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Steve T · Last edited by Steve T on Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:05 am; edited 1 time in total

As we start to see the shorter evenings then the club's Wednesday meets will move inside to Westhoughton Pool for the winter. The first indoor meet will be 23 September, starting at 20:00. As last year there will be two 45 minute sessions. As we are only allowed ten boats in the pool at once, a simple first-come, first-served rule will apply, see the pool rules HERE. As with our summer meets, we ask any prospective members to please get in touch to make arrangements.

Remember that the intention of our pool meets is to allow members and newcomers to practice in a comfortable environment and to continue to meet on Wednesdays during winter. They are costed to break even, not to make a profit for the club, the charge is to cover your time in the pool, not formal teaching. Instruction is however usually freely available from the club's volunteer coaches who are there because they enjoy passing on their skills, and because the pool management requires coaches to be present. Please treat the pool sessions in this way - as a social and informal event where you can practice, supported by the coaches (who will also want a chance to play!).

Steve
_________________
Steve Thomas
Secretary & Website Editor

www.westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk
website@westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk

Bradshaws · Joined: 14 Nov 2008 Posts: 74

Hi Steve
Can you give me a price for a family membership for fiona & I.
see you Wed night.
Ps I will bring Fiona to look afer Conor if the water is to high
Darren

Steve T · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:24 am Post subject:

Don't forget if you have any club boats or other gear on hire for the summer to bring them back to the pool at the first opportunity. If you can't do this please get in touch and other arrangements can be made.

If we're as busy as last year then there may be people asked to use the later session or not to paddle so please be tolerant. If it gets silly we will have to invent another method.

Steve
_________________
Steve Thomas
Secretary & Website Editor

www.westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk
website@westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk

Steve T · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:04 am Post subject:

Pool meets continue to be as busy as they were last year and both sessions were full last night, although I don’t think anyone has had to be asked not to paddle so far this year. The last thing we want is for members to turn up and not get a chance to paddle, nor do we want to turn away prospective members who arrive on time but can’t get onto the pool because the regulars have been camping outside the door since 6:00 that morning.

Therefore, after a quick chat with the committee members present last night we propose a couple of changes to come into effect from next week:

Newcomers are already asked to arrange attendance in advance so we can make sure someone is there to coach them. If we have been contacted in advance by prospective members who plan to attend on a given Wednesday, then we will reserve places in the first session for them as long as they are there by 20:00. This will continue for their first two or three sessions, when they will be expected to become members and join the free-for-all. We will, if necessary, stagger newcomers so we don’t get more than three or four in a week. If possible, I will post on the forum before the Wednesday to confirm if any places will be reserved on this basis, and how many.

To ensure everyone gets some pool time, if it looks busy by 20:00 then we will change the two 45 minute sessions to three 30 minute sessions. If this happens then the charge will then be £3.50/session for members, £4.00 for non-members (anyone who points out that it should be £3.33 will be considered to have volunteered to collect the money and will have to carry the loose change round in their trunks). This shouldn’t be necessary too often, but will be subject to the judgement of the coaches present at 20:00 and their decision will be final. Probably. Unless they change their mind. As at present, four places will be guaranteed in the last session for members of the Irwell Shufflers.

This will kick off next week (14 October), when I expect three newcomers to attend during the first session.

Steve
_________________
Steve Thomas
Secretary & Website Editor

www.westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk
website@westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk

Bradshaws · Joined: 14 Nov 2008 Posts: 74

Hi Steve
That’s a good idea but what about the younger members who have school in the morning they rely on getting in the pool for 20.00 plus their parents

Steve T · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:11 am Post subject:

Hi Darren

The rules state that priority in the first session goes to juniors & parents, it just means that if we've reserved three places for newcomers then there are seven left, adults without kids will have to wait and if there's lots of people there then we'll run three sessions.

I'm at a loss to suggest any other way of running the sessions other than some sort of pre-booking system which would be hassle and would also require pre-payment.

The committee is open to suggestions as to how we run the pool meets fairly to all, including juniors, prospective members, shufflers and the club coaches and still break even.

Steve
_________________
Steve Thomas
Secretary & Website Editor

www.westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk
website@westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk

Phil · Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 91

Steve when will you know about the lenth of the sessions for the week ie 45 mins or 30mins. i could do with knowing because its not worth me coming just to paddle for 30mins its to far to travel

CarlS · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:22 pm Post subject:

Having just done a quick surf around the interweb, I can tell you that other local clubs offer pool sessions which mostly are pre-booked and in each case numbers are limited.

30 minutes does not seem long but if you are learning to roll or want to practice a 'drill exercise than you will probably find that this is long enough. Bearing in mind that this would involve a fairly intensive workout. In any case we do not always have large numbers turning up and on those nights members would get longer. The shufflers have always been good friends of Westhoughton and in the past have been willing to offer advice and some coaching. It is essential that we keep their slots open.

It is important for members to decide what they want out of pool sessions. In many cases it is the obvious reason of wanting to learn to roll, this is best done after learning a good support stroke over a few weeks with intensive short sessions.

