Fixed Seat workshops in the new year

Coming in 2013.... a series of informal fixed seat technique workshops.

Dates confirmed so far:

• 7th January - Falmouth Watersports Centre
• 15th January - St Agnes Sports Club

Venues to be confirmed in the new year for Jan - Feb workshops:

• Saltash
• St.Austell
• Paignton
• North Devon

More information including times and prices can be seen by clicking HERE

Please contact rhiannon.halliday@britishrowing.org 07818576145 to book your space

2012 - what a year!

Well what a year 2012 has been for sport, and for rowing. I hope most of you got the chance to watch Sports Personality of the Year, and vote for Katherine Grainger. Katherine didn't make the final 3, but to be recognised amongst the final 12 nominations was just amazing. I had so many goosebumps just watching the videos back.

End of year update for clubs

Please click HERE for an end of year newsletter for clubs including funding opportunities, news and events in early 2013.

Junior Inter Regional Time Trial information

Please click HERE  for all information on the Time Trials which are to be held at Dart Totnes on the 19th January.

My highlight of 2012

Was when Annie Vernon did an amazing job of bringing the Olympics to Cornwall with the Cornish Rowing Challenge. 11 GB rowers, 2500 spectators, 3 races and 1 Cornish Village. An amazing day.

The Cornish Rowing Challenge 2012

Recognition for West Region Volunteers

In the past month, many volunteers in the region have been recognised and awarded for their efforts and dedication towards rowing.

British Rowing Volunteer awards

Regional volunteer award- Bob Board won this award for his outstanding services to the West of England ARA, West Regional Rowing Council and clubs in the region: ‘Bob was a founder member of Exmouth Rowing Club in 1993 and is still a very active member of the club. For the last fourteen years he has been an extremely efficient secretary to the West of England ARA. Bob was also Secretary to the West Regional Rowing Council when it was first set up, taking up that role again in 2009. An umpire and entries secretary for the South Coast Championships, his communication skills are faultless. He is a problem solver who gives direction to all developments and supports and encourages all events in the West of England. Bob, thank you for your ongoing and long lasting contribution to rowing in the West.'

Bob at the ceremony

 

Medal of merit – Kevin Dentith. 'The Medal of Merit was introduced to recognise those who have given exceptional service to both their Club and their Region.

'Kevin Dentith has been a member of Exeter Rowing Club for thirty-four years.  He is an active officer as Captain and Chairman, a successful Coach and qualified umpire. 'On behalf of the Region he has spent 15 years as representative on the National Coaching Committee, and has been the most efficient of Secretaries for the National Coaching Committee. He will attend a very technical meeting on Saturday and have the minutes produced for Monday. 'Kevin was President of WEARA and played an important role in forging early partnerships with British Rowing.'

Citations taken from www.britishrowing.org – Pic: Gerard Brown

Diamond Jubilee medal

To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, the Chairman invited all British Rowing members to nominate people who had gone that extra mile for our sport and who through their dedication have helped to lay down a legacy for future generations of rowers.

Beryl Tregear – Looe. Beryl worked tirelessly to obtain the planning and funding for the new club premises. The new boathouse means that boats can get on the water all year round and Beryl’s contribution to the build has resulted in a real legacy for rowing in the local community.

Shane Sullivan – Charlestown. Shane is Club Chairman and has been a driving force in heading up the team that succeeded in obtaining a new site in the Charlestown Harbour, raising the profile of the club with the aim of attracting many new members to gig rowing.

Don Seymour – Rame. Don is described as ‘the best fund raiser in the South West.’ Financially astute, he has worked tirelessly to ensure that Rame Gig Club obtained one of the best and most efficient small footprint facilities in the sport.

Stuart Mountford – Devoran. Stuart breathed new life into a weary group of gig rowers who were let down after a constraint was discovered on negotiated land. He was instrumental in finding a new site and the building work is imminent. A modest man who deserves much praise for the work of himself and his team.

Diamond jubilee award  

Citations from www.britishrowing.org Pic: Gerard Brown

Cornwall Sports Awards

On Friday 9^th November, Cornwall Sports Partnership held their annual sports awards at the Headland Hotel in Newquay. Rowing was very well supported & guest speaker GB rower Annie Vernon keeping the audience entertained after dinner with a great speech. The following were recognised:

Shortlisted:

Jacqui Blake (Saltash RC) – community volunteer of the year & official of the year. Falmouth Gig Club – Club of the year. Rhiannon Halliday (Caradon GC) – junior coach of the year & U25 coach.

