Annual Report 2013

Cover Photos: Mark de Jonge (Balint Vekassy) War (JP Thuin) (Rfort Fotos) 1

Contents

Listings 2 Board, Councils, Staff 5 Sprint Clubs 6 Past Commodores 7 Olympic Medalists

Reports 8 Chair and Director General’s Report

Sprint 12 Strategic Plan 14 High Performance Report 17 Domestic Development Report 25 Director of Coach and Athlete Development Report 31 Athletes’ Representative Report 33 Marketing Report 37 Pan American Federation Report 39 Officials’ Report 40 History and Archives Report 43 Trophies and Awards Report – Sprint 45 Individual Membership Report 46 Nominating Committee Report 47 Flag Officer’s Report – Atlantic 49 Flag Officer’s Report – 52 Flag Officer’s Report – Eastern Ontario 56 Flag Officer’s Report – Western Ontario 56 Flag Officer’s Report – Prairies 57 Flag Officer’s Report – Pacific Whitewater 61 President’s Report 64 High Performance Manager and Head Coach’s Report 68 Education and Certification Committee Report 72 Canoe-Polo Report 75 Freestyle Report 79 Wildwater Report 80 BC Report 83 Alberta Report 87 Saskatchewan Report 89 Ontario Report 92 Quebec Report Marathon 95 Marathon Report

Audited Financial Statements 97 Appendix

2

Listing of Board, Councils, Staff

CanoeKayak

Board of Directors Governance Review Committee Commodore Madeleine Hall Chair Peter Giles Vice Commodore Sara Hopkins Member Madeleine Hall Past Commodore Peter Giles Member Sara Hopkins Marathon Representative Don Stoneman Member Laura Hodgson Marathon Representative Fiona Vincent Member Sara Hopkins Sprint Representative Charles Slade Member Steve Pomeroy Sprint Representative Julia Rivard Member Harold Van Winssen Whitewater Representative Harold Van Winssen Member Fiona Vincent Whitewater Representative Julie Crepeau-Boisvert Director General* Lorraine Lafrenière Director General* Lorraine Lafrenière *ex-officio By-Laws Committee Chairperson Peter Giles Marketing Committee Member Harold Van Winssen Chairperson Julia Rivard Member Don Stoneman Member Don Stoneman Member Julie Crepeau-Boisvert History and Archives Committee Chairperson Fred Johnston

Staff Director General Lorraine Lafrenière Sprint High Performance Director Scott Logan Domestic Development Director John Edwards Director of Coach and Athlete Development Peter Niedre Senior Programs Manager Christine Bain Slalom High Performance Manager James Cartwright Communications and Marketing Officer Ian Miller Development Coordinator Julie Beaulieu Administrative Coordinator Claire Severa Director of Finance Sally Clare

National Coaching Staff Sprint Podium Coach, Men’s 1000m & National Training Hub – Scott Oldershaw Podium Coach, Men’s 200m & National Training Centre – Lac Beauport Frédéric Jobin Podium Coach, Paracanoe, Women’s & National Training Centre – Montreal Mark Granger National Team Coach, Men’s Canoe 1000m & National Training Centre – Atlantic Laszlo (Csom) Latorovszki National Team Coach, Men’s Kayak 1000m Dave Robertson National Team Coach, Men's Canoe 200m Robert Stott National Team Coach, Junior & U23 Lead, National Training Centre – Montreal Kenna Robins National Team Coach, National Training Centre – Atlantic Chad Brooks Slalom National Slalom Head Coach Michal Staniszewski

3

Sprint Committees

Sprint Racing Executive Committee Domestic Development Committee Chairperson Madeleine Hall Chairperson Rick Fair Past Chairperson Peter Giles Coaches' Representative Adam Oldershaw Vice Chair, Marketing Julia Rivard Athletes' Representative Pierre-Luc Laliberté Vice Chair, High Performance Chris Helyar Officials' Representative Mike Moir Vice Chair, Domestic Development Rick Fair Member L.A. Schmidt Vice Chair, Athlete Relations Thomas Hall Member Mary-Jane Abbott Coaches' Representative Marc Creamer Domestic Development Director* John Edwards Treasurer Charles Slade Director General* Lorraine Lafrenière Director General* Lorraine Lafrenière

Sprint Racing Council Coaches Technical Committee Sprint Racing Council is comprised of the Executive Chair Marc Creamer Committee and Flag Officers Domestic Development Representative Flag Officer - Atlantic Paul Dean Adam Oldershaw Flag Officer - Québec Bill McKee High Performance Representative Mike Robinson Flag Officer - Eastern Ontario Bevin Schmidt Officials' Committee Representative Chad Brooks Flag Officer - Western Ontario Ted Roworth Learning Facilitator Representative Vacant Flag Officer-Prairie Chris LaPlante Member at large Joanne Devlin-Morrison Flag Officer-Pacific Sara Hopkins Member at large Jeff Houser Member at large Sara Hopkins High Performance Committee CKC Staff Representative* Peter Niedre Chairperson Chris Helyar Coaches' Representative Mike Robinson Trophies and Awards Committee Athletes' Representative Andrew Russell Chairperson Judy Tutty Member Bruce Chiasson Member Georges Delisle Member Adam Klevinas Member Dana Schafer Director General* Lorraine Lafrenière Member Donna Coupal Member Kyle Jeffery Officials Committee Past Commodore Peter Giles Chairperson Mike Moir Domestic Development Director* John Edwards Member Floyd Fry Member Judy Williams Individual Members Committee Member David Graham Chairperson Judy Tutty Coaches' Representative Chad Brooks Athletes' Representative Shaun Fair CKC Staff Representative* John Edwards

Nominating Committee Chairperson Peter Giles Member Mary-Jane Abbott Member Marc Creamer Member Ralph Orton Member Jim Reardon Member Georges Delisle Director General* Lorraine Lafrèniere

*ex-officio

4

Whitewater Committees

Whitewater Executive Committee Polo Committee Chair Harold Van Winssen Chair Jean-Christophe Pothier Immediate Past Chair Ian Jobe National Head Coach Scott Forbes 1st Vice-Chair Julie Crepeau-Boisvert Saskatchewan Representative Ross Phillips 2nd Vice-Chair Dan Fuller BC Representative Mike Goodman Athlete's Representative Michael Tayler Alberta Representative Keegan Smith National Coach* Michal Staniszewski Quebec Representative Julie Brisson Ontario Representative Travis Dube Whitewater Council NWT Representative Steve Hatch Chair Harold Van Winssen Female Athlete Representative Christie Siddle Standing Committee Representative Chuck Lee Male Athlete Representative Kyle Polsfut Slalom Committee Chair Harold Van Winssen High Performance Representative / Past Chair Polo Committee Chair Jean-Christophe Pothier Dale Obrien Freestyle Committee Chair Robert Zwanenburg Domestic Development Travis Dube Wildwater Committee Chair Ed Winnacott Sponsorship Program Carol Janigo British Columbia Representative Rob Fletcher Alberta Representative Simon Gibson Freestyle Committee Saskatchewan Representative Brendan Curson Chair Robert Zwanenburg Ontario Representative Jim Tayler New Brunswick Representative Harold Cox Quebec Representative Julie Crepeau-Boisvert Quebec Representative Patrick Levesque Athlete's Representative Michael Tayler Ontario Representative Joey Hitchins Immediate Past Chair Ian Jobe Alberta Representative Scott Feindel National Coach* Michal Staniszewski Yukon Representative Walter Brennen Director General* Lorraine Lafrenière British Columbia Representative Chris Ryman CKC-W Employee* James Cartwright Team Manager Daryl-Lisa Oldham National Team Coach Ryan Whetung Slalom High Performance Committee COPAC Representative James McBeath Chair Harold Van Winssen Member at Large Mike Holroyd Wildwater Committee Member at Large Margaret Langford Chair Ed Winacott Athlete's Representative Michael Tayler Head Coach Michal Staniszewski Standing Committees CKC-W Employee* James Cartwright Education and NCCP Certification Marathon Committees Committee – Whitewater Chair Chuck Lee Marathon Racing Executive Council Ontario Representative Claudia Van Wijk British Columbia Representative Chris Ryman President Fiona Vincent Alberta Representative Mark Taylor Vice President Darryl Spencer Saskatoon Representative Brendan Curson Treasurer-Secretary Don Stoneman NWT Representative Saskia van Mourik Past Chairperson Iain Craig Quebec Representative Marc Gilbert

Marathon Canoe Racing Council Environment Committee – Whitewater British Columbia Michael Jordan Saskatoon Representative Jimmy MacDonald Saskatchewan Mike Vincent Alberta Representative Mark Taylor Manitoba Jerome Seremak

Ontario Stephen Herbert Quebec Martin Rogers Marketing Committee – Whitewater Chair Julie Crepeau-Boisvert Atlantic Danika van Proosdij (NS) Domestic Development Director* John Edwards

