Welsh Annual General Meeting 2019 21st November 2019 Welsh Institute of Sport Sophia Suite 19.00 Sophia Close South Glamorgan CF11 9SW Minutes of Meeting

1. Welcome

Huw Morgan welcomed everyone to the 2019 AGM and thanked them for attending.

In attendance:

David George (DG) COBRA Andrew Williams (AW) City of Swansea Rowing Club Mike Hnatiw (MH) Cardiff & Vale Schools Rowing Association/Cardiff & Vale Recreational Rowing Stephen Denley-Hill (SDH) Rowing Club and Masters Committee Representative Sarah Thomas (ST) Llandaff Rowing Club Michal Mintowt-Czyz (MMC) Penarth Rowing Club Gina Wren (GW) Cardiff City Rowing Club Athena Cowley (AC) Cardiff City Rowing Club Jacob Payne (JP) University of South Wales Rowing Club Laura Starrs (LS) Llandaff Rowing Club Joe Killick (JK) Cardiff Metropolitan University Rowing Club Matthew Lem (ML) Cardiff Metropolitan University Rowing Club James Boyle (JB) Rowing Club Andy Dixon (AD) Carmarthen Boat Club Huw Morgan (HM) Chair, Andrew Kilsby (AK) Board Director, Welsh Rowing Dawn Brace (DB) Board Director, Welsh Rowing Anthony Thomas (AT) Board Director, Welsh Rowing Allison Pinney-Collis (APC) Board Director, Welsh Rowing Huw Carrick (HC) Board Director, Welsh Rowing James Wood (JW) Board Director, Welsh Rowing Theo Huckle (TH) Board Director, Welsh Rowing

Helen Tan, CEO, Welsh Rowing Rosie Warwick-Brown Rowing Development Officer, Welsh Rowing Emily Doherty Start Coach, Welsh Rowing Owain Jones Assistant Start Coach, Welsh Rowing Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW

Emma Fitzpatrick Talent Development Coach, Welsh Rowing Mick Desmond Talent Development Coach, Welsh Rowing Sam English Coastal Development Officer, Welsh Rowing

Apologies from:

Daniel John Cardiff and Vale Schools Rowing Association Matt Royston Monmouth Comprehensive School Boat Club Andrew Richards Welsh Sea Rowing Association John Griffiths Monmouth School Rowing Club Trevor Wing Llandaff Rowing Club Alex Rich Penarth Rowing Club Gareth Storey Team Manager, Welsh Rowing Zoe Davies Director, Welsh Rowing Daniel Clements Director, Welsh Rowing

2. Minutes of previous meeting

HM asked for comments on the 2018 AGM minutes, DG advised the minutes didn’t quite reflect the point he was making, which was a query about whether the more expensive HIR years: Scotland and Ireland, could be subsidised to a higher level than the others. One for Board to consider in future years.

3. Chair’s Report- Huw Morgan

HM began by welcoming new member clubs; Fishguard and Goodwick Jemima Rowing Club and Aberystwyth University Boat Club.

He moved onto speak about each area of the business and the progress within 2019.

A new river rowing club has developed this year in 2019 at Aberystwyth University who have fortunately been donated a number of boats to create a good fleet in addition to boats on loan from Welsh Rowing and are keen to continue their development and grow as a club. The hope is that this will develop into a university and community club in the future, giving a much-needed option for community fine boat rowing in Mid Wales. In sea rowing, Welsh Rowing has supported the development of new clubs in Deganwy & Sion Cwilt (New Quay).

The Cardiff School Games 2019 saw an increase in participation and diversity of schools involved. With the upcoming 2020 Cardiff School Games on 4th February 2020 Welsh Rowing have delivered an Indoor Rowing Workshop for teachers at Cardiff based schools to increase their knowledge on coaching and preparing the children for the event. The CRIW Indoor Championship was held in 2019 and planned for March 2020.