Prize winners:

Shane Sullivan (Charlestown RC) – Lifetime services to sport & community volunteer

 

Nankersey RC – Sportivate project of the year – Sportivate explores rowing

Information and pics from www.cornwallsportspartnership.co.uk

 

Telegraph / Waitrose volunteer awards

James Cockley of Fowey Gig Club (previous Cornwall U25 coach of the year) has been nominated for his work coaching within the club.

Coach Education 2013

Please check the coach education page Go here now! for up to date information on the next Level 2 courses and workshops coming up including :

Time to listen workshop (for welfare officers) Jan 16th

Level 2 (fixed seat) - North Devon Feb / March 2013

Level 2 (sliding seat) - Exeter April 2013

All of the information you need is on the coach education page including application forms & posters.

There is some funding available for Devon Based coaches, more information on the posters

These tend to be popular so book up fast!

Deadlines in Jan & Feb

Coaching in Plymouth

Water Water Everywhere!

With the huge amount of rainfall in the past week you would have thought that having a boat would be a good move! Unfortunately the extreme weather is stopping many of us from rowing at the moment including postponing the Dart Totnes Mini Head at the weekend. I for one am gutted as this was to be my debut in a fine boat after 10 years of fixed seat rowing. I am now also going to miss the rearranged event on the 8th December as Ill be running a Learn To Row course for a new watersports centre in Penzance. Check out Dart Totnes webpage for more info on the event Website .

In the meantime, enjoy some indoor training on the rowing machine! If you fancy a challenge why not compete in the Concept 2 indoor league Challenge series , or maybe look to enter the Cornwall Indoor Rowing Competition in Newquay Link to more info .

Stay safe and don't travel in severe weather if you don't need to!

Photos now online

Cornwall Rowing Association Presentation

 

Galleries are now online from the Plymouth Explore Rowing Launch, The WEARA dinner and the CRA presentation, go to these by clicking on the 'PHOTO GALLERIES' page to the right.

Skip to this page by clicking HERE

GB Rowing Technique Workshop

Inspired by London 2012? Fancy improving the quality of your coaching?

 

On Tuesday 4th December 2012 GB Rowing teams Peter Sheppard will be delivering a 3 hour workshop on GB rowing technique. The workshop will focus on the drive phase of the stroke and help enable coaches to spot good technique and coach and effective drive.

 

GB Rowing Technique Workshop

The workshop will run 6.30-9.30pm at Ivybridge community college, PL21 0JA.

Ideally you would have attended 'Safe and Strong Trunks' in 2011.

To book your space  complete the attached APPLICATION FORM . Send to Rhiannon Halliday, 11 The Green, Lower Burraton, Saltash, PL12 4SQ. 07818576145.

Cheques payable to 'WRRC' not British Rowing.  

Winter is here......

With 'end of season' dinners and presentation evenings underway there's a real feeling that winter is on the way!

The blog is growing all the time and there are new pages which will hold information on most of the associations along the right hand side of the page

Keep checking back as information is being added all the time!

Explore rowing launch - Plymouth

Race nights - a new winter challenge

Race nights at Tremough University

Tremough University Campus in Penryn, Cornwall are hosting a series of winter race nights on the last Thursday of each month.
During these nights the staff will help you complete the concept 2 challenge series and log results, representing your club or Tremough Sports Centre.

The first one is Thursday 27th September and the challenge is 4 minutes, just turn up between 7-9pm.
The race night is free if you are a member of the sports centre, if not you can pay £5 and this will give you access to the gym all evening.

Its a chance to set yourself a new challenge!

Full details can be found on the PDF poster
PDF poster - information

For more information on indoor rowing visit British Rowing or concept 2

A soggy end to the week....

Falmouth Mens A gig crew

Now the gig racing season is over for me, I am enjoying some sessions down at Plymouth ARC and have been out in some coxed fours this past week. I'm taking the opportunity to get out and attempt to master this form of rowing this winter. Plymouth have experienced a bit of a rush post Olympics, so it's great to see so many new rowers wanting to get out on the water. This Sunday the weather forced the club to cancel, and those who attended the gig champs at newquay spent the day in waterproofs, I think the summer is well and truly over :-(

Participation

With Universities hosting their freshers fairs over the next few weeks, Exeter and Plymouth boat clubs are hoping for a high interest following the Olympics this summer. Exeter reported 200 freshers signing up, including about 120 new novices. This great for participation at University level. I have also been working with Plymouth Uni on structuring some learn to row sessions with their new freshers, working with Sallie Malt.

I am also constantly looking for new clubs / centres who may like to run Sportivate projects, teaching 14-25 year olds how to row. Follow this link for more info on Sportivate  At the moment I have interest from gig clubs, the UK surf rowing league and the Universities.