5

Sprint Clubs

Abegweit Club - Montague, PEI* Pickering Rouge Canoe Club - West Hill, ON Abenaki Aquatic Club - Dartmouth, NS Pisiquid Canoe Club - Windsor, NS Aka:we Canoe Club - Oshweken, ON Pitt Meadows Paddling Club - Maple Ridge, BC Ak-O-Mak Canoe Club - Ahmic Harbour, ON Richmond Hill Canoe Club - Richmond Hill, ON Balmy Beach Canoe Club - Toronto, ON - , ON Banook Canoe Club - Dartmouth, NS Ridge Canoe and Kayak Club - Maple Ridge, BC - Oakville, ON Sack-A-Wa Canoe Club - Lower Sackville, NS Burnaby Canoe and Kayak Club - Burnaby, BC Saskatoon Racing Canoe Club - Saskatoon, SK Canoe Club - Calgary, AB Selkirk Canoe and Kayak Centre - Selkirk, MB Carleton Place Canoe Club - Carleton Place, ON Senobe Aquatic Club - Dartmouth, NS Cascades Club - Chelsea, QC South Niagara Canoe Club - Welland, ON Cheema Aquatic Club - Waverley, NS St. Albert Canoe and Kayak Club - St. Albert, AB Chinook Racing Canoe Club - Victoria, BC Sudbury Canoe Club - Sudbury, ON Club de canoë de Pointe-Claire - Pointe-Claire, QC Sunnyside Paddling Club – Toronto, ON Club de canoë-kayak Deux Rives - Coteau Landing, QC Sydenham Lake Canoe Club - Sydenham, ON Club de canoe-kayak Lac Beauport - Lac Beauport, QC Toba Canoe and Kayak Club - Winnipeg, MB Club de canoe-kayak Viking Canoe & Kayak Club - Toronto Island Canoe Club - Toronto, ON Wentworth-Nord, QC Victoria Youth Paddling Club - Victoria, BC Club de canoë-kayak Sherbrooke - Sherbrooke, QC Wascana Racing Canoe Club - Regina, SK Club de canoë-kayak de vitesse de Trois-Rivières - QC Yorkton Canoe and Kayak Club - York Lake, Yorkton, SK Club de canotage de Cartierville - Cartierville, QC Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club Club de canotage de Shawinigan - Shawinigan, QC Club de canotage du Lac Sergent - Lac Sergent, QC Associate Clubs Club de canotage Otterburn - Otterburn Park, QC Adaptive Paddling Club – Knowlton, QC Cobourg and Canoe Club - Cobourg, ON Comox Paddlers Club – Comox, BC Collingwood Dragon Boat and Canoe Club - ON False Creek Racing Canoe Club – False Creek, BC Fort Langley Racing Canoe Club - Fort Langley, BC Great Whale Canoe & Kayak Club – Kuujjumakkpik, QC Gananoque Canoe and Motorboat Club - ON Nelson Canoe Club – Nelson, BC Greater Edmonton Racing Canoe and Kayak Club - AB Norway Bay Canoe Club – Norway Bay, QC Kamloops Canoe and Kayak Club - Kamloops, BC Pemberton Canoe Club – Pemberton, BC Kennebecasis and Canoe Club - Rothesay, NB St. Theressa Point Paddling Club - St. Theressa Point, MB Kinap Athletic Club – Porters Lake, NS Vancouver Island Whitewater Paddling Society – Kitigan Zibi Canoe Club – Maniwaki, QC Nanaimo, BC Club de canoë de course de Lachine - Lachine, QC Waterloo-Wellington DB & Canoe Club – Waterloo, ON Lakehead Canoe Club - Thunder Bay, ON Leduc Boat Club – Leduc, AB Maskwa Aquatic Club – Halifax, NS Mic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club - Dartmouth, NS Milo Aquatic Club - Yarmouth, NS Commercial Members Mississauga Canoe Club – Mississauga, ON B&B Surf Nanaimo Canoe and Kayak Club - Nanaimo, BC Simon River Sports North Bay Canoe Club - North Bay, ON Bear Mountain Boats Onake Paddling Club – Chateauguay, QC McNie Protective Paddling Gear Orenda Racing Canoe Club – Lake Echo, NS Grey Owl Canoe Club – Ottawa, ON Mississippi Parry Sound Canoe Club – Parry Sound, ON

6

Past Commodores

2008-2012 P. Giles 1963 D.G. Findlay 1925 A. Marnell* 2006-2008 G. Delisle 1962 W.J. Colligan* 1924 A.E. Ireland Sr* 2004-2006 G. Delisle 1961 W.L. Patterson* 1923 G.W. Carson* 2002-2004 D. Schafer 1960 K.R. Lane* 1922 G. Peterson* 2000-2002 D. Corbin 1959 T. Jamieson, Sr.* 1921 F.R. Longstaff* 1998-2000 D. Corbin 1958 F.K.J. Geisler* 1920 W.T. Lamb* 1996-1998 S. Mousseau 1957 J.B. Watts* 1919 G.E. Radford* 1994-1996 S. Mousseau 1956 J. Muff* 1916-1918 S.J. Milligan* 1992-1994 P. Fardy 1955 E.R. Richardson* 1915 R.F. Wilson* 1990-1992 M.J. Abbott 1954 H.E. Farintosh* 1911 W.E. Gowling* 1988-1990 D. Egan 1953 G.H. Jermyn* 1910 C.N. Marshall* 1986-1988 M. Chambers 1952 D. Ryan Sr.* 1909 W.A. McNabb* 1984-1986 R. Palmer 1951 E.R. Reilly* 1907-1908 Dr. K.O. Gibson* 1982-1984 A. Quartermain 1950 C.K. Strougler* 1905-1906 W.P. Kennedy* 1980-1982 D. May 1949 E.H. Radford* 1904 W.F. Boardman* 1978-1980 F. Johnston 1948 A.D. Fluker* 1903 J.M. Hurcomb* 1976-1978 T. Deakin 1947 H.B. Bourassa* 1901-1902 J. Powell* 1975 M.B. Moir 1946 W.G. Cleevely* 1900 E.A. Black * 1974 H. Plant 1945 L.B. Johnson* 1936 E.T. Alberts* 1973 W. Simon* 1944 C.W. Powers* 1935 A. Grove* 1972 G. Adams 1943 W.H. Nickle* 1934 F. Clement* 1971 R.J. Knight 1942 A.C. Rice* 1932 L.R. Gisborne* 1970 A.C. More 1941 E.A. Roy* 1931 A.C. Barwick* 1969 L.J. Murphy 1940 A.B. Martin* 1930 J.S. McGregor* 1968 W.L. Dinsmore* 1939 R.C. Nurse* 1929 E.M. MacMillan* 1967 E.D. Way* 1938 F.W. Brown* 1928 J.C. Pettigrew* 1966 K.E. Smith* 1937 E.E. Barlow* 1914 E.R. McNeill* 1965 G.M. Cummings* 1927 H.D. Weismiller* 1913 W. Jennings* 1964 R.M. Sleeth 1926 E.G. Tressider* 1912 C.T. Hoare* * Deceased

7

Olympic Medalists

24 medals • 4 gold,10 silver, 10 bronze

2012: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 2 - K1- 1000m – Silver John Wood Legacy Fund Mark Oldershaw - C1- 1000m – Bronze – in support of Women’s Canoe – Mark de Jonge - K1 200m – Bronze

2008: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 1 Adam van Koeverden - K1- 500m – Silver Thomas Hall - C1- 1000m – Bronze

2004: Gold: 1 Silver: 0 Bronze: 2 Adam van Koeverden - K1- 500m – Gold Adam van Koeverden - K1-1000m – Bronze Caroline Brunet - K1- 500m – Bronze John Wood (1950-2013) inspired Canadians with his silver

medal performance at the 1976 in 2000: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 1 Caroline Brunet - K-1 500 m – Silver Montreal. His legacy of excellence will live on through the Steve Giles - Singles 1000 m – Bronze many he inspired during his lifetime.

Women’s Canoe 1996: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 0 Caroline Brunet - K-1 500 m – Silver John is one of Canada’s greats. His contribution to canoeing went beyond his performance on water. He 1984: Gold: 2 Silver: 3 Bronze: 1 was a strong proponent of equity and believed that Alexandra Barré, Susan Holloway, Lucie Guay, Barbara everyone should have the opportunity to pursue his or her Olmstead - K-4 500 m – Bronze dreams to the highest level. Alexandra Barré, Susan Holloway - Tandem 500 m – Silver Canada has been an international leader in developing Hugh Fisher, - Tandem 500 m –Bronze Hugh Fisher, Alwyn Morris - Tandem 1000 m – Gold women’s canoe. In honour of his memory, the John Wood Larry Cain - Singles 500 m – Gold Legacy Fund will further this effort by supporting the top Larry Cain - Singles 1000 m – Silver performing female canoe athlete in Canada in her pursuit of excellence. 1976: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 0 John Wood - Singles 500 m – Silver Donations Donations can be made by cheque through CanoeKayak 1952: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 0 Canada. Charitable receipts will be issued for donations of Kenneth Lane, Donald Hawgood ‐ Tandem 10 000m – Silver $20 or more. CanoeKayak Canada 1948: Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 1 2197 Riverside Drive, Suite 700 Norman Lane - Singles 10 000 m – Bronze Ottawa, Ontario K1H 7X3 Douglas Bennett - Singles 1000 m – Silver

1936: Gold: 1 Silver: 1 Bronze: 1 Harvey Charter, Warren Saker - Tandem 10 000 m – Silver Harvey Charter, Warren Saker - Tandem 1000 m – Bronze Francis Amyot - Singles 1000 m – Gold

8

Commodore and Director General’s Report

A message from Commodore Madeleine Hall:

This first year of my term as commodore has been extremely busy, challenging and exciting. Here are a few projects and events which have been particularly significant for me this year.

We are in the throws of reviewing and renewing our Governance in order to be in compliance with the federal October 2014 Not-for-Profit Act. A strong committee has worked very hard to assure that CKC is in compliance and will remain the successful organization that it has been for many years!

We hosted the Junior and U23 World Championships in August which allowed me to meet many of our international friends. I was extremely proud of Canada during that event, I know our international guests were thrilled and hospitality was at its best! Also we have a wonderful legacy thanks to the outstanding International venue in Welland for which we must thank Stephen Fisher for this great achievement.

