MAGSROW HANDBOOK 2019/2020 SEASON 1. WELCOME TO MAGSROW To all new parents and rowers, it is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Mount Albert Grammar School Rowing Incorporated (MAGSROW) family. To those parents and rowers returning for another season, welcome back. This handbook is designed to help you navigate your child’s participation in the Mount Albert Grammar School (MAGS) rowing programme. Please take time to read through as it contains important information about you and your child’s responsibilities throughout the season. We recommend that you keep it somewhere for easy reference. It is also accessible on the MAGSROW website (www.magsrow.org.nz) should you misplace your copy. For the parents of novice rowers, we have an induction programme in place. This includes an information session at the start of the season. As you will find out, there is a lot to learn! Rowing is a high intensity sport. It is also a real team sport, with rowers and coxswains working together and supporting each other to achieve a common goal. While it is important that the students enjoy their experience, we also expect them to work hard, be committed and demonstrate good sportsmanship to others. For parents, the sport of rowing can be quite demanding, but can also be extremely fulfilling. You can expect to be a driver, help out at regattas, and assist in fundraising for equipment. Further, the demands of rowing provide healthy challenges for your child, so they may need your guidance in becoming self-reliant in this intense sporting environment. As a parent you will also become a member of the MAGSROW family and develop new friendships with other parents. Our Head Coach and coaching team bring with them extensive rowing experience and coaching credentials. This team is coupled with a proven governance framework delivered through a strong partnership between MAGS and the MAGSROW community. We look forward to meeting you all at some stage during the season. You are always welcome at the MAGSROW supporters’ tent at each regatta; identifiable by the MAGSROW logo and MAGS school colours. We trust all the rowers, coxswains, coaches and families will have an enjoyable and successful season. Kind regards MAGSROW Management Committee MAGSROW Handbook – Version 1.2 – 10th October 2019 2 2. ABOUT MOUNT ALBERT GRAMMAR SCHOOL ROWING 2.1 HISTORY MAGS rowing has a long and proud history spanning 80 years. From the 1940s to the 1970s, MAGS achieved the distinction of being New Zealand’s top rowing school and won the Maadi Cup eight times. Unfortunately, by 1986, the momentum wained and the school’s rowing team was disestablished. Although 22 years passed, rowing was not forgotten and, in 2008, a group of old boys revived the school’s rowing tradition with an aim for MAGS to once again be New Zealand’s most successful rowing school. Despite its hiatus from rowing, MAGS is making excellent progress towards this goal and is currently New Zealand’s third most successful school at winning the Maadi Cup. Key events since the resurrection of rowing at MAGS includes the creation of MAGS’ first-ever girls’ rowing squad in 2011, and MAGS’ 2014 win of its first Maadi Cup medal in nearly 30 years; including its first ever girl’s medal. For more information on MAGS rowing history, see https://www.magsrow.org.nz/history 2.2 MAGSROW MAGSROW is a charitable trust that operates independently of the school but is fully supported by the MAGS Board of Trustees, MAGSROW Steering Committee, and Headmaster. MAGSROW has a committee of parent volunteers that are nominated and voted each year at the annual general meeting. Rowing coaches employed by MAGS run the rowing training programme and regatta selection process. The MAGSROW Committee organises the logistics for the rowing programme, including transport, food and accommodation, and raises funds through grants and fundraising to support the MAGSROW programme. For details of current members of the MAGSROW Committee, see Appendix 3. MAGSROW: Our mission is to consistently produce rowers who can succeed as individuals and as part of a team, at school level and beyond. Our vision is to once again be the most successful school in New Zealand rowing history. Our values are hard work – perseverance – responsibility – respect – honesty. 