Coach education

The Fowey level 2 is now full, with a waiting list. There are also some workshops available including 1st aid and safeguarding, see the COACH EDUCATION page for more detail.

Mens County Gig Championships

I attended the county gig champs at the weekend, coxing Caradon C crew. In this crew there were 2 juniors who were competing in their first mens championships. Its great to see that the development squad project ran by Caradon Gig club is working! The crew finished 31st out of 78. I took some shots from the spectator boat in the final while cheering on my other half who rows in Caradon mens A who finished 3rd. I have wrote a report on the British Rowing homepage: Gig report . A huge well done to all clubs taking part especially Falmouth, who celebrated 'doing the double' once again having won both the mens and ladies world and county championships this year.  Helen Glover attended the competition and dished out the medals to the top 6 crews.

Caradon and Mounts Bay men in the final

What an end to the 2012 season.....

What a week!

This past week has been a great one for the West Region.

On Sat & Sun 8th/9th September two major championships took place. The Newquay Ladies gig championships, and the South Coast Championships. Congratulations to all crews who took part in both events.

• Check out the WEARA page for a report on the south coast champs.  
• Well done to Falmouth Ladies, gig champions once again Gig report on BR website

Cornish Rowing Challenge

On Weds the 12th September, no less than 11 GB rowers came down to Cornwall to take on the top lady gig rowers in the Cornish Rowing Challenge! The event, dreamed up by Annie Vernon Annies Bio saw 3 races take place in picturesque St. Mawes. The event was a result of a huge amount of teamwork and I'm not going to attempt to name all parties involved for fear of forgetting one! The event was hosted by Roseland gig club, headed up by Millie and Norma Edwards. I was there on the quay running a 500m ergo challenge and promoting rowing in the West Region. Over 65 people took part in the erg race, with the top 6 adults and top 6 juniors taking on GB at the end of the night in a 2012m relay.

Katherine Grainger takes on the ergo

The night was fantastic - rowers coming together to celebrate the sport, and also capture a little bit of London 2012. Team GB took on the gigs in race one - in coastal fours supplied by Greenbank Falmouth - needless to say, Team GB won (1-0!). The 2nd race saw GB take to the gigs, to take on another 9 gig crews.....Falmouth gig rowers came out on top! (1-1!). The final race of the day saw GB rowers jump in gigs, with one Olympian in with 5 gig rowers....names in a hat....carnage! Katherine Grainger secured her 2nd gold medal of the year as she crossed the line in the winning crew.

The event had loads of excellent press, check out the links below for a few! Proceeds from the spectator boat and bucket collections went to Shelter Box, Annie is an ambassador for this Cornish Charity.

Cornish Challenge on the one show
Write up on 'this is Cornwall'
Some amazing pics from Shelter box

In other news.......

The next Level 2 coaching course is FULL with a waiting list! It's great to see so many keen new coaches wanting to get qualified.

I took to the water on Sunday evening with the Seniors at Plymouth ARC - I'm aiming to get out and take on some sliding seat rowing this winter now the gig season is over. After the first session my hamstrings are screaming!!

Cornish Rowing Challenge

I had a great meeting last night with Annie Vernon and a whole host of partners involved in running the Cornish Rowing Challenge. Please have a look at the information below for details of the event. It's a great opportunity to promote rowing in the West Region, so I'm very excited about being able to be a part of it. I am planning to run ergo challenges throughout the evening on the quay, supported by some young leaders. I am hoping to have a board with information on how you can get into rowing in the region. Asides from all this, it's going to be a great evening with some friendly banter between the gig rowers and sliding seat rowers!

This event, organised by Cornish Olympian Annie Vernon will see 11 GB athletes including Helen Glover, Heather Stanning, Katherine Grainger & Sophie Hosking compete in three races, taking on gig rowers from Cornwall.

 

4pm – Rowers arrive

5pm – Coxswains meeting & briefing

6pm – Race one: GB rowers in coastal boats (provided by Greenbank Falmouth) vs Gigs

6.45pm – GB rowers in 2 x gig Vs Falmouth, Flushing & Roseland gig clubs + 5 gigs (names in a hat)

7.30pm – Mix up race, 10 gigs with mixture of GB and gig rowers – names in a hat

There will be ergo racing throughout the evening

There will be a bar at the rising sun pub following the racing

 

This event is all about bringing people together to celebrate London 2012, rowing in the South West  & the best of Cornwall

 

All are welcome

 

If you are a gig rower and would like to race you can put your name forward to race or if you would like to volunteer on the night please send an email to Norma Edwards normaedwards@btconnect.com

 

Seasalt Cornwall are hosting the website with all information on: http://www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk/customer/pages/gig_rowers/cornishrowingchallenge

 CLICK HERE for the seasalt page

Follow the action on Twitter:

Annie Vernon: @Prideofcornwall

Rhiannon Halliday: @RowWestRegion

Gig Rower: @_gigrower

Seasalt: @seasaltclothing

 

Inspire a generation!