At Nationals in Montreal and we took the opportunity to install a commemorative plaque at the base of the tower in honour of John Wood. John won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics at that very spot. It was heart-warming to have John’s family attend the unveiling ceremony; the friendship, love and admiration for John was tangible.

Lorraine Lafrenière, our DG, has accepted the post of CEO of the Coaching Association of Canada and will be leaving CKC. Lorraine has helped me learn the many ins and outs of the Commodore’s job and I have appreciated her help tremendously. I will certainly miss her, but I wish her all the best of luck in her career.

The rest of this report is structured according to the pillars of our Strategic Plan and is presented by both Lorraine and I.

Healthy Club System

Healthy Club System is our first and most important pillar of the strategic plan and the! Our clubs are the backbone of our sport – the reason CanoeKayak exists in Canada.

We cannot talk about a Healthy Club System without discussing our successful National Championships. Year after year, the management and organization of this event and the incredible participation from across the country are a hallmark in Canadian sport. We would like to thank CanoeKayak Quebec and specifically the Pointe Claire Canoe club hosts led by Anie Brossard and Nadine Tousignant.

9

One of the key ingredients for a Healthy Club System is quality programs and services to help our clubs grow, regardless of where they are in their own development – as such we offer many different types of initiatives to enable our clubs to access what is meaningful for their environment. The good work of Peter Niedre, John Edwards and Scott Logan in creating professional development opportunities for coaches, technical templates and materials, national coaching certification program training and materials (like “CanoeKids in box” ), best practice workshops, joint profile initiatives, and financial grants are critical to supporting the sustainability of our clubs. There will always be more to do in order to improve the quality of our programming through our clubs – our priority in protecting these activities is steadfast.

High Performance

We were thrilled to welcome Scott Logan as our High Performance Director. Scott is no stranger to our sport - he was a National Team Coach from 1985 to 1991 and was the Team Leader for the CanoeKayak squad at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. CanoeKayak remains a tier 1 sport with Own The Podium because of our continued international success and our demonstrated ability to continue to impact the Olympic and Paralympic medal count in 2016 and beyond. While our funding is directed very explicitly to Olympic and Paralympic medal performances, we should also celebrate the 52 medals that Canadian athletes won from the following four competitions: Jr/U23 Worlds; Pan American Continental Championships; Senior Sprint World Championships; and, Olympic Hopes.

The Canadian Canoe

Canada continues to play a strong role in the growth of the Canoe discipline. Specifically, our emphasis on women’s canoe within Canada and internationally is having a positive impact. We hosted a Women’s Canoe summit in conjunction with the ICF Junior & Under 23 World Championships in Welland, where 56 delegates representing 22 countries participated. Thank you to Peter Niedre for his leadership and influence in producing this summit and ensuring participation, creating a strong program and thereby creating great impact because of this summit. Our position is that women’s canoe should be included in the next Olympic Games. While the potential for inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games now seems remote – we continue to push hard for 2020. Regardless of Olympic inclusion, we continue to enhance our support domestically for women’s canoe initiatives, including training camps and increased coaching time - the world is catching up with the level of performance improving quickly – there remains much work to do for Canada to remain on the podium.

In addition to the women’s canoe mandate, recently two of our Canadian ICF board members – Frank Garner and John Edwards – as well as long-time paddling expert Lesley Anne (LA) Schmidt –participated in an summit aimed at building the canoe discipline globally. Many great minds contributed to this international event and it will be important for the Sprint Racing Discipline to consider the recommendations from this summit in the context of the Canadian Canoe strategy in order to achieve a healthier club system which supports international participation.

10

Leadership

Canada continues to play a strong leadership role in hosting international events. On August 1-4 we hosted 63 countries and more than 1,000 participants for the inaugural ICF Junior and Under 23 World Championships. We would like to thank President Stephen Fischer, General Manager (and Olympian) Richard Dalton, the Welland Recreational Canal Corporation and the City of Welland for their incredible support in ensuring the event was noted as yet another Canadian international success.

The members of the Sprint Racing Division continue to demonstrate very strong leadership within the Canadian sport system and with the sport internationally.

 Dr. Don McKenzie is chair of the International Canoe Federation's Medical Commission.  Frank Garner is chair of the International Canoe Federation's Canoe Sprint committee  John Edwards is chair of the International Canoe Federation's for All committee and is the Chair of the Club Excellence Cooperative (Canada)  Dwight Corbin is first Vice President of COPAC and COPAC representative to the ICF Board of Directors  Olympian Adam van Koeverden is the Chair of the Canadian Olympic Committee's Athletes Council, with a seat on the COC Board of Directors. He is also an Athlete Ambassador with Right to Play.  Olympian Tom Hall is on the AthletesCAN Board of Directors  Former National Team member and Rideau Coach Ian Mortimer is a member of the Coaching Association of Canada Board of Directors  Peter Giles is a member-at-large of the COC Session and a member of the Team Selection committee  Lorraine Lafreniere continues to play an active role in the Sport Matters Group.

As noted, this is not an exhaustive list, but it highlights the high regard that our athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers are given in the Canadian and International Sport communities, and of their engagement and their desire to make a difference. We remain confident in our representatives that they will continue to lead our sport forward into the future.

Organizational Effectiveness

The 2016 Strategic Plan, continues to represent an exciting vision for the future of sprint canoe. The SRC’s stewardship of the organization is best expressed through these goals. We would like to thank the volunteers and staff for their commitment and focus on achieving our goals and outcomes. The engagement of our regions has been incredibly positive in furthering the vision and impact of our endorsed vision.

11

We have made significant progress in shaping the future governance of the association, beyond the required compliance of the new October 2014 Not-for-Profit Act. I would like to thank the members of the Governance Renewal Committee for their dedication and hard work in shaping a future that furthers the development of all CanoeKayak disciplines in Canada. This is no easy task and it will require the support of our entire paddling family to be successful

Governance Renewal Committee Members Peter Giles (Chair) Madeleine Hall Laura Hodgson Sara Hopkins Steve Pommeroy Harold Van Winssen Fiona Vincent

Our organization is held in high esteem by our funding agencies. Over the past quadrennial, both and Own the Podium have used our organization as an example for a number of best practices.

We continue our successful partnership with Sportsnet to enhance our profile within Canada, this partnership extends to both Olympic disciplines and is critical to our future revenue generation initiatives. It is also important to note the great work of Ian Miller, which is clearly improving our profile with our public relations, media, social media and marketing campaigns.

We would like to thank Own the Podium, Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Mazda, Adidas, Nelo, and Sportsnet for their moral and financial support that they continue to provide for the development of CanoeKayak.

Madeleine Hall , Commodore Lorraine Lafrenière, Director General

12

Sprint Reports

Photos: Balint Vekassy JP Thuin () 2016 Canoe Sprint 13 Strategic Plan

Healthy Club System The “Canadian” Canoe ‚‚Strengthen youth sprint CanoeKayak ‚‚Reinforce the Canadian as a core club development programming. program ‚‚Facilitate the enhancement of the sprint club (including traditional C4 and war canoe). system through multi-discipline/multi-boat/multi- ‚‚Encourage clubs to expand women’s and men’s Healthy Club System sport/multi-age programming. canoe programs. Strengthen the quality of the Club system ‚‚Restructure the competition model consistent with ‚‚Champion the movement towards the equality throughout Canada LTAD. of the kayak and Canadian canoe disciplines ‚‚Enable clubs to enhance their profile and their internationally. High Performance contribution in their communities. Leadership Achieve the highest levels of performance ‚‚Increase the opportunities for entry into the sport. ‚ across all disciplines ‚Increase the volunteer and staff leadership ‚‚Strengthen technical leadership in clubs. capacity throughout sprint racing. ‚‚Expand Paddle All racing. The “Canadian” Canoe ‚‚Maintain the aggressive approach to the ‚‚Target development of sprint racing in First Nations development of a professional coaching career Expand the role of the Canadian canoe in communities. path. sprint racing ‚‚Sustain a system for the recruitment and High Performance progressive development of Canadian and Leadership ‚‚Implement the programs, services and structures International Officials. Ensure the systematic development and that enable athletes with the highest Olympic and ‚‚Maintain CKC’s influence in Canadian sport and availability of leadership capacity Paralympic medal potential to succeed. international CanoeKayak. ‚‚Implement the sprint LTAD technical progression. Organizational Effectiveness ‚‚Maintain the investment in developing the next Organizational Effectiveness Expand and strengthen the internal generation of high performance coaches. ‚‚Enhance the profile of CanoeKayak. resources that ensure the growth of ‚‚Strengthen the sustainability of the high ‚‚Maximize external revenue available from both CanoeKayak in Canada performance “system”. government and private sector sources. ‚‚Increase pool of talented athletes entering clubs ‚‚Ensure that our governance system enables the and being developed into High Performance association to achieve its goals. Athletes. ‚‚Enhance the competition and training infrastructure in Canada. 14

High Performance Report

Submitted by Chris Helyar, Chair and Scott Logan, High Performance Director

This report is organized to reflect strategic goals set out in the strategic plan.

Introduction

The high performance program followed through on impressive Olympic results with an encouraging start to the new quadrennial. Olympian Mark de Jonge continued to deliver podium performances, while other Olympic event crews – MC2 1000m, WK4, MK2 200m, C1 1000m – showed that they have similar potential for later in the four year cycle. The World continues to get competitively deeper with South American countries, in particular, improving their competitiveness in anticipation of Rio.

