British Rowing Coach of the Year Awards 2009

February 10, 2010

British Rowing is delighted to
announce the winners of the Coach of the Year Awards 2009.

Coaching Team of the Year:

Awarded to the team that has made the most significant impact on the
performance and/or development of a group of participants.

Winner: Walton Rowing Club

Commended: Durham Amateur Rowing Club, Nottingham Rowing Club

The nominations in this category
were of a particularly high standard, clearly demonstrating that a well
organised team of coaches makes a difference to the whole club, improving the
standard of participants in both racing and development sections.

Walton Rowing Club’s well
organised team of coaches has had a significant impact on all aspects of club
participation. The team’s focus was not just on the athletes but also on the
development of their less experienced coaches, their approach featuring the
sharing good practice and technical knowledge, including support through club
workshops. The strength of their coaching team is reflected in the success of
the club, with competition wins across a range of events, including national
level regattas, junior GB representation and vibrant veteran, senior men and
womens’ squads competing in all the major events. Alongside this, the club has implemented
a successfull adult learn to row programme, now having a large group of novice
men and women and a waiting list for the learn to row sessions.

Development Coach of The Year:

Awarded to the coach who has made the most significant impact on their
local community by providing new opportunities for new groups of people to
become involved in the sport of rowing. We are particularly looking for
programmes that have built on good coaching practices, drawn on the resources
available to them such as the Learn to Row programmes and has led to a
sustainable increase in membership at local clubs. The award is open to
an individual or a team.

Winner: John Green of Tees Rowing Club

John Green has worked tirelessly
to develop and coach the Tees Rowing
Club + group. The focus of this initiative is lifelong fitness and recovery
from illness. The programme has links with the local NHS Primary Care Trust, which
is helping to ensure its long term sustainability with financial support for coach
education courses.

John has introduced many older
people to the sport who would not otherwise have had an opportunity to learn to
row. John also supports his Tees RC’s Young People Programme.

Junior Coach of the Year:

Awarded to the coach who has made the most significant impact on the
performance or development of School or Junior club crew/s during 2009.

Winner: David Currie of Sir William
Borlase’s School

Commended: Tatjana Rozman of Star
Club.

David Currie has ‘transformed all
aspects of Junior rowing at Sir William Borlase’s School. This year the Club
have had success at all levels which includes four medals at the National Schools
Regatta and two at the National Championships of Great Britain. These successes
have resulted in three club members being selected for Great Britain junior
teams. David has achieved this whilst supporting the growth in popularity of
the club, which now has over one hundred active members, and overseeing all
aspects of club activity. His involvement ranges from managing and building the
extensive fleet of club boats, to making the event entries and to developing an
effective communication system between club members, parents and the school.
David provides an excellent example of how a club coach can operate.