Wow!

What a week we had for Olympic rowing, 9 medals - what a haul! Here are some good sites to check out to catch up on the results: http://www.london2012.com/rowing/ or http://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing-team

I was lucky enough to go to Dorney on the Friday and Saturday, the atmosphere was electric!

This is a great time to recruit new members in to your rowing clubs, 'strike while the iron is hot' so to speak and sign people up!

Here are some top tips for clubs:

1.    Make sure your information is up to date

Don’t miss out on people interested in joining your club just because they can’t get hold of you.  Double check that the contact details you publicise are up-to-date and there is someone to answer the enquiries.  Are your club details on the British Rowing Club-finder up-to-date?  Right now we’re seeing thousands of people using this everyday so it’s a great way to promote your club.  If you need to update Club-finder please email sarah.leys@britishrowing.org

2.    Use taster sessions

If you’re flooded with demand then use taster sessions as a way to filter those participants who just want to try rowing once from those who might complete a whole learn to row course and join the club.  A simple taster session can give people the chance to try rowing and see if it’s for them.

3.    Make it easy for everyone

Making it clear what the dates of a course are and what the commitment will be makes it easier for people – some may decide they’d rather help our as volunteers.  Shorter courses (up to six weeks) are probably best as a first introduction to rowing.  If you are running any taster sessions fix some dates now so that you can tell people the dates and sign them up immediately.

4.    Keep records

Even if you can’t cater for everyone straight away (or someone can’t make the dates you have        organised), keep records of applicants details and develop a waiting list.  Keep in touch with them from time to time and let them know when the next opportunities to try rowing will be.

5.    Shout if you need help

Please keep the team at British Rowing up-to-date with how things are going at your club.  Your first port of call should be your Regional Team Leader. This is me! Rhiannon.halliday@britishrowing.org 07818576145. We will try and support you in every way we can and help you through these exciting times for the sport.

Coach Education Calendar 2012-13!

Part of my current role is to organise courses and workshops to 'upskill' coaches and volunteers. We have just set the calendar for 2012-13.

LEVEL 2 COACHING COURSES
These usually last 2 full weekends and 2 evenings, the course is a UKCC Level 2 in either sliding, or fixed seat rowing. The full cost is £350. The aim of the course is to educate rowing coaches on how to plan, do & review sequential training sessions.

WORKSHOPS
There are a variety of workshops we can run:

Safeguarding & Protecting Children - led by Pat Dollard, this is a requirement of clubmark and aims to educate rowing coaches and volunteers on best practise.

Time to listen - This is a step on from SPC and aimed at club welfare officers.

Rigging - a 3 hour workshop aimed to educate coaches on the basics of rigging!

First Aid - a 4 hour workshop this has been developed with rowers in mind and has been very popular! Tutored by Pat Dollard this includes CPR.

UKCC Level 2 Coaching Course - £350….12 spaces on each
Venue	Date	Deadline
Fowey (Fixed seat)	27/28/31/Oct  7/10/11 Nov	10th September
North Devon – Appledore (Fixed seat)	23/ 24 / 27 Feb  6/9/10  March	7th January
Exeter – Sliding seat	6/7/10/17/20/21 April	18th February

Workshops  £18 for British Rowing members, £33 non British Rowing members
Workshop	Venue	Date	Deadline
Rigging	Mount Batten Centre	23rd September 2-5pm	20th August
Emergency 1st aid £30	Fowey	28th October 9am-1pm	20th October
Safeguarding and Protecting children	Fowey	31st October 6.30-9.30pm	24th September
Safeguarding and Protecting children	Ivybridge Community College	7th November 6.30-9.30pm	1st October
GB Rowing Technique	Ivybridge Community College	4th December	26th October
Time to Listen	Ivybridge Community College	16th January 6.30-9.30pm	1st December
Safeguarding and protecting children	Appledore	27th February 6.30-9.30pm	14th January

Please contact me on rhiannon.halliday@britishrowing.org 07818576145 for more info and application forms.

Introduction

My name is Rhiannon Halliday and I work for British Rowing as the development officer for rowing in the West Region. The region covers Cornwall and Devon and I work with all disciplines of rowing including olympic class fine boat rowing, gig rowing, flashboats, indoor and surfboats.

I intend to use this blog to post updates including courses, workshops and photographs of events.

You can contact me on rhiannon.halliday@britishrowing.org