Sooner or later, women’s canoe will be on the Olympic program. Canada’s dominance led by Laurence Vincent-Lapointe will require attention to stay at the current rank . Similarly, with Paracanoe on the 2016Paralympic program, the dominance of Christine Gauthier is being challenged like never before. This year was a wake up call for our program. We require concerted attention and resources to maintain our standing.

High Performance

Performance Highlights

Competition o Achieved four (4) Top 8 performances at the Senior World Championships o Achieved 75% of Own the Podium benchmarks at Senior World Championships o Achieved four (4) Top 8 performances at the Paracanoe World Championships o Achieved a Paracanoe gold medal for the fifth consecutive year o U23 World Championships hosted at the Welland International Flatwater Centre with 63 participating countries. o 6 medals at the first ever Junior and U23 World Championships on home water in Welland to exceed a projected 3 medals. This highlights the young talent developing in Canada. o Achieved six (6) Top 8 performances in Olympic events at the Junior World Championships o Achieved seven (7) Top 8 performances in Olympic events at the U23 World Championships

15

Summary of International Medals in Olympic Events

Event Gold Silver Bronze Total Senior World Championships 1 1 World Cup 3 2 2 2 6 World Cup 2 1 1 U23/Junior World Championships 1 1 2 4

Summary of Paracanoe Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze Total Paracanoe World Championships 1 1 2 Paralympic events to be confirmed by ICF

Organizational Effectiveness

Systemic Highlights

Organization Structure  Hiring of new High Performance Director  Coaching Restructure is detailed below under Leadership  Hubs and Centre Progress o Centres – Montreal, Lac Beauport and Halifax o Hub – Toronto o Target Hub - Ottawa o Carded athletes only receive sport science services at Centres and Hub o All carded athletes will be expected to locate at one of the centres or hubs by September 2014.  Women’s Program o The women’s program struggled through leadership changes this summer. An initial hire in May did not work out. Chad Brooks stepped in to put the program back on track and Mark Granger was named discipline coach on September 2. Results over the course of the season were an impressive start to a fully rebuilt program.  Crew Boat Resurgence o Canada has a strong history of C2 performances and generally needs to expand beyond long held singles successes. World Championship results in MC2 1000m, WK K4 and MK2 200m were a positive step. o Technical and crew skill factors will evaluated more in selection

Poli c y C h a n ges  Selection Criteria

16

o Continued communication and implementation of the International Gold Medal Standards in testing and selection o Move toward the implementation of the Key Performance Indicators including technical indicators o Simplification of carding and team selection criteria is being assessed.  Accountability o More evolved NSO/Athlete agreement to increase accountability from coaches and the athletes to ensure the highest quality daily training environment

Sport Science and Innovation  Integrated Services o Shared CSC/CSI coach model o Increase in specialized discipline/distance services o Increase in Performance Analysis Capacity  Creation of Athlete Assessment Tool  Centralization and consistency in Field Analysis of International Competitors to create and validate Gold Medal Profiles  Daily Training Environment o Developing and integrating mental training program o Discipline specific nutritional and strength & conditioning support o Daily monitoring. Regular testing and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) assessment

 Innovation o Better understanding of how to train and race the 200m through race characteristic profiling o Use of SPIN unit technical analysis to create discipline specific KPIs o Collaboration with OTP and National Research Council to use tow tank for evaluating optimum paddle selection and strategies to reach peak velocity sooner in the race o Partnering with universities to identify key determinants of elite performance o Proposed innovation study - core performance relationship with on-water performance

Leadership

Coaching Restructure The three most experienced and accomplished coaches – Scott Oldershaw, Fred Jobin and Mark Granger – have been structured as a cooperative leadership team. The head coach responsibilities are now shared by the three. Each podium coach (PC) oversees one or more disciplines and respective coaches. Each PC has direct coaching responsibilities for our highest potential athletes for Rio.

17

System highlights of the coaching structure:  Discipline and centre coaches now have mentors  Coaches are expected to work together – particularly in the off-season to look after the needs of athletes who may be at a different centre or hub than the rest of their discipline  Clear coaching, planning and oversight responsibilities have been assigned to coaches for our U23 and junior world programs. To better prepare targeted athletes for 2020, we must ensure these athletes receive better technical assistance at an earlier age.  The club structure is the foundation of CKC’s athlete development model. The coaching structure will be integrated to connect the provincial and club systems in order to ensure QDT, monitoring of NT programming compliance, and response to training and testing.  We have proposed an “Associate National Team Coach” program to start April 1, 2014. Such coaches (largely club head coaches, select personal coaches and provincial coaches) may be contracted to provide specific services to NT athletes in exchange for an honorarium. Services may include: testing, monitoring, project coaching (teams, camps) and accommodating NT athletes into local training groups where necessary.  Associate Coaches will be critical for the success of the Paracanoe Program. Mark Granger will continue to lead the Paralympic Program to 2016. His focus will shift to ensure the Podium Athletes (Christine Gauthier and Dave Waters) have what they need for success.  We plan to partner with CSC Atlantic and CSI Ontario to establish an effective pathway for the top provincial athletes who show the attributes to become high performing senior national team paddlers.

18

 Podium performances for OTP and Top 8, Top ½ of competing entries results for Sport Canada frame our decision making and accountabilities.  Funding partners (Own The Podium, Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canada, and B2Ten) continue to be critical to the team’s success.  We continue to evolve the sophistication of our key performance indicators (KPIs) and their validity and predictive reliability relative to our Gold Medal Standard. This profile as measured by KPIs is how the coaching program will be evaluated on an annual basis.

19

Domestic Development Report

Submitted by Rick Fair (Chair) and John Edwards (Director)

CanoeKayak sprint is rapidly changing in Canada and abroad, particularly with regards to the distances we race, gender equity, and integration and accommodation of persons with disabilities. As our sport evolves, the need to change our age group categories to align with LTAD initiatives, the five day National Championships and the changes to the Canada Games programme are examples of significant change.

Embracing change while striving to improve is a critical goal of the Domestic Development Committee. We are proud of what we, as a committee, have accomplished to date under the guidance of John Edwards.

We are also aware that the paddlers, clubs, volunteers and our strategic partners expect more. We must fully understand those needs by gathering feedback from key stakeholders and coaches. We have taken time to develop race schedules to ensure we satisfy the majority of member clubs.

Change requires us to change our way of doing things too. Instead of being satisfied with the well-worn path; altering the path is now a necessity. Managing change in the interests of growing and improving our sport is strategically necessary to ensure the sport stays viable, sustainable and attractive for generations to come.

Healthy Club System

To strengthen youth sprint programming, a new five day race card was implemented at National Championships to bring the competition model in line with LTAD. The new race card comes from approved rule changes at the 2012 AGM and evaluations are being done to assess the need for further changes.

Padtrac reports will soon be generated to measure retention. The Club Development Workshop on LTAD will be a first step in developing a divisional score card for LTAD programming.

To grow a multi-disciplinary competition model, regional partnerships have been formed with dragonboat festivals, SUP and events to support club programming. Multisport Games are being used to promote participation in paddling disciplines.

The selection process for the 2013 ICF Club Crew DB World Championships was not executed since the ICF had to cancel this year’s Championships in the Ukraine.

Research has been completed on boat types and manufacturers appropriate for Fundamentals and Training-to-Train stage athletes. The working group that has undertaken the research will

20

develop rule change proposals for the 2014 AGM. ICF-wide standards are also being developed. CKC has been supporting funding applications to help divisions/PSOs access funding to purchase developmentally appropriate equipment. Certain Divisions/PSOs have been piloting elements of the LTAD competition review. More education and incentives are needed to fully implement the changes. CKC is developing a document of ideal competition structures for the Fundamentals and Training-to-Train stages. Divisions/PSOs will be recognized for aligning their competition models.

To enable clubs to enhance their profile in their communities, CKC will support participation in the Club Excellence Program through subsidies and promotion, starting with one club per division in 2014. Seminars will be developed on best practices for municipal partnerships. As a starting point for CKC clubs embracing the ICF - 1000 environmental project, Paddle for the Planet activities took place at the ADCKC, Ottawa River, Kuujjuaraapik, Carleton Place, Cascades and North Bay. Each dedicated the kilometres of their June 1 paddle with an online posting to raise awareness for clean water.

To increase opportunities for entry into the sport, CKC has supported new club growth with divisional staff and volunteers. The Yukon Canoe & Kayak Club has joined CKC and Essex County has expressed interest becoming an Associate Club. A club mentorship program will be piloted by working with the divisions.

To expand PaddleALL racing, CKC has supported outreach programming by funding 50% of programs run by clubs and divisions. Seven clubs received funding this fiscal year. CKC is also in the process of applying for recognition with Special Olympics Canada to strengthen intellectual disabilities programming.

In Aboriginal communities, CKC has previously supported programming by matching 50% of funding grants for coach and athlete development in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada to emphasize the health and wellness aspects of paddling. Although funding was not received for 2013-14, API projects continue in BC, AB, SK, MB, ON and QC in preparation for the 2014 NAIG in Regina. To provide technical/leadership development support to coaches in preparation for NAIG, Ontario used the Canada Games Aboriginal Coach mentoring programme to train a coach from Aka:we.

CKC met with Right to Play in June to explore potential for new partnerships in Aboriginal Communities. CanoeKids coaching materials were given to R2P as part of their assessment to include canoeing as a major sport of their programme alongside lacrosse and hockey. CKC is also working to finalize a proposal for Aboriginal Paddling profile event(s) at 2015 with TO2015 Organizers and COPAC .

High Performance

200m races in K4 and C4 and 5000 metre races in the ICF format were added to the Canada Games race card to strengthen the sustainability of the high performance system.