In theory, kayaking is a winter sport (due to river levels and fishing) and the only reason why we move indoors is due to the loss of light. Mel and I went to the Burrs this morning, had a brilliant paddle and was off the water by 12.00. There are enough (dare I say it), competent paddlers in the club who could do similar trips like this and I for one am happy if I get a paddle at least once a week, it doesn't matter to me if it at the pool or on the Burrs one Saturday or Sunday morning.

Another point which is important to note that as far as I know there are only six members who can provide the coaching cover that the council requires. It doesn't matter how experienced other members are, the pool requires that someone with a BCU coaching qualification is present. Of course it wouldn't seem fair if they didn't get a paddle.

I think that we will need to go for three sessions, (this means that at least 30 people can paddle) but some weeks we will not need to do so. Numbers turning up for pool sessions do drop off and we were in a similar situation last year. I would suggest that members think very carefully what they want to get out of a pool session and ensure that they use their time on the water efficiently. Don't forget that many informal Burrs sessions are planned/discussed pool side and it is nice to have a chat in the pub afterwards.

I have gone on a bit about this one (not like me I know), but we are getting a lot of discussion on this subject. It is important to bear in mind that we are growing as a club and in the past 12 months we have seen paddlers really come on and have done more trips than in any other year. We do need to think about how we run pool sessions and as Steve as already asked, please continue to post your comments.

Steve T · Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

Some good points Carl. For me half an hour of not cartwheeling is knackering enough.

If you watch at the pool then you'll see there is usually plenty of floating around chatting so shortening sessions to 30 minutes won't really impact anyone too hard, you can do the chatting on the side. I recognise that it's different for me as I live less than five minutes away, but I have been known to turn up with no intention of paddling just for a chat (and a pint after). However on a number of occasions last year I did intend to paddle but had to sit it out as we had so many present, and I know I'm not the only one amongst the committee / coaches who did this.

Personally I'd like to stick at 45 minutes, only going to 30 on a "by exception" basis if there are a lot of people, and we won't know this until we see who's there. However, It's a fair bet that if the three beginners who have contacted me turn up, plus Chris' three friends, we will need to do that this week.

It's great to see the club this busy, and maybe to make a small profit from the winter's sessions rather than the usual break-even. However, it makes it difficult to manage while still giving everybody what they want in each week's 90 minutes.

People have, in the past, suggested various ideas, including extra pool sessions (which will also need some coach cover, and even the club coaches do have some sort of non-paddling life) or extending the length of the current session. Both of these mean the club taking a gamble since we'll have to pay for it on the days that no-one turns up. Pre-booking is a possibility, but how will that work? If you book you'll have to pay up-front or it's pointless, so you will need to be at the pool the previous week or have to track one of the committee down some other time. So if you miss one week you won't get a space next week as everyone else will fill it up. I could set up some PayPal-based web scheme but there are members who don't use the internet. There's even been mention of rationing (eg. if you've been two weeks you have to miss the third) - I can't see that working, and it won't be popular.

So what do we do? All suggestions gratefully received.

Steve
_________________
Steve Thomas
Secretary & Website Editor

www.westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk
website@westhoughtoncanoeclub.org.uk

Mel Stoddart · Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 207

For me the suggestion of three 30 min sessions is fine. After about 25 mins trying to roll I've usually had enough!

Steve T · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:04 am Post subject:

Mel Stoddart · Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 207

hehe

Dave W · Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Posts: 96

Hi All

I thought I would put my 2 little pennys in for what it's worth.

As you know I dont mind which session I paddle, I myself have 3 kids who want to learn to paddle who are all members of the club. As I said to Steve to save on spaces I will be bringing them 1 at a time after the initial rush has died down. I think it is a good idea to introduce new paddlers as long as they become members after 3 visits, But I think it is wrong to give preferential treatment to people that have not supported the club throughout the year. ie; paddling with us each wednesday night and on the official club trips.
The other option is book another session in just for begginers before the rest of us paddle, That way there would be lots of us there to help out and give advice ( I dont know if thats a good thing or bad but we could always teach them how to capsise)

Dave

Bradshaws · Joined: 14 Nov 2008 Posts: 74

Hi Steve,
Helen has agreed to collect Fiona after 1st session of paddling leaving me free to paddle at later session if 1st session is fully-booked. Hope that helps -Darren

GrahamS · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 182 Location: Warrington

I'd prefer it if we could make the Burrs/Goyt/Llangollen etc a weekly occurence and go to the pool occasionally. This would then free up more spaces for beginners, rolling practice, children etc. Personally speaking, I'd probably be able to make about 3 out of 4 weekends.

If we could organise this, I don't think as many of us would feel the need to go to the pool each and every Wednesday as we'd get more out of a 2hr session on the river, and those that do go to the pool would be guaranteed a longer session.

Another idea to guage numbers for a Wednesday is to post an expression of interest rather than a strict booking system. You would then at least have an idea of how long a pool session you are likely to get.