Steve T
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To clear up any confusion .....There may have been some confusion about how we are planning to run Wednesday night meets. What I said was:
| Quote: | | Last year we seemed to have one or two beginners most weeks on a random basis. This is of course the future of the club and great to see, but for the coaches, this means that we are looking after them and can’t really concentrate on anyone else, nor can we do much of what we want to do. This year any newcomers (at novice level) who want to come along to the club will be asked to come to Burrs on the first Wednesday of each month, when we will use the canal and flatter parts of the river for introductory sessions. Once they’ve had some instruction we and they will then be able to decide whether they can join in on regular club sessions or perhaps need another introductory session or two. |
When I said “newcomers”, I meant new newcomers, not old newcomers. If you’ve already been out with the club then you can of course attend any Wednesday night meet as they’re all suitable for beginners.
The idea was to marshal complete first-timers together on a controlled basis, so that we can assess them and get them ready for normal club activities. In previous years, this has happened on a random basis (most weeks last year) and can disrupt what the rest of the club is doing. Setting aside particular sessions allows us to encourage newcomers (which we are obviously very keen on doing) without affecting what we are doing with the rest of the progressing paddlers.
So:
If you're new to the club and have limited experience or have never sat in a boat before, get in touch and we'll direct you to a "first Wednesday" session. If you've been out with us before, or to a pool session, turn up on any Wednesday evening. the only proviso is that if you need to borrow any gear, let us know well in advance
Steve
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CarlS
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Last night (6th May) was a textbook case study of why we have decided to run things this way. The Burrs was fairly high and would have been too difficult for anyone new to paddling, in previous years a total beginner could have turned up and not been able to get on the water. When we run a beginners session we can make alternative plans should water levels be too much.
With regard to 'looking after' beginners, we are really talking about coaching. Four club coaches were on the water last night and we were able to spread ourselves out and hopefully all members gained from this. We also had some coach to coach coaching, for which I must thank Paul.
Some rescues were required, but this is normal and the fact is that the more paddling you do the more rescues you will be involved in. It is normal for this sort of thing to occur and not a big issue. If you swim, do not feel embarrised or guilty, it is good practice for the people rescuing you and your boat and we have been there (see my entry in the the confession box).
Carl
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