There have been several opportunities for coach education in 2018/19 and more in place for 2020. A Sliding Seat Session Coach course was held in December 2019 seeing 12 attendees pass successfully. A partnership with Weightlifting Wales saw a Level 2 Strength and Conditioning Course run successfully with 8 attendees completing Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW their qualification in October and November 2019. A Capsize and Recovery workshop was delivered at the start of the month with 14 people in attendance which filled up very quickly seeing rowers from both Coastal and River rowing. This is the pre-requisite course for the Sliding Seat Club Coach course which is running in February 2020 with only 3 spaces left. A Sliding Seat Session Coach course is also in place for March 2020 at Llandaff Rowing Club. With regards to Coastal courses a Man Overboard workshop and Fixed Seat Club Coach course are also in place for February and April 2020.

An Umpire training Course was held in March and April 2019 and therefore increasing the numbers of Umpires who continue to volunteer their time to serve the rowing community of Wales. There is already some interest for another training course to run over the next 18 months and Welsh Rowing would appreciate any interest from potential umpires.

Welsh Rowing have run a number of CPD workshops including Strength and Conditioning, a Steve Gunn Land Training and Q&A, Racing the Tideway, Psychology and an upcoming Yoga and Mobility workshop to name a few. The two with the most attendance being Strength and Conditioning and our most recent Psychology workshop..

This year Sport Wales introduced a new fund to help boost community sport facilities in Wales which saw over £1 million given to 118 clubs and organisations across Wales. With 7 rowing clubs going in for the fund across coastal and river rowing, two were successful in receiving part of the funding they applied for. Llandaff Rowing Club and Clwb Rhwyfo Crannog Rowing Club received money to help ensure sustainability of rowing in these locations.

Welsh Rowing have been working towards the Bronze Award for Disability Sport Wales’ Insport Accreditation since receiving the Ribbon Award in 2017. The organisation went to panel on the 20th November 2019 for this award and are committed to seeing the organisation through to the next Award, being the Silver Standard.

A total of just over £100,000 has been invested into rowing through Sport Wales Development and Community Chest Grants since 1st May 2018. Welsh Rowing encourages clubs to access community chest annually, and to develop good relationships with their local councils.

Welsh Juniors performed excellently in Summer 2019 with Iwan Hadfield (Monmouth School Boat Club) and Angharad Broughton (Llandaff and the Welsh Rowing Start Centre), featuring in GB teams at the Junior World Championships in Tokyo with Iwan steering the 8+ to a bronze medal. Jack Tottem and Evelyna Davies represented GB at the , taking home a Bronze, Silver and Gold between them.

Welsh athletes again picked up wins at all of the major events over the season, including BUCS, Henley Women’s Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta. Welsh rowers in GB kit secured several boats for the 2020 Olympics, and medals at all major events.

Ben Pritchard secured the PR1 place for the GB team for the Paralympics in Tokyo with 4th at the World Champs and has now moved to train at Caversham full-time in the lead up to Tokyo.

Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW

With a number of rowers moving on from the Welsh Rowing Start Centre at the end of the 2018/19 season and a new coaching team in place, the staff are in the process of increasing our numbers again and extending the reach for Talent ID.

Welsh rowers were selected for the World Rowing Coastal Championships and the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, and we expect the development of these two rowing forms to grow hugely over the next 4 years.

The development coaches, Mick and Emma, continue to work closely with many clubs, to drive standards and identify opportunities for collaboration. One of the main drivers for the development coaches is to increase the opportunities for potentially talented junior rowers who are Welsh eligible to come together within Wales. A junior land training camp has been launched recently, with good response, and hope to replicate this on the water in the New Year. More are scheduled for early 2020, as we look to build towards HIR 2020.

HM explained that it has given me great pleasure to lead the Board over the last 3 years, and to see the progress being made in expanding rowing in Wales. As announced last week, the Board have elected Theo Huckle QC to become the new Chair as HM steps down at the end of his 3-year term. HM invited TH to address the AGM.

TH thanked HM for his contribution to the Board over the last 3 years.

