Minutes – Welsh Rowing AGM 21St November 2018 7Pm Sport Wales National Centre
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Minutes – Welsh Rowing AGM 21st November 2018 7pm Sport Wales National Centre In attendance Caroline Williams* Carmarthen Boat Club *- nominated representative Alun Stedman Carmarthen Boat Club Nic Thomas Welsh Sea Rowing Association Richard Gloster Welsh Sea Rowing Association Laura Starrs* Llandaff Rowing Club Harry Smallman* Cardiff University Rowing Club James Boyle Cardiff University Rowing Club John Griffiths* Monmouth School Sue Griffiths Andy Finlay Cardiff City Rowing Club David George* Cardiff University Alumni RC Michael Hnatiw* Cardiff and Vale Schools Rowing Academy Rosie Warwick-Brown Cardiff Metropolitan University Boat Club Richard Summers Llandaff Rowing Club/Old Monmothians Alex Butler* Monmouth Rowing Club/Old Monmothians Owain Jones* Cardiff Metropolitan University Boat Club Joseph Killick Cardiff Metropolitan University Boat Club Ollie Banks* University of South Wales Rowing Club Beth Powley University of South Wales Rowing Club Gwenllian Jones* Cardiff City Rowing Club Adam Tucker Cardiff City Rowing Club Andrew Richards* Welsh Sea Rowing Association Ewan Mortlock* Swansea University Rowing Club Steven House Swansea University Rowing Club Huw Morgan Chair, Welsh Rowing Dawn Brace Vice Chair, Welsh Rowing Anthony Thomas Board Member, Welsh Rowing Allison Pinney-Collis Board Member, Welsh Rowing Andrew Kilsby Board Member, Welsh Rowing Theodore Huckle (via Skype) Board Member, Welsh Rowing Daniel Clements Board Member, Welsh Rowing Zoe Davies Standing Candidate James Wood Standing Candidate Huw Carrick Standing Candidate Gareth Storey Team Manager Helen Tan Chief Executive Officer, Welsh Rowing Apologies- Dan John, Cardiff and Vale Schools Rowing Academy 1. Welcome (Huw Morgan- HM) • Thanked all for attending and opened the 2018 AGM. HM led a minute’s silence in memory of Imogen Evans, who passed away earlier in 2018. HM welcomed Carmarthen Boat Club as Wales’s newest club, and present at the AGM for the first time. 2. Minutes of previous meeting (HM) • Minutes agreed 3. Chairs report (HM) Our report for 2017/18- Development- led by Laura Hood, supported by Sam English A focus for the year has been on supporting grant applications, with over £50,000 of external funding coming into community rowing. We would continue to encourage eligible clubs to apply for community chest grants, which have had an annual underspend for the past 3 years. 2017/18 saw the development of Carmarthen Boat Club Rowing Section, who now own their own fleet of sliding seat boats, and are keen to develop and compete over the coming year. In addition, new sea rowing clubs in Gower and Cardiff Bay- with the support of Mike and Dan, have formed. Discussions continue on long term facility development in both Llanberis and Swansea. The Cardiff School Games indoor rowing competition was larger than ever, and we are looking to develop this into others, with our Coastal Development Officer Sam English leading an indoor rowing competition in Ceredigion and a Newport Indoor Rowing competition launching in 2019. Coach Education activities have mainly been concentrated on the fixed seat community, due to demand, which has seen a club coach course and 3 new fixed seat tutors added to the workforce. We are pleased that a full Session sliding seat coach course will run in December, and would be grateful to hear from clubs when they have requests for courses. The Umpires committee continues to serve the rowing community of Wales tirelessly, and will be running another training course in 2019, again we’d love to hear if you have individuals who would like to attend the course. Over the last four years there has been a 9 percent increase in the number of affiliated members, which is mainly driven through the universities. Performance- supported by Liz Harries, Tom Mapp and Julia Cowton Our aim was to embed the newly formed Start centre and increase athlete numbers to around 20 athletes to work with two full time coaches, and this was supported by the introduction of the assistant start coach position. Growing the group has been a longer-term project and as part of this we reviewed recruitment strategies for 2018/19, resulting in an increase to the current group size of 19. Recruitment has been carried out during freshers’ fayres, school events and transfers from other Start centres. A good training period over Winter set us up well for success over the summer with wins at BUCS regatta, Henley Women’s Regatta, and qualification for Henley Royal Regatta. Looking forwards, the squad now includes GB development para rower, Ben Pritchard, aiming for the 2024 Paralympic Games, and several athletes aiming for GB representation over the next two years. Liz’s squad are the more experienced athletes, with Tom taking the novice rowers on. The squad is supported