointing turnout, but a useful day nonetheless. A number of athletes achieved the targets we believe can lead to Top 10 performances. New targets were given for the Transition phase.
Lack of free dates led to a clash with a training weekend at Bala, so the day was led by 1 coach with assistance.

2.1.3 February Bala Weekend - 17/18 Feb
Training weekend at Bala for Juniors Registered for Selection.
Whilst not strictly a GBR Training Squad weekend, it was run in the same format. Experience from a similar event last year taught us to ensure there was plenty of coach and on-water support. This was achieved and contributed to a very successful weekend. All but 1 athlete registered for selection was present.
Saturday was spent on the Tryweryn, with runs on the middle course in the morning and top course in the afternoon. There was a wide ability spectrum, but all athletes did terrifically well. Current squad athletes did some high quality training including team work. The less experienced athletes, got exposure to the Tryweryn. Through a combination of good coaching and, mainly, terrific application and determination of the young athletes themselves all athletes paddled multiple runs of the Graveyard section, most for the first time. The more able athletes also proceeded to paddle multiple runs of the slalom course section.
Sunday was spent on Bala Lake with a video session in the morning and drills in the afternoon. The video session was an introduction for many of the athletes. All athletes got individual feedback over lunch.
The weekend was highly successful helped by good coach attendance but also lots of very willing support from parents and the athletes own coaches.
The weekend demonstrated the benefit of regional and club coaches having an opportunity to see and learn from the national coaches. This was a valuable exercise in its own right. This 'rubbing of shoulders' at events is already recognised and is something to try and develop and incorporate into the annual calendar. However, it must also be recognised that national coach availability is limited and so regular events of this nature cannot be expected. This is the purpose of the Academy syllabus and WWR manual which are meant to act as an alternative 'national coach' resource for regional and club coaches to use.
2.1.4 Planned Training Weekends
A training weekend for April is planned, probably HPP based, for Seniors and Juniors.
2.2 CRB Checks
Miranda has put forward the list of national coaches to be CRB checked by the BCU.
3 GBR Teams
3.1 Eligibility Assessments
Eligibility Assessments were completed by the coaches by the end of January. Alan Tordoff was the Assessment Controller for Juniors, Jamie Christie was the Assessment Controller for Seniors.
Good communication was provided to athletes and their coaches (as well as parents for Juniors). Everyone involved has understood the process and been positive and supportive, particularly pleasing in the case of Juniors where there is an unusually high performance and competence requirement for this year.
The Bala training weekend allowed a number of re-assessments to be conducted which was a positive outcome of the weekend.
3.2 Selection
National coaches will be in attendance at the selection races to offer help to the race organisers if they require it.
Phil Caunt will represent the coaches at the selection meeting.

3.3 Team Trips Resourcing
Coach resourcing for the team trips this summer will be confirmed once the teams have been selected.
4 BCU/UKCC
4.1 Meetings with BCU Coaching
Jes Oughton has met with BCU Coaching to explain the WWR Academy. The meetings have been very positive and WWR seems to be well placed to integrate very well with the new BCU coaching strategy which, I understand, includes discipline specific options to the BCU Star Award schemes and integration with the European Paddlepass (?).
4.2 UKCC CSG
We have had an invitation to the first meeting of the UKCC Competition Source Group (CSG). This group will gather together coach education expertise from all the BCU competition disciplines and become the lead group for UKCC competition strategy and content. The meeting is on Friday 30th March at BCU HP. We will try and ensure we are represented.
4.3 Forward Paddling DVD
Alan Tordoff was asked to review the new Forward Paddling DVD produced by BCU Coaching. Initial positive comments have been returned to John Handyside. Alan Tordoff has shared the DVD with Neil Stamps and more detailed comments will be sent in due course after Alan and Neil have discussed it.
This looks like it should be a terrific resource for all disciplines of canoeing.

5 General
5.1 Coaching Structure
A document explaining the structure and framework of coaching in WWR should be published on the website later this month.

f. UK CC Competition Source Group Representative - JH has requested that a representative from WWR can be found to attend the BCU/UKCC Competition Support Group on the 30th March. There will be representatives from all the other competitive disciplines at the meeting.

NOTE: The purpose of the meeting is to get all the disciplines represented around the same table to discuss the content of the BCU/UKCC Coaching Awards with regard to the competitive disciplines. The aim is to establish common standards across the disciplines for the awards, identify the resources that are needed for Coach Education and for Coaches themselves and to identify suitable people from each discipline to become 'Coach Educators' and deliver Coach Courses and modules associated with their disciplines. The intention is that this group will become the main source for Competitive Coaching within the BCU and as such, hopefully, will have representation on the BCU ECRMC.

g. Development Trips/ Training Camps - BL asked for clarification on who is invited to Development Trips and Junior Camps and who decides.

h. Budgets for Junior World - BL asked for information on how much money would be available for the Junior World Championships in USA. A proposed budget of £8k was agreed for Junior Team Competition and £2k for Junior Squad Development was agreed at the ACM last year. A letter was also issued to all juniors to say that the Parental Contribution for the trip could be up to £1k each.

i. AG informed the committee and the BCU should beable to announce funding for some new Posts as Development Officers to coordinate coaching across the country.