TH discussed the decision to move Wales’ HIR venue to Strathclyde, mainly due to the large costs incurred to host on Cardiff Bay. With no permanent 4 lane venue in Wales, the costs to retrieve the course from the Bay are increasing each time we host the Regatta. The lack of permanent venue has been a longstanding problem, Wales has previously hosted HIR in Ghent, a counterintuitive but cost-effective option. HIR is very important to Wales, and the only current chance we have to award Welsh vests, but the proportion of income on a single event is no longer justifiable, even without the additional calls on our limited resources.

TH stated that we had hoped to trial Llyn Padarn for the event, but the new format for this year meant the Board felt it would not be prudent for this year. The Board has committed to use some of the money saved to make it easier and a better experience for the athletes – we have to minimise the financial barrier and disincentive to athletes putting themselves forward to be selected.

The Board will be looking hard at the question of how we get HIR back to Wales – difficult because we don't own any land, let alone rowable land or infrastructure required for this purpose, and few waterways capable of hosting an event of this calibre in Wales means options are very limited.

The Board had recently approved a Coastal strategy for Wales, a response to the opportunities in this area, and a changing world. The IOC were always looking to increase participation without increasing the overall number of competitors c. 10000 and the understanding its that coastal variants will be proposed for Paris 2024 in addition to river events. As the recognised governing body for all forms of rowing in Wales we have no choice but to respond accordingly. Sam English as our Coastal Development Officer had developed a strategy to start small and grow

Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW coastal sculling within Wales to a system capable of competing for GB vests in the future, with an investment of around £35,000 into equipment. Sport Wales and Welsh Government place priority on Commonwealth compared with Olympics, and discussions remain ongoing with the Commonwealth Rowing Association. We will of course be keeping this initiative under careful review, both as to its success in promoting coastal rowing forms, but also as to any adverse effects it has upon our ability to support our traditional “flat water” rowing clubs and participants

In the revised organisational strategy we have tried to encapsulate the specific aspirations we believe the rowing community share, and it is tailored to our understanding of direction of travel overall sport policy in Wales – follows on from publication of the new Sport Wales strategy.

TH opened to questions.

MH- stated that the investment into coastal is coming from limited funds, when coastal rowers don’t pay full affiliation fees, for river rowers this is hard to justify.

TH stated that the Board need to look at income streams. Most of the funding had come from within Sport Wales awards.

DG asked whether this is a development or excellence project? If excellence, would we look at a bigger investment to ensure success.

SE- described the concept of the centres of excellence, allowing talent coastal rowers to come together regularly, and push towards GB selection.

DG acknowledged the need to embrace change, otherwise the sport will die.

TH highlighted that currently the majority of Welsh Rowing members are flat water rowers, but that Coastal rowing numbers are now even with those of river rowers, Wales has a real mix of rowing within its waters.

SDH asked whether the previous acrimonious situation with the WeslH Sea Rowing Association had been resolved.

HT highlighted several areas where the two roganisations work together, not least with the appointment of SE, and the clear demarcation of Welsh Sea Rowing Association to provide for their members within Celtic Longboats. Welsh Rowing take responsibility for coastal sculling.

MH stated that Cardiff Rowing Centre had invested into coastal sculling boats, which provided good opportunities for those not confident to row more tippy fine boats, and provided options in adverse weather conditions.

ST highlighted the need to look at the whole pathway, events such as BUCs will need to incorporate coastal sculling into their calendar.

Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW

4. Treasurer’s Report- Andrew Kilsby

The 2018/19 accounts show a deficit of £7,000, balancing the surplus from 2017/18. Income and Expenditure have both decreased. The HIR summary for the 2018 event shows a loss to the organisation, with the organisation subsidising the team costs. Provision for future years has been made for HIR- the current uncertainty on venue makes this prudent. The reserves sit at £83,000 which is around where Sport Wales would like it to be for financial governance purposes, equivalent to 3-4 months expenditure.