2.3 AFFILIATION WITH WEST END ROWING CLUB (WERC) MAGSROW is affiliated with WeRC, located at the Saunders Reserve in Avondale, which has more recently been made famous for being Mahe Drysdale’s rowing club. The MAGS rowers train at the WeRC facility which means we are able to use their boats and facilities. All MAGS rowers are also members of WeRC. We share the WERC boat shed with other WeRC members including Baradene College and St Peter’s College and adult rowers. MAGSROW Handbook – Version 1.2 – 10th October 2019 3 ROWING UNIFORMS When MAGS competes in club regattas (generally held before Christmas), we row as members of WeRC and compete in the WeRC’s black and white row suits. When MAGS competes in school regattas (generally after Christmas), we row as Mount Albert Grammar School and compete in MAGS’ blue and yellow row suits. 2.4 WHAT IS THE MAADI CUP? After World War II, the Maadi Cup became this country’s premier school rowing trophy. The Maadi Cup is awarded to the winning Boys Under-18 eight. As a result, ‘Maadi Cup’ became the name of New Zealand’s national school rowing championships. MAGS won the first contest for the Maadi Cup in 1947 and went on to win it another seven times. The event is the largest high school sporting competition in the Southern Hemisphere, which in 2019, attracted more than 2,100 athletes representing 120 schools from around New Zealand. 3. ROWING AT MAGS There are several ways a student can become part of the MAGS rowing team. They can join the MAGS Rowing Academy at the start of the school year, take part in the Learn to Row programme occurring in August each year or, if numbers permit there is the possibility of a trial for the MAGSROW team at the start of the rowing season without participating in the Academy or Learn to Row. 3.1 MAGS ROWING ACADEMY MAGS offers a range of sports academies for promising athletes, including a Rowing Academy for students in years 9 and 10. Academy classes comprise two periods per week before and/or after school, and will effectively be one of the study ‘options’ that students may apply for. The Rowing Academy provides in-season and off-season training that prepares its participants to join the MAGSROW senior team by enabling them to: • Acquire rowing skills and technical knowledge MAGSROW Handbook – Version 1.2 – 10th October 2019 4 • Gain fitness levels • Understand the nutritional requirements for rowers • Gain sports psychology skills • Improve their organisational and social skills • Compete in the ‘MAGS Way’ when representing the school. Separate boys’ and girls’ Rowing Academies are offered in year 9, and a combined one in year 10. Year 8 students who plan to attend MAGS will be provided with an opportunity to trial for a Rowing Academy place before they begin at MAGS. Current MAGSROW novice rowers are also welcome to trial for the Academy, provided that they will be in year 9 or 10 in the academic year they join the Academy. What is involved? Although membership of the MAGS Rowing Academy is free (apart from the cost of a t-shirt), participants are expected to become members of the MAGS rowing team when the rowing season begins in September and to represent the school at regattas throughout the season. Academy members will be expected to attend all Academy and MAGSROW team training sessions and maintain their school studies. 3.2 LEARN TO ROW Learn to Row training is held in August each year for novice rowers. Novice rowers do not have to be Academy members to be able to take part in the Learn to Row programme, but all Academy rowers are expected to participate in Learn to Row. There is a small fee for this programme ($190), which covers the costs of bus transport to WERC for on-water training, and WERC’s winter rowing fee. This training programme is undertaken outside school hours (usually one afternoon after school and on Sunday mornings). We will endeavour to place these sessions on days/times least likely to clash with other winter sport (see information below about winter sports clashes). What should I wear and bring? Wear sports clothes – fitted clothing is best, as baggy clothing can get stuck in rowing boats/equipment. In winter months, your rower may want to consider a fitted thermal top. In addition, bring running shoes, a hat, drink bottle, a heathy snack, a water proof jacket, and warm dry clothes for after each training session. 3.3 MAGS ROWING TEAM The MAGS rowing team is for students in Years 9-12 who are willing to work hard and are motivated to achieve their best. In addition to Academy and Learn to Row rowers, aspiring novice rowers are welcome to trial for a place in the MAGS rowing team even if they are not Academy members. Following the completion of the Learn to Row programme in August, members of the Learn to Row and Rowing Academy will be invited to register for the MAGS rowing team. They will comprise the Novice (novie) Squad, and join senior rowers to make up the MAGS team. MAGSROW Handbook – Version 1.2 – 10th October 2019 5 There are no hard and fast rules for rowing; successful rowers come in all shapes and sizes.