21

The Canadian Canoe

A ceremonial war canoe race closed out the CanoeKayak events at Canada Games. The event was broadcast on TV and was very popular among spectators. Not all provinces supported this initiative and CKC became directly involved to supply boats and organize the event.

Leadership

To champion the movement towards equity and to strengthen the Canoe Discipline , CKC continued to be active at the ICF. The Canoe Summit meeting in Lausanne created strategic direction for women’s canoe at the international level as well as a programme and strategy to build the Canoe discipline at the international level. LA Schmidt represented Canada at the Summit. A Women in Canoe workshop at the Junior and U23 World Championships was aimed at developing the discipline. Proposals by Frank Garner to add the Women’s C1 event in the 2020 Olympic Games program and the recommendations of the Canoe Summit to grow the Canoe discipline were adopted by the ICF Board. This is a huge step forward for the canoe discipline and the role of women in it.

All Divisions are running Level 3 Officiating courses which are supported by CKC. CKC has been actively promoting the ICF Dragonboat World Championships to Officials and looking to expand the athlete pathway to officiating. Two CKC-supported officials attained ICF certification at the COPAC Championships in Puerto Rico.

CKC has been actively participating in the ICF’s governance change initiative and has been developing the first ICF conference for the development of world-wide canoeing. The conference is scheduled for 2014 and is targeted at stakeholders within and outside of ICF to promote the Canadian values of openness and transparency in moving the sport forward. CKC has been working to formalize rules and protocols of the ICF World Sprint Masters Championships which will strengthen Masters programming in Canada. The ICF Joint Flatwater Worlds are in the works for 2018.

An application has been submitted to Transport Canada to support “Safe Boating for Life” program to engage funding partners with mutual goals.

The format of the AGM has been targeted to enhance communication between members by including workshops that are relevant and beneficial for clubs.

22

2012/2013 Membership Comparison

23

Membership Categories 2008 – 2013

1200 2008 1000 2009 800 2010 600 2011

400 2012

200 2013

0 ATOM PEEWEE BANTAM MIDGET JUVENILE JR/SR MASTERS

Membership Breakdown 2012 2013 13% 14% 14% 23%

10% 13% 18% 5%

7% 10% 21%

13% 21% 18%

Atom Peewee Bantam Midget Juvenile Jr/Sr Masters

24

1999 - 2013 Sprint Member Clubs

72 75 68 66 66 70 65 65 64 64 64 65 61 60 58 55 47 48 47 50 46 45 40 35 30 9 0 1 2 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 200 2 2 2 2

25

Director of Athlete and Coach Development Report

Submitted by Peter Niedre

Coaching Development and Education

NCCP Coach Education Certification Summary:

ELCC Small Boats Workshops & Trained Coaches Province Number Number Female Number ELCC Female Aborigin of of ELCC Coache of ELCC – War Coache al Worksho “Trained s Smallboa Canoe s ps ” Trained ts Certifie Certifie Coache “Certified d d s ” Nova Scotia 1 17 10 10 5 5 Quebec 0 0 1 Ontario 1 13 6 2 1 Saskatchew 3 17 (SB & 5 1 an M) Alberta 0 0 British 1 5 3 1 Columbia Manitoba 0 0 New 0 0 Brunswick Prince 0 0 Edward Island TOTALS: 4 33 12 21 2 7 5

ELCC War Canoe and Dragonboat Workshops Province War Canoe Dragon Boat Number of Number of Number of Number of Workshops Coaches Workshops Coaches Ontario 1 13 0 0 Totals 1 13 0 0

CanoeKids Workshops Province Number of Number of Female Aboriginal Workshops Coaches coaches CanoeKids “Trained” Ontario 2 33 12

26

Quebec 1 25 14 Saskatchewan 2 9 8 Alberta 1 6 2 British Columbia 6 56 32 New Brunswick 0 0 0 Nova Scotia 1 32 14 Manitoba 2 33 16 Prince Edward 0 0 Island Totals: 13 194 98

Aboriginal Coaches Trained / Certified Workshop / Context Number of Coaches Trained Certified CanoeKids ELCC 14 (marathon) 6

Competition Development Coaches Fully “Trained” PSO NS QC ON MB AB BC Total Total Female Number 4 1 1 1 3 (2 10 3 of (female) female) Coaches

Competition Development “IN-Training” (Part 1 Competition Development) PSO NS QC ON BC Total Total Female # 4 (1 F) 2 7 (3 F) 2 (1 F) 15 5 Coaches

Competition Development Coaches “Certified” PSO NS QC ON MB NB AB BC PEI # 1 1 1 1 1 Coaches

Learning Facilitator and Evaluator Training:

To increase capacity to deliver CanoeKids and ELCC workshops, learning facilitator and evaluator training for western provinces was done in British Columbia in April 2013. The same training is planned for eastern provinces and Saskatchewan coaches in January 2013.

PSO CanoeKids ELCC - SB ELCC-WC ELCC-DB ELCC- Evaluator BC 5 (2 female) 3 2 1 (female) 2 MB 1 1 1 AB 1 1 1

27

Coach Certification Program Updates:

Competition Development program received final approval in April 2013 – many thanks to CAC and Julie Beaulieu for their work.

ELCC War Canoe and Dragon Boat - target date for final approval has been pushed by one year to March 31, 2014 due to many changes at CAC.

Coach Developers Pathway & Structure Coach developers include learning facilitators, master learning facilitators, evaluators and content design contributors. CKC is developing a coach developer’s pathway to ensure effective, consistent and quality delivery of NCCP across the country.

High Performance Coach Education:

Five new coaches have enrolled in Canadian Sport Institute’s / National coaching Institutes’ Advanced Coaching Diploma. Congratulations to Mike Creamer who has fulfilled all requirements to meet full Level IV certification through the INS. Five coaches are in the process of completing their Level IV, or advanced coach.

The first group of four coaches completed the CKC High Performance Coach Accelerated Development Program on March 31, 2013. The ACE project started in 2010 for succession planning, to develop and support coaches in transitioning to working in a senior position. Dr. Pierre Trudel from University of Ottawa conducted a review of the ACE project and exit interviews. Major findings and a project assessment are below.

 1 coach achieved podium performance at 2012 Olympic Games, 2013 World Championships  2 coaches moved on towards senior coaching positions  1 coach achieved podium performance at U23 World Championships (C1 200) and Sr. World Championships  ACE coaches demonstrated significant improvements in the following areas: o Performance planning (yearly training plans, quadrennial planning) o Leadership and Communication o Technical and tactical analysis o Gap analysis: The Athlete Assessment Tool is a product of this education component and is now used by all National Team Coaches  Professional development opportunities specific to the coach’s context were the most beneficial learning opportunities.  Mentorship played a significant role

Non-NCCP Coach Development Activities

Date(s) Activity Location(s) Coaches Feb/Mar, National Team and International Florida, Welland, 19 July Immersion Professional Development Lake Placid, Opportunities in training camps and Boulogne, Prague,

28

competitions. Nova Scotia, Winnipeg May 2013 CKC Coach Development Month: Across Canada Over 200  Online workshops (3) coaches  Coaches Forum  Regional PD workshops  Subsidized / free NCCP education May 11-10 Coach the Trials Montreal, QC 6 coaches May 13 Women in Coaching Summit Montreal, QC 15 coaches April - CSI / INS Coach Workshops Toronto, Montreal 12 August coaches November CKC Coaches Conference Ottawa, ON 40 + 27-28 coaches

The Women in Coaching Summit was a first tactic to increasing the number of female coaches progressing to high performance. The summit was aimed at assessing the status of coaching, and establishing opportunities and barriers to females choosing coaching as a career path. Ideas from the summit will help guide the creation of programs and initiatives to meet our 2016 outcomes.

PASO-ODEPA Conference To maintain influence in Canadian and international sport systems, CKC organized a PASO- ODEPA conference in conjunction with the Junior & U23 World Championships. Seven Canadian coaches and 16 international delegates participated. The conference included classroom sessions with world-leading coaches and sport scientists, as well as practical race observation and analysis.

International Women’s Canoe Summit 56 delegates, from over 20 nations attended this summit on best practices for domestic and high performance women’s canoe programs.

Athlete Development

Long Term Athlete Development:

 LTAD implementation program initiated o Funding available for PSOs at the Fundamentals-Foundations and early Training-to- Train stages. PSO projects included coach mentorship at club level and creation of LTAD competition implementation plans

 Final LTAD competition review document will be completed by March 31, 2014

 LTAD Technical Progression Template: o Second draft has been completed in a four stage development model with specific benchmarks for both canoe and kayak that has at each stage o “Skills Matrix” and checklist for coaches to be added for athlete tracking

29

High Performance Athlete Development Programs (HPAD)

2013 National development program projects:  Improved athlete identification and monitoring  Change in development coaching structure to improve connection with NT and club programs  Junior and Senior Development Program Projects: . March–April – U23 development camp, Florida . March 31 – April 4 – Junior Camp, Florida . Junior Western and Eastern development camps (Halifax and Winnipeg, October 24 – 27)

 Gold Medal Profile o Athlete monitoring and tracking in training o Established Key Performance Indicators that most PSOs monitored o 2 athletes identified through GMP testing o Testing used to benchmark for entry into National Team camps o 4 testing events with 6 PSOs: o Building capacity to implement testing and monitoring . Relationships / partnerships with CSC’s . Equipment purchased nationally . Training extra staff to implement testing protocols o Competition: o Protocol developed for: . Collecting of data at National and international competitions . Archiving international results . Analysis of results o Gap analysis: o Stronger Gap Analysis for our HPAD over 2 years key in strengthening performance and development objectives, and identifying/targeting late- entry and late maturing athletes in system

Thank you to all coaches who have been serving on committees and task forces during the past year. Their time and dedication is certainly appreciated.

