News in Brief from the ARA Council

In a meeting that ran for five hours a number of ‘big issues’ for the Association were tackled.

Name Change

After an excellent and very upbeat presentation Council members were unanimous in agreeing to drop the word ‘Amateur’ and become ‘British Rowing.’  There was a longer discussion about the new logo and lettering and there are likely to be some changes in the light of the various comments made.

Personnel

This was followed by another lively presentation given by a working group convened at the November meeting to look at the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer.  To be or not to be was the question?  The group had worked on the premise, and it was agreed, that this was to be. There was a full discussion about the role, the need, the benefit, the costs and timings.  No decisions were made at this meeting but the group was asked to come back to the Executive and to Council with more facts and figures. 

More name-changing took place in the line-up of Council and Executive representatives:

Bob Noakes was welcomed to his first meeting as Div Rep for Kent and the Sussex coast and Ray Mallett (Devon & Cornwall) took over his new role as Chairman of the National Development Committee.  In addition to Ray there are three new members of Executive; Mark Blandford-Baker (Oxford University), Andy Johnson (East Anglia), and Paul Lorenzato (Putney).  The Chairman paid tribute to all outgoing members for their outstanding contributions to the work of the Association.

International

The Chairman and International Manager had to leave the meeting early to attend the FISA Extraordinary Congress meeting in South Africa.  FISA is the body that brings together the world’s national rowing federations and a proposal to limit the number of crews that a nation could qualify for an Olympic regatta was just one of a number of important issues on the agenda for British rowing.

Council agreed to support the World Rowing Coastal Championships with additional funding of £30,000.  The championships reflect the growing interest in coastal racing and will take place 23rd – 25th October, 2009.  More details from Mayflower Offshore RC who are hosting the event in the historic old town of Plymouth.

National

The committees that report to Council and cover Competition, Coaching, Development, Executive matters and Water Safety all presented their reports.  The move to hold the September Council and AGM meetings as part of a two-day conference in 2009 has been welcomed. 

Some of the issues discussed can be read in more detail if you follow these links:

Anti-doping and the domestic rower
Updates to Safeguarding & Protecting Children policy and procedures
Rules of Racing – the changes explained
Club Safety Audits – clubs with outstanding audits
Structure of the ARA – the new executive members

When ARA Council minutes have been approved as a true record of the meeting they are published here.