5. HIR 2019 Report- Gareth Storey, Team Manager

Gareth Storey was not present, his report from the 2019 HIR event had been circulated in advance and is below. 138 athletes registered for the team in 2019, 72 seniors and 66 juniors. A total of 65 athletes were selected to represent Wales at HIR 2019. The selected athletes represented 26 clubs, schools and universities.

Results:

Not a vintage year on the water results wise but one excellent event win for the lightweight Women’s 1x (Lucy Iball). 3 second place finishes for the senior women (LW2x, W4-, W8+), gave the Senior Women 3rd place overall. JW4x finished runners up in their event, a very strong result in a competitive category. Senior Men and both Junior teams all finished in 4th place overall.

Event Organisation:

The event experience was positive, with the event well marshalled, well umpired and running to time. The spectator experience was positive with the addition of a temporary grandstand, however adverse weather conditions meant that the presentations and hog roast following racing were curtailed.

Trials & Training Camp:

A series of training days were organised by Welsh Rowing through the 2018/19 season to identify juniors early on. Data from these days helped re-enforce selection decisions where necessary. The final trials day at Avon County in July was a challenge due to river traffic and equipment issues. A sincere thank you to Avon County RC, their members and other coaches and parents who helped out on the day of the trial. Information regarding the junior trials and pre-selected athletes could have been distributed sooner, this clash around Henley Royal Regatta week was noted and to be avoided in future to allow more time for athletes and parents to plan for the build up to HIR.

Senior trials for the men’s team took place unsuccessfully due to athletes having steering issues in pairs. Senior women’s trials were not required due to athletes dropping out. The junior training camp held at Monmouth and a senior training weekend had mixed results and a number of combinations across all squads did not gel as expected.

GS 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.

Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW

Logistics:

Junior athletes travelled on Thursday to ensure they had a full day to prepare on the Friday at the course, this change was well received, with the juniors returning home straight after racing on the Saturday. Junior athletes were within a short walk of the course with good food options available for team dinners on the Thursday and Friday evening.

Senior athletes arrived by Friday lunchtime and stayed in Central Glasgow on the Friday and Saturday at University halls of residence. A team dinner took place on the Saturday evening for seniors in absence of a formal banquet.

Equipment & Kit:

Kit was provided by Powerhouse, Stitch and YC sports and the feedback was positive from athletes. A huge thank you to the clubs, schools and universities who lent equipment to the squad for training and the event. Without this support, the athlete costs would increase significantly due to the cost of hiring boats of a suitable quality.

Support Staff:

A big thank you to our team umpires for 2019 – Chris Anton and Zoe Davies and Zoe as our management committee delegate.

A big thank you to all the team coordinators, coaches and Welsh Rowing staff who supported the team in the build up to HIR and during the event.

It was also noted that the support of our equipment managers and towing teams was invaluable to athletes, so a big thank you to Mark Chatwin, Chris Cowburn, John Griffiths and Julia Cowton for their roles.

Proposed changes for 2020:

The addition of a Junior Team manager – This post has already been advertised and will provide a great support to share some of the team manager workload during the busy period in July. Review how the junior team is managed during the training camp to ensure athletes receive the best preparation on and off the water. Earlier deadline for registrations to enable pre-selected athletes and those required to trial to be informed earlier. Continue to run junior development days rather than an early identification trial. Attempt to run more senior training weekends through the season to help with forming more competitive crews. Scottish athletes attended a week-long training camp prior to the event and the extra preparation time and flourishing university programmes reflected positively in the results they achieved.

Finally a huge thank you to Welsh Rowing who provided a significant subsidy to all athletes in 2019, this renewed support was welcomed by athletes and helps ensure the cost of representing Wales is not prohibitive.

6. Nomination and Election of Board Members according to Article 19.3

Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW

One Director was voted on for re-election, the result was that Daniel Clements was elected for a further term of 3 years, ending at the 2022 AGM.

7. Any Other Business

None submitted.

Meeting Close 20.04

Welsh Rowing, Sport Wales National Centre, Sophia Close, Cardiff, CF11 9SW