Coaches Technical Committee: LTAD Technical Progression Template Working Group

Marc Creamer Jeff Houser Marc Creamer Jeff Houser Mike Robinson Chad Brooks Mike Robinson Dave Robertson Franck Gomez Joanne Devlin- Franck Gomez Rob Stott Adam Oldershaw Morrison Adam Oldershaw Ryan Blair

Thank you to all the other coaches who have provided feedback and presented at coach forums, focus groups, and workshops. Your dedication to our sport is outstanding and valued.

30

CKC would also like to thank the following club and regional coaches who helped in junior and senior development projects.

Competition Training Camps Luc Grenier Lucie Radonova Blake Dalton Chris Chaisson Ryan Blair Tamas Buday Sr Edgar Garza Jan Kruk Kyle Jeffery Ian Mortimer Gabor Kulcsar Jerome Seremak Mike Kerrivan Hunter George Diana Deek Mathieu Pelletier Joel Hazzan Ryan Blair Luc Grenier

31

Athletes’ Representative Report

Submitted by Tom Hall

This report encompasses high performance and domestic athlete feedback from the previous competitive year. Due to how resources are allocated in sprint and the complexities around the high performance team, most of the feedback is related to high performance.

As Sprint Racing Council athlete rep I brought the information together looking for themes, specific areas where CKC has done a good job, and areas that need to be better.

I’m very happy to report that this years feedback seems to be the most positive I have seen during the last four years of my tenure as athlete rep.

The concerns/feedback for this year are less discipline specific, which is a positive in my opinion. The sub-text of this year’s feedback, was a sense that athletes are happy with an increased level of communication and there seems to be a general sense things are getting back on track.

Domestic

Pierre-Luc Laliberte provided a DDC athletes report from which this section is based. Generally a positive response to the new race card, though there are issues around scheduling conflicts, and qualifying for nationals. The complete report has been given to the DDC.

High Performance

Cost

A change this year was athletes paying some of the cost to compete for Canada, and train in CKC training camps.

Athletes trust that CKC is doing this because it has no choice. But the added costs to athletes shouldn’t be taken lightly. According to a study done by Sport Canada, the average national team athlete lives below the poverty line. Expenses are far higher than their non-athlete peers, and income is far lower.

Athletes are on average the lowest paid members of the CKC high performance team, and have the highest costs directly related to doing their jobs. Any cuts to funding athletes should be accompanied by belt-tightening at CKC. If athletes are paying $1200 to compete in Ontario, then coaches, IST, and staff should be cutting costs wherever possible.

To avoid frustration and foster team spirit it would be good to have a transparent accounting of how all levels of the organization are cutting costs.

32

Coaching

In general athletes across disciplines were happy with both the quality and frequency of their coaching. Predictably the weak point in the cycle is fall, but CKC is aware of the issue and working on corrections.

Another concern is that once athletes fail to make the world champion team, or aren’t racing Olympic events, they feel they are left behind in terms of attention. Ensuring that CKC is providing the best coaching possible for national team athletes throughout the season is critical for long-term success and growth.

Training Camps

As usual most training camp locations were good. There needs to be clearer criteria with regards to: Who must attended camps and who doesn’t; who gets to attend extra training camps and who doesn’t (and how these costs affect competition costs that athletes pay); and whether or not these camps produce results that are equal to any increase in cost.

Integrated Support Team

Feedback about the IST was positive, but roughly, 50% of the team says they are missing access to IST services during the Fall and Winter.

Key areas for improvement:  year-round access to services  ensuring that testing results are used in training  during training camp all disciplines get equal access to physiotherapy and massage

Criteria

The importance of criteria cannot be underrated. Around half of athletes found last year’s selection and carding criteria clear and fair. That number needs to be higher. Crew-boat selection was highlighted as an area of concern due to vague criteria.

The High Performance Committee (HPC) is directly related to the criteria. Athletes have a positive attitude toward the HPC—I think the highest I have seen—and appreciate what they feel has been a move toward more open communication.

An underlying issue is that criteria has undergone significant changes every year since 2009. Criteria should be a fairly static document. We are selecting athletes to compete at the same events year after year.

Key areas for improving criteria:

 Clarity of the document: No athlete should be unclear as to how to make a team at any time in the season.

33

 Cross-Discipline Fairness: Each discipline should be subject to the same criteria when possible.

 Timing: Criteria needs to be published as early as possible. Ideally before spring training camp begins. Teams should be selected as early as possible before races.

 Objectivity: Though there is room for coach subjectivity, it should be mitigated as much as possible by a clear process and method. No selection should take place without everyone involved understanding exactly what is being looked at and how. A selection process should begin with written documents outlining the process in detail well in advance of the actual selection process. Under no circumstances should athletes be put in a position where they are being selected based on criteria they don’t know about or understand.

 Changes to Criteria: Every year the HPC/HPD should go through a rigorous process that solicits feedback from athletes and coaches on how to improve the criteria.

Last year’s process was largely deemed positive by athletes. However, fundamental changes to the criteria midseason don’t follow the same process. This is a serious issue, which needs to be addressed and clarified.

My recommendation is that any changes to the criteria should go from the coach requesting the change, to the HPD, who then brings it the HPC, who in turn present it to the SRC for final approval. This would essentially, mirror the process that creates the criteria in the first place. It should be noted that using tight time lines as an excuse to forgo a fair and transparent process when changing what is arguably the most important document for athletes, is not acceptable.

 Crew Boat Selection: See objectivity.

Clothing: Athletes are happy with the new clothing but would like some more casual clothing so they look better as a team off the water.

Equipment: There was some specific feedback about national team boats arriving in training camp without basic equipment like rudders. Also, national team boats were apparently loaned to other countries during Florida training camp when they were needed for Canadian team assessments/practices. This is unacceptable.

National team coaches should be clear as to which boats are needed when to ensure that trainings aren’t negatively affected.

Carding: The national team needs to be announced as early as possible in the fall so that athletes can receive their funding as soon as possible. It is a serious issue for many athletes in Canada that delays in carding results in living and training related debt.

34

Marketing Report

Submitted by Julia Rivard and Ian Miller

A significant buzz was generated by a year packed with events including National Team Trials, World Cups, World Championships, National Championships, Canada Games and the hosting the Junior and Under 23 Sprint World Championships on home water. Success at these events and other organizational milestones generated nearly 100 news items and played a key role in growing CKC’s distribution channel to engage the paddling community, CKC’s sport partners, an online community through social media and reaching new audiences through media relations. Much of the work this year has been focused on building a brand internally for the organization. This brand will form the foundation for upcoming marketing projects including developing a national recruitment strategy, redesigning the CKC website and furthering sponsor relationships. CanoeKayak Canada would like to thank Mazda Canada, Nelo and Adidas for their ongoing support and partnerships with the sprint national team.

Healthy Club System

The CanoeKids program was re-launched to clubs this spring with a conscious effort to integrate the CKC brand into all materials. New web pages were created to better articulate the program, offer merchandise for purchase and make resources available to coaches.

A campaign targeting cold-water safety was rolled out in April to coincide with paddlers returning from Florida. A message to National Team coaches from the High Performance Director launched the campaign. The message went to clubs and coaches and was followed by a week of daily safety tips sent through social media to convey messages from CKC’s safety policy. Each post received 1500-2500 views and a similar campaign for whitewater safety tips followed the week after.

A demonstration match was held during a lunch break at the Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Championships to support the multi-disciplinary model. This exposed the sprint community to another type of paddling and added excitement to the event.

High Performance

Media training sessions were conducted with the Junior and Under 23 team. With the added pressure of being the home team in Welland, athletes received a forty-five minute presentation to educate them on “Managing media interviews and social media as an athlete.” The Advice for your 16 year old self presentation covered being a role model, developing from members of CanoeKayak personal messages to inspire, types of interviews, and Canada’s 2013 Junior World tips for getting a message across in the news or through Championship Team – this video social media. The session was intended to help the was produced as part of media training with the Junior Team and became CKC’s most popular Facebook post of 2013, reaching 10,000 people. 35

athletes become more familiar with media and attain a greater level of comfort with interviews to allow them to focus on achieving their best performances.

A news conference was held to present Canada’s Junior and U23 team. Comprehensive media guides were produced for the Junior and U23 and Senior World teams. News stories were actively pitched to media around Trials, World Cups and World Championships as part of an ongoing media relations effort to increase the profile of CanoeKayak athletes. CKC’s media list has grown significantly and provincial offices have been engaged to mutually share contacts.

Canadian Canoe

With the tragic passing of one of Canada’s canoeing greats, John Wood, CanoeKayak Canada worked with Wood’s family to create a commemorative plaque. The plaque was unveiled by his family at the Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Championships on the finish tower where Wood crossed the line to win an Olympic silver medal in 1976. The unveiling also launched the John Wood memorial fund in support of women’s canoe.

A war canoe race and salute to the commodore took place at the Canada Games to close out four days of exciting competition. CanoeKayak Canada pitched the idea of doing a feature story on the historical significance of the war canoe to TSN and helped to produce the story which closely associated canoeing and Canadian identity.

Leadership

Part of increasing volunteer leadership capacity is recognizing lifelong commitment to leadership. CanoeKayak Canada nominated Dr. Don McKenzie for the Prime Minister’s Award for Lifelong Achievement. The application highlighted Dr. McKenzie’s volunteer work as the physician of the National Team since 1981, his involvement with the ICF’s Medical and Anti- doping Commission since 1984 and leadership of an international movement known as “Abreast in a Boat” which has lead thousands of breast cancer survivors to dragon boating. Although Dr. McKenzie was not selected as a winner of the Prime Minister’s Award, the nomination itself was a significant recognition of Dr. McKenzie’s contribution.