It was agreed that a meeting would be useful before the summer International Trips. The Date of the next meeting is Tuesday 1st May, 7pm at Jes's house

BRITISH CANOE UNION
WILD WATER RACING EECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

15th September 2007

HPP, Nottingham

Attending: Peter Schofield - Chairman, Miranda Churchill, Simon Wright, John Handyside, Bill Lawrenson, David Jefferies, James Perrier

The meeting was opened with a reflection on Andy Clough. Jes Oughton reported that the first race time that afternoon was being left unfilled, and that he would be asking everyone to keep a minute's silence and to reflect on Andy's great contribution to the sport.

1. Minutes of the previous meeting were proposed by Miranda Churchill and seconded by Jes Oughton.

2. Actions carried forward from last meeting:
The new transition boat was prototyped at the Academy week. It looks very promising though some modifications will need to be made. The first boats are due in early Autumn. Jes Oughton suggested that the exec. Provide some financial assistance to get the first boats built.
Jes Oughton is standing down from the executive committee and as development director of the Academy. Many thanks were expressed for all the hard work he has put in over the years. A replacement development director will need to be found, but JO will assist with the handover.
The lack of a marketing system will be discussed at the Washburn.
The BCU Competition Source Group was due to hold a meeting at the end of September, but is has had to be postponed due to BCU staff resignation. However, there will be a National Coaching conference on the 8th/9th December and will be based around young people and keeping them in the sport.
The blue minibus is insured and is working. However, after next year it will be too old for European trip cover. Minibuses are to be discussed at the next meeting.
Publicity - DJ reported some success with articles. National press not interested at the moment and he would like to educate them on what the sport involves. JH reports that some support for a WWR DVD (like the flat water DVD) could be forthcoming from the BCU, and he can also put DJ in touch with editing and camera expertise. DJ will put together a storyboard. JO would like a DVD that can be played in the background at race presentations for juniors. Anna Wise's father is a marketing professional and PS will approach him for help.

3. Team Manager Reports

Jamie Christie is not present and will circulate a written report. However Simon Wright reported that it had been a very successful year with European gold and bronze. It looks as though the 2008 Worlds will be at Ivrea and plans are in hand to improve the course. JC will be contacted about the possibility of writing to the ICF regarding concerns about having a classic on a mostly flat course, with a very big section at the end and with no control of the water level. There are also concerns that the course is too big for women to race down as opposed to survive down. Bill Lawrenson reported while in the US that the Italians had suggested moving to the Adda in conjunction with the juniors, but the earlier date of a combined event would be problematic for juniors with exams. However, the proposed date of the junior event is still too early for those taking A levels, and a formal letter needs to be sent to the ICF to say that we cannot support the dates. Jes Oughton expressed a need for an ICF official with responsibility for junior racing.

Bill Lawrenson will be circulating his full report via e-mail, but thanks were expressed to him for a very successful trip. BL expressed his thanks to the squad coaches and adults helpers on the trip and also to the paddlers' coaches at home.

Concerns were raised about distant trips as planes are getting smaller and boats may not be able to be flown. Transporting boats was a major problem for countries attending the junior worlds in the US. JH reported that he has raised the possibility of Far and Middle East venues with the ICF, but that they will not discuss it. PS suggested that third world countries would be able to build their own boats if given moulds.

At the next meeting, a discussion will be held on creating different types of event to grow the sport and possibly to have events that people will pay to attend.

4. Treasurer's Report

Accounts were circulated. Although not finalised, SW reports that there is probably going to be a surplus of approximately £3,500. This is helped by the fact that coaches rarely claim expenses, though this is not desirable. The BCU is looking at whether it is possibly to reclaim EU taxes.

5. 2008 race calendar

The 2008 calendar is currently a standard calendar with an extra Washburn Div B race in July.

JH reported that the BCU is to buy the woodyard and buildings (excepting the residential houses) at the bottom of the Washburn. The intention is to build classrooms and changing rooms and there will be access to the river. There is a project to reinstate some of the dams so there will be more pools and drops. It should be possible to hold a wavehopper race at the bottom of the river while a slalom and/or playboat event is being held at the top. It was suggested that it could make a good venue for the 2010 Junior Europeans and that Harrogate Council might support it. A volunteer not currently on the executive committee should be sought to investigate this possibility. JP is to look into getting details of races in Northern Ireland (a race is being held in Belfast in November) and also details of races on the close continent for entry into the yearbook.

The next meeting will be held at the Washburn on 29th September 2007.

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