with physiotherapy, nutrition, psychology and increased strength and conditioning provision for this season, and benefit from this multi-disciplinary support team which has been consistent for a couple of years, and is noticeably improving performance. Several athletes were picked for HIR, which will be covered by Gareth Storey in detail later in the agenda. The Commonwealth Regatta, saw an new format tried, with Beach Sprint rowing taking place at Sandbanks. FISA attended the event, and seem keen to encourage the adoption of the new format, as do the Commonwealth Games Council. The Welsh team, made up of rowers from a variety of clubs, both sea and river, delivered a bronze relay medal, and a number of 4th places. We continue to support clubs with the development coach roles. One of the main drivers for the development coaches are to increase the opportunities for potentially talented junior rowers to come together within Wales. This is being delivered through development days, the first two of which have recently taken place. More are scheduled for early 2019, as we look to build towards HIR 2019. We hope to develop this into an annual programme of events for talented rowers looking towards Wales and GB representation. We’d like to record a public thank you to Liz Lewis for her 8 years’ service to Welsh Rowing, and wish her the best of luck in her new role in Employability with Cardiff and Vale college. Finally, at Board level we’d like to say thank you to Katie Thirlaway who leaves the Board this AGM after her 3-year term ends. HM opened for questions, none asked. 4. Treasurers report (Andrew Kilsby-AK) • AK outlined the current £7,000 surplus in the 2017/18 accounts, and the provisions made for the hosting of HIR in 2020. Welsh Rowing’s reserves are at an appropriate level to serve their purpose if necessary, and funding from Sport Wales is steady with small cuts. The organisation is in a healthy financial position, and stable. 5. Team Managers’ Report (Gareth Storey- GS) 115 athletes registered for the team in 2018, over 50 less than 2017. A team of 60 athletes from 24 clubs were selected to represent Wales at HIR. Results: • Wins for the Women’s 4+ (Kate Silverthorne, Maddie Archer, Ella Tepper, Charlotte Gill and Richard Summers (Cox)) and Women’s Lightweight 2x (Rebekah Edgar & Lucy Iball). Para Men’s 1x – Whilst Ben Pritchard had no competition he set a new personal best and GB qualifying time in testing conditions. The Senior Women’s squad put themselves in a position to compete for the team trophy with 2 events to go but unfortunately these boats did not perform as hoped – leaving the team in 3rd place. Senior Men’s squad struggled with a number of late dropouts to the squad. Reasons such as personal commitments, Power Sprints, visa issues and cost were cited. Sam Bannister (Men’s 1x) was unlucky not to win his event, being beaten on the line. Significant improvements in results from the Junior Men’s squad, with three 2nd places. Illness in the lead up to the event blighted the chances of the sculling boats and an improved team score. A small junior women’s team finished 4th in all 6 categories entered but put in some competitive performances with all boats in the pack going into the last 500m. Event Organisation: • The event experience was positive, with the event well marshalled, well umpired and running to time. Lake Inniscara faces a number of challenges due to its location. The low level of the lake, the area for trailer parking and accessibility for para-athletes were all reported back to the management committee as negatives to the event experience. The spectator experience was positive with the addition of a grandstand and entertaining commentary on all races, however the view of the finish area is limited. The absence of a junior social event/ formal presentation was a negative and the management committee have been asked to review this for future events. Trials & Training Camp: • Despite the planning of an early identification trial, there were very few registered athletes and this was cancelled. A series of training days will be organised by Welsh Rowing through the 2018/19 season to try to identify juniors early. The final trials day at Monmouth in July was a challenge due to the extreme heat and volume of weed in the river, which was at a low level. A sincere thankyou to Monmouth RC and the associated schools for helping these trials run. Junior trials format had to be adjusted on the morning of the trials for athlete welfare reasons. Senior trials for both men’s and women’s squads ran successfully. Junior training camp at Monmouth and senior training weekend worked well to gel combinations and coaches reported positively on the attitude of athletes to get the most out of limited training time. I would like to thank the generosity of parents and others to host athletes during this period as it is crucial to the development of crews.