“The fact that you would take the time to complete this application and that you think that I might be a suitable candidate, means more than winning the award.” – Dr. Don McKenzie

To increase staff leadership capacity, Ian Miller, CKC’s Communications and Marketing Officer played a central communications role at the Junior and U23 World Championships and the Canada Games to develop management skills, forge relationships with national media and learn from best practices of other sport organizations.

Organizational Effectiveness

To enhance the profile of CanoeKayak, CKC revamped its branding, took new photos to profile its national teams and renewed a three-year broadcast agreement.

Following the adoption of new visual identity guidelines last year, CKC aggressively implemented the guidelines across all new publications. New signage was developed and

36

displayed at events. Portable versions of the strategic plan were printed as bookmarks and pamphlets.

New photos of National Team athletes were taken to update the old photos last done in 2009.

CKC renewed a three-year agreement with its broadcast partner, Sportsnet, to continue broadcasting World Championships and select World Cups. All World Cups and World Championships in sprint and slalom were broadcast this year, exposing thousands of Canadian viewers to the sport.

Sportsnet Viewership:

86,900 Sprint World Cup 1 55,700 Sprint World Cup 2 1,700 Sprint World Cup 3 35,300 Sprint Junior & U23 Worlds 5,900 Sprint World Championships

59,300 Slalom World Cup 1 15,100 Slalom World Cup 2 23,100 Slalom World Cup 3 34,100 Slalom World Cup 4 33,500 Slalom World Cup 5 25,000 Slalom World Championships

Social media growth:

Twitter 3200 followers 33% increase Facebook 5700 likes 6.3% increase Website 215 unique visits/day 4.3% increase

37

Pan American Federation Report

Submitted by Dwight Corbin, CKC Representative to the Pan American Canoe Federation (COPAC)

This past year has been filled with many new events; new initiatives and new proposals within the Americas. As the CKC representative to the COPAC Board and also the North American representitive to the ICF Board it has been my privilege to be part of these many events and development of new innovative proposals.

Overview of events within Continental America:

1. Opening of the new Welland International Flatwater Centre 2. CKC hosting an International Coaches Symposium during the Junior & U23 World Championships in Welland (July 29 – Aug. 3) 3. Hosting the Junior & U23 World Championships in Canada (Aug 1-4) 4. Pan American Canoe Championships in Ponce, Puerto Rico (Oct 17-20) 5. COPAC Congress (Pan American Canoe Federation) held in Puerto Rico (Oct 18) 6. ODEPA/PASO General Assembly held in Toronto (Oct 8–12)

Canada did very well at both competitions and came away with top honours and 37 medals at the Pan American Championships. I had the pleasure of witnessing both of these competitions as I was on the Jury for the Junior &U23 World Championships and was the Chief Official for the Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico. I should add that the venue for the Pan American Championships was a gem in the mountains of central Puerto Rico and they are hoping to host more events and training camps there in the future.

Canada hosted many aspiring American Continental coaches at the Coaches Symposium during the Junior & U23 World Championships. Peter Niedre is to be congratulated for his work in organising this event. As COPAC was one of the sponsoring groups of the symposium I had the good fortune of attending part of the sessions and talking to some of the coaches who had many positive comments about the week of sessions both practical and theoretical.

I had the pleasure of attending the ODEPA/PASO General Assembly as well as the ACODEPA (Assembly of Sport Governing bodies of the Americas) early in October which provided me with a greater insight to problems and issues that face all sports within the Americas. The most notable topics discussed were:

a) Choosing Lima, Peru as the site of the b) Introduction of the Olympic Festival in Mexico City 2014. This festival will be multi-sport and ODEPA/PASO will provide financial assistance for athletes and coaches to attend. This will be the site of the Sprint Canoe Pan American Championships for 2014. This will also serve as the qualifier for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

38

c) For canoeing one of the most important confirmations is the inclusion of slalom in the 2015 Pan Am Games as well as the inclusion of Women’s Canoe in both disciplines for the Games.

As part of my role as ICF Board Member for North American, I have been involved with a number of issues that will impact Canada as we move toward 2016. The qualifiers for the 2016 Olympic Games and are among the most notable issues. I have worked with my COPAC colleagues to develop a qualification system to provide all countries an equal opportunity to obtain a place at both of these prestigious events. The Qualifier for the 2015 Pan Am Games is completed and available on the COPAC website (copaconline.com). For the 2016 Olympic Qualifier, Mr. Joao T. Schwertner; 2nd VP of the ICF and myself have worked to formulate a Qualifier that will be presented at the ICF Board Meeting in Lima, Peru in November and we are hopeful that it will receive a positive response.

Finally at the recent COPAC Congress in Puerto Rico there were elections for 1st and 2nd VP for COPAC. I was fortunate enough to retain my position as 1st VP of COPAC with Mr. Octavio Morales of Mexico being elected as 2nd VP. I certainly will continue to work on behalf of CKC in this capacity within the Pan American Canoe Federation. Currently I am also filling the role of COPAC Acting Treasurer and Technical Delegate for the 2015 Pan Am Games. These positions provide me with many opportunities and also give CKC a voice at the table for these events. I will strive to make a meaningful contribution for CanoeKayak Canada moving forward.

39

Officials’ Report

For a year immediately following the Olympic Games, the volunteer officials across our great country have been very busy with all the events locally, provincially, nationally and internationally.

After our competitors returned from the warmer climate of Florida, the competition season began with Trials 1 on the May 10 weekend in cool Montreal. The next set of Trials to select the Jr and new U23 athletes was conducted in the new WIFC site in Welland on the June 21 weekend.

The Jr & U23 World Championships held from August 1 - 4 in Welland gave our appointed ICF officials a chance to show their great abilities on the World Stage. The opportunity for our NSO to also participate in a World Event exposed them to international competition at the highest level.

With the Canada Games held the following weekend in Sherbrooke Quebec, the Canadian officials showed their great ability to conduct a first class event for the up and coming junior athletes.

Two of our ICF officials were acting in the Sr. World Championships in , Germany while 23 of our National Officials were acting at the National Championships and CanMas in Montreal in late August.

To top off the competitive season, Canada was represented at the Sprint Pan American Canoe Championships in Ponce, Puerto Rico with the Vice-President from Canada.

As the need for more NSO and ICF officials increases, your NOC is developing a new Level III Technical CanoeKayak Officials Course Manual with digital enhancement to be completed. There has been great response from the present material which has resulted in 7 candidates successfully writing the Level 14 exam. Some are still awaiting the opportunity to complete the verbal stage before their DOC submits their practical assessment. There are more candidates waiting for a suitable time to have the opportunity of taking the written exam.

The committee congratulates Heather Corrigan and Paul Dean for successfully completing the ICF exam during their stay at the Pan Americans.

Your committee of David Graham, Judy Williams, Floyd Fry, Chad Brooks, Shaun Fair, Chairman Mike Moir with John Edwards of the CKC staff would like to thank Lorraine Lafrenière for her assistance over the past years and we wish her all the best in her duties as CEO of the Coaching Association of Canada.

Thanks must also go Frank Garner for his leadership at the ICF level as the Chairman of the Canoe Sprint.

Respectively submitted,

Mike Moir, Chairman

40

History and Archives Report

Submitted by Fred Johnston, CKC Archivist, and Chair, History & Archive Committee

Building, Establishing, Sustaining the CanoeKayak Canada History and Archive Collection

Building the Collection 1975 - 2010

In the lead-up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics, at the Board meeting of May 25, 1975, a step was taken that launched what was to become a program to identify, save and protect the historical records and memorabilia of the Canadian Canoe Association.

The Board of Directors decided to gift the CanoeKayak Canada Archive Collection to Queen's University Archives on November 23, 2008. The board approved the conditions of the agreement a year later and the agreement was signed by Commodore Peter Giles and Paul Banfield, Archivist for University Archivist, on May 3, 2010. We had a real building at last and the process of transporting the collection to our safe house marks the final stage, one very big step, in our journey.

Establishing the Collection 2010 -2013

Transfer of the CKC Archive Collection to Queen's University

Before delivery, all acquisitions were organized and placed in proper, archival storage containers with a Donation/Inventory Container Label listing of the material, Acquisition ID and Location Number. Deliveries began February 3, 2011 and were completed on October 3, 2013.

The existing CanoeKayak Canada History and Archive Collection now located at Queen's University Archives contains: • 202 archival boxes • Over 100 posters (rolled and transferred in 11, "12-bottle" wine boxes) • 15-20 large oversized framed composite photographs

The entire collection could not be stored in the central archive facilities so about half the boxes were redirected to a supplementary campus archive storage.

An interim finding aid (binder) accompanies the collection. A compendium of Donation/Inventory Labels has been assembled to assist researchers wishing to manually access information from the collection on site. Material stored off-site in the Supplementary Archival Storage is available with 24-hours notice. Truthfully we can celebrate the establishment of our collection in a secure, safe environment where it is under the care of a professional archival staff and available to serious researchers. Given the size of the CKC collection, it will take considerable time before material in the collection will be accessible using the Archives computerized information retrieval system.

41

Sustaining the Collection 2013 –In the University

CanoeKayak Canada picked an appropriate time to offer its collection to the University. Kathleen Ryan Hall, houses the Queen's University Archives which have outgrown that facility. The early stage of planning for new facilities were underway when negotiations with the University commenced. 2008 marked the beginning of the largest economic depression since 1929. During the financial collapse, universities were among many institutions to put a freeze on costly developments. The expansion of archival facilities at Queen's was put on hold but planning for the transfer of the collection proceeded in good faith by both parties.

The Archives assured the practicality of the agreement for the CKC from the very beginning. Summary of practical clauses in the agreement:  Processing of the records has been done by the university for free, recognizing this may change in the future  Duplicate or unacceptable material will be removed, listed and sent to CKC  Access to the records of CKC will be open for reference and other scholarly purposes  Records will be available to any member of CKC, or the public, during regular hours of operation of the Archives Reading Room  Archives will be processed with reasonable due diligence adhering to archival standards  It may take years for everything to archival standards so the present collection has been deemed sufficiently practical for access by serious, scholarly researchers  The Archives will respect and honour the integrity of the pre-existing private donations and the wishes of the private donor even if they would not normally meet traditional archival standards

Fortunately for CKC, financial times are changing and the Archives have been placed in a very favorable position in recent plans calling for the integration of Archival Services into the Central Library system. Archival Services along with Special Collections will be located at the centre of campus across the street from Stauffer Library. Details of these plans have not been shared, but it is “probable” the full CanoeKayak Canada collection and future additions will be combined in the new Archives facilities.

Identifying a Sustainable History and Archive Program, Post 2013

Given the practical and generous concessions made to CKC in the Agreement, Queen's University Archives has demonstrated a very positive, far-sighted and realistic approach in this relationship. This good fortune might engender an element of complacency. With the agreement come responsibilities, which our association must deal with, soon and seriously.

Clause 4: " following the initial transfer of records to the Archives, succeeding transfers of archival records will take place on behalf of CKC by the Archivist, or Board designate, once every three (3) years."

The National Archives initiated a project prior to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, inviting National Sport Organizations to place their sport collections in the National Archives for safekeeping. A number of Associations accepted but CKC had no archives to speak of as the first full-time national office had only been established in 1973.

42

In searching for a "safe house" for the CKC Collection, at a meeting in 2008 with the National Archives’ sport archivist I was prepared to offer “The Canadian Canoe Association History and Archive Collection” – perhaps the largest single sport collection in the country. Unfortunately a moratorium had recently been placed on accessions from National Sports Organizations due to financial considerations and a lack of donations from sport associations that had initially signed on in the late 70's and 80's. That could not help sport's cause. The archivist’s advice was to pursue the universities.

Consideration of problems associated with the changing role of the CKC History and Archives Program

Recommendations to respond to the Agreement's directives:

1. The Board of Directors establish a Task Force to respond to the changing conditions in the Post 2010 Queen's University Archive and CanoeKayak Canada Agreement and report back to the Board.

2. The Associate Archivists be designated for: White Water, Marathon and Sprint Racing. Associate Archivist, in sufficient time to allow designated to participate in the above Task Force Meetings.

Through the waters to friendship,

C. Fred Johnston

43

Trophies and Awards Report

Submitted by Judy Tutty, Chair, Trophies and Awards Committee

The Committee is responsible for all matters relating to trophies, awards and honours for the Sprint Racing Discipline (SRD) of CanoeKayak Canada (CKC). This includes:  establishing criteria for acceptance of trophies  making recommendations to SRC on acceptance  ensuring the necessary bonds for the protection of CKC trophies  recommending nominations for honours and awards conferred by CKC  recommending CKC members to be nominated for awards and honours conferred by other associations or groups.

The Committee also receives nominations for the R. Edgar Gilbert Award, which recognizes those volunteer members who have made significant and exemplary contributions to the SRD of CKC within Canada in any one or more of the Builder, Official and Coach categories by separate nomination.

The Committee receives nominations for the Fair Play Award, which recognizes an act(s) of fair play by an athlete member of team at or in the year up to and including the national championships.

It also receives submissions for perpetual awards. The annual awards honour members for excellence in competition and for outstanding service to the Association and sport. The awards perpetuate the names of outstanding clubs, competitors, officials, coaches, or administrators who have excelled in one or more of the associated activities.

In the last few years, the Committee has had a hands-on approach to monitoring the condition of each award. Some trophies have been refurbished while others have added another layer to accommodate more plates resulting in a new carrying case for the subject trophy. Scott Oldershaw has been very helpful in this regard.

The challenge this year was to re-identify the trophies for those races that had been re-classed from Midget to U17 and from Juvenile to U19. There were a total of 31 trophies across the country. Fortunately, and with the cooperation from some clubs, almost half of the trophies were re-labeled in advance of the national championships at Montreal. With the race card now over five days, and with heats and finals on the same day, it meant serious cooperation from the clubs to return the trophies in time for us to take to an engraver in Montreal to make a new plate, appropriately affix to the trophy and return same in time for presentation. Sincere appreciation is given to Bob Creamer for coordinating this effort. Only one trophy was not engraved as it was returned the morning of the event. There is a concern about the casual attitude and care given to these treasures by some clubs which must be corrected. A few trophies were held by the Committee for attention and will be made ready in time for the 2014 Nationals in Regina.

44

There were two new trophies received by the Commodore at the Nationals in Montreal for first presentation: the George (Ginger) Powell Trophy for the Junior Men C-2, 200m event, and the Lucy Slade Memorial Trophy for the U19 Women K-1, 1000m event.

The John W. Black Trophy was introduced in 1928 for the Junior Single Blade Fours, ½ mile. “The Black” is very delicate and the decision was taken to continue to present the trophy at the National Championships but to keep the trophy in the possession of the association between Championships. In 2011 the Sprint Racing Council moved that a fund be established to replicate the Black and the Black Trophy Fund was launched at the 2011 Nationals in Welland. Donations marked for The Black Trophy Fund will be accepted by CKC and donors will be issued a receipt for income tax purposes. All the Black races are posted on the CKC website with their crews and times. There is a “story” with each race and credits are given for any contributions. Winning crews are encouraged to submit their story for The Black Trophy Story to [email protected].

The CKC website displays the “Best Times” for events at the Nationals, the R. Edgar Gilbert Award recipients, the perpetual awards for respective events at the Nationals, and the policies and procedures.

Appreciation is extended to the Committee of Donna Coupal, Kyle Jeffery, Diana Schafer and Georges Delisle for their support and to the staff for their assistance throughout.

45

Individual Membership Report

Submitted by Judy Tutty, Chair, Individual Membership

An Individual Member is eligible for election or appointment to the Sprint Racing Council; and also eligible to be a proxy holder at a meeting of members. Membership as an Individual Member entitles you to a receipt for income tax purposes an invitation to the national championships, and an invitation to the annual general meeting with its accompanying material, and other periodic mailings.

CKC offers a Commercial Membership and has developed an attractive portfolio describing the program. Privileges include acknowledgment in Association publications, an opportunity to advertise, and access to fundraising projects as participants and/or sponsors. This membership also receives the newsletter, annual directory, and other periodic mailings.

Membership shows support for the many programs provided by CKC to its members and offers encouragement to the athletes in their quest for excellence. CKC has a “home page” on the Internet with connections to all constituents and associates with the CKC disciplines, including the Clubs, the Provinces, and the Divisions, and covering matters such as domestic and international events, athletes, and coaches, among other things. You are invited to visit www.canoekayak.ca as it is a tremendous source of information.

Members in good standing with the National Officials Association are Individual Members with the same privileges. CKC welcomes these volunteers as Individual Members.

This report would not be complete without expressing appreciation to the staff for their assistance and contributions to the Committee.

May you continue to enjoy the “friendship through the waters” that canoeing offers.

46

Nominating Committee Report

The Nominating Committee and the Flag Officers sought applicants for the two open positions on the Sprint Racing Council.

The Nominating Committee is pleased to recommend Rick Fair to continue in his position as Vice Chair Domestic Development. Rick has accepted the nomination.

No candidate has been endorsed for the position of Vice Chair Marketing. The Nominating Committee respectfully proposes that the position remain vacant during this period of governance renewal, as evolving responsibilities and roles for the Sprint Racing Council and the CKC Board become more clearly defined.

Peter Giles (Chair) Mary Jane Abbott Marc Creamer Ralph Orton Jim Reardon Georges Delisle

47

Flag Officer’s Report – Atlantic

Submitted by Paul Dean

The Atlantic Division CanoeKayak Canada has had a very successful 2013. Aligning our 2016 Strategic Plan with our National pillars of excellence proved to be integral to concentrating our efforts to meet our combined strategic outcomes.

Healthy Club System

 Provided five system-wide professional development sessions lead by industry experts.  Developed an internal club mentorship program and more social opportunities for clubs to share best practices.  Developed on-line resource guides to aid clubs in; funding, governance and volunteer resource management.  Passed along equipment savings through a bulk purchase of age appropriate equipment.  Developed and implemented a highly successful “mobile kayak program” that was delivered in eight communities where programming does not exist; reaching 176 youth, and, ultimately identifying interest in long term new community programs.  Initiated discussions with Sport PEI / NB and the province of PEI / NB on support to collaboratively grow the sport.  Obtained support from the province of Nova Scotia to develop the Atlantic Region “Canadian Sport for Life Implementation Plan”.  Created almost 1 million advertising impressions through our partnership with The Chronicle Herald.  Engaged media in event promotion through sponsorship opportunities and hosted a Division Open House.  Participated in three targeted trade shows to further promote the sport.  Rewarded our paddlers through a Division Awards Night and further nominated athletes and volunteers for external awards.  In partnership with CanoeKayak Canada, Row NS and NS ran a highly successful two-day “Try a Para Water Sport” initiative.

High Performance

 Nationally, the Division participated in a criteria review process and crew boat selection.  All