Volunteers’ Week Spotlight: Developing Olympic Champions in Leicester

As part of volunteers’ week, our first spotlight is on two individuals who have dedicated a lifetime of volunteering in Leicester.

If you mention Leicester Rowing Club, there are two names that immediately come to mind; Howard Marsh and Liz Pulford.

Howard has been a member for nearly 50 years since he was just 16. Liz started a little bit later, aged 25, but still over 40 years ago. They met at the Club when Liz started in 1984 as a novice, and they married in 1988. They have dedicated countless hours to the sport since then. Howard was the original coach for Lauren Henry and Jonny Walton having coached them both at U19 and U23 level. Liz was winner of a British Rowing Volunteer of the Year award last year.

Howard has always been interested in coaching and training and soon started setting training plans for both himself and the rest of the club. He started coaching seriously in the 1980s and, since then he has coached most of the club’s high performance athletes, guiding numerous crews to medal winning performances at Henley Royal and Henley Women’s regattas, as well as the National Championships, National and World Masters and was selected to join the GB coaching team at World U23 Championships in Amsterdam (2011), Trakai (2012), and Racice (2021) and the World Rowing Junior Championships in Tokyo (2019).

We spoke with the couple to find out a bit more about their volunteering in the sport and what it is that inspires them. 

Can you tell us a little about the volunteering you do currently?

Liz: Howard and I are both volunteer coaches at the Club.  We coach the club juniors and the scholars from the local state school, Castle Mead Academy. We are currently in the process of running indoor taster sessions for all the ~240 Castle Mead Academy Year 7 pupils, so that’s pretty full on, but great fun.

Howard also still coaches our club performance squad, and, amongst others, is currently coaching athletes on both the U19 and U23 trials programme. We are also both members of the club committee and the regatta organisation committee. I am also running the club’s Row the Rhythm project; a programme, funded by Love Rowing, to get people with visual impairment out on the water.

Leicester is a small club and is entirely managed and run by volunteers – so there’s always lots to do.  We end up doing all sorts of different tasks, from ordering spares to gardening!

What was it that encouraged you to start volunteering in rowing, and when was that?

Howard: I started coaching as a volunteer over 40 years ago.  I had been coached myself by a really inspirational club coach who encouraged my ambitions as a young athlete. When my coach moved away I found myself quite lost, so I started to put my own training plans together, trying to work out what made the boat go fast and how to get the best out of myself.  It also made me realise how important my coach had been to me, and thought: 

“I want to make sure everyone who comes to the club with ambitions and dreams is given the opportunity to explore their full potential.”

Liz: I began getting involved in the management of the club more or less as soon as I started.  I guess I’m just one of those people who sees a job that needs doing and can’t say no!!  I served as Club secretary from 1985, just a year after I first joined the club. Since then I have held various roles including Vice-Captain, Regatta Secretary and Club Welfare Officer. I was elected as Club President in 2006 and have remained in post since then. I started coaching relatively recently, in 2020, as we were coming out of the Covid restrictions and a few of our previous coaching team decided not to re-start.

What do you enjoy about your volunteering?

Liz: For Howard, I know that he just loves to see people realising their potential.  It has been brilliant seeing the bond between him and people like Jonny and Lauren, and he is still in close contact with them both.  We were both out in Paris last summer to watch Lauren racing and there were definitely tears in his eyes when her crew crossed the line to win that amazing gold medal.  It was a very emotional moment for us both, but especially for Howard.

For me, rowing is a sport that has given me so much.  I sometimes think it defines me. My involvement in rowing has been life-changing: I have found a sport that I love, have been fortunate to be well coached (by Howard), and have found considerable success. Rowing has taken me across the world, and I have won medals at National Championships, National Masters and World Masters Championships. My involvement in the sport led to me meeting and marrying Howard, who, as my coach, has both contributed to, and shared in, my success. I just love it and I want to pass that passion, that enthusiasm on to the next generation.  It gives me a real buzz seeing other people enjoying the sport that has given me so much.

What would you say to others thinking about getting involved in volunteering in rowing?

Liz: Volunteering in rowing is really incredibly rewarding. It seems to me that pretty much everyone in our sport is supportive and caring.  It’s a real community, and it feels great to contribute to that community.  Take the Row the Rhythm programme for people with Visual Impairment for example, I can honestly say that I think all the volunteers get just as much out of it as the participants.  We all go home feeling great and knowing we are helping to change people’s lives for the better.

And then just thinking about this past weekend, watching Lauren win the gold at the European Championships out in Plovdiv, was such a remarkable feeling for everyone at the club, but especially for myself and Howard.  Having played a part in that amazing achievement, and knowing how much she had dreamed of that moment since she first started at the club as a 14 year old, was just the best feeling imaginable.  So what would I say?  I’d say,

“Get involved; you won’t regret it!”