Coaching in Clubs is here for you

British Rowing’s Coaching in Clubs programme can be separated into two distinct strands:

• Regional Development coaches

• The development of British Rowing workshops

Regional Development Coaches work across two aspects of the Whole Sport Plan – growing the sport and nurturing existing talent.

Learn to Row

Approximately 75 per cent of each coach’s work is devoted to growing the sport – helping to deliver Learn to Row courses and making sure that clubs are as enticing as possible to potential rowers. The Regional Development Coaches work with up to four clubs, helping each to develop its coaching structure whilst ensuring that it will support the aspirations of Learn to Row participants. A good example of this is the development of daytime rowing, with Learn to Row graduates having accessible opportunities to access regular rowing sessions outside normal training hours. In essence, a club must commit to providing a broad range of rowing activities, designed to meet the needs of new participants.

The role of the Regional Development Coach is to support the development of these new activities in their early stages, and to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to support the long-term sustainability of the programmes at each club. Long-term sustainability may include training Explore Rowing assistants, and supporting and mentoring aspiring coaches.

Clubs benefitting from the services of a Regional Development Coach must commit to increasing their British Rowing membership by a minimum of 54 by 31 March 2013, and to developing their structures to support this growth in membership.

Regional Training Days

The Coaching in Clubs programme will also offer a series of Regional Training Days to clubs, over the next 18 months. These training days are designed to offer additional support to clubs and coaches working with talented 17-22 year olds. These days will be of particular interest to smaller clubs who have a limited number of coaches and who may have one or two athletes with the potential to achieve competitive success at higher-status domestic events and beyond. Regional Training Days will enable these rowers to enter higher-status competitions as part of a composite crew, thus broadening their experience and enabling them to compete against other rowers of a similarly high standard.

Each region will set a minimum standard to qualify for the training days (this will be a 1k Ergo and water test) and athletes will be required to demonstrate ongoing improvements in order to retain their place in the programme. Clubs must agree to allow their rowers to compete at higher-status events as part of a composite crew, to support club coaches in attending agreed coach training and, where appropriate, to allow training days to take place at their club. Club coaches must agree to attend each training day with their rowers, to support the development o f a common training programme, to attend agreed coach training and – where appropriate – to arrange additional training opportunities for composite crews.

Clubs, coaches, and rowers interested in involvement in Regional Training Days must be prepared to commit to attending a minimum of six training days a year, and rowers must be accompanied by their coach.

British Rowing Workshops

Another element of Coaching in Clubs is the ongoing development of the Education and Training programme, which consists of a series of workshops for coaches. These workshops are intended to be accessed at a local level, with some workshops open to everyone and others only for qualified coaches.

During the autumn, the High Performance and Start Coaches will deliver Safe and Strong Trunks – a workshop primarily for coaches of competition athletes in each region.

We will also be delivering the following workshops:

• Safeguarding and Protecting Children (SPC)

• Time to Listen ( for club welfare officers who have attended SPC training)

• Introduction to Rigging

• Introduction to Indoor Rowing

• Introduction to Adaptive Rowing

• Learn To Row (Indoor Rowing for Young People)

• Intermediate Rigging and Introduction to Writing Training Programmes (both available before end of December 2011)

Workshops can either be run for a whole region, or in response to a request from an individual club.

Workshop costs (Excluding local costs)

Three hour workshops: £15 for BR members/ £30 for non- members

Five/ Six hour workshops: £25 for BR members/ £50 for non- members

For further information regarding the Coaching in Clubs Programme, contact your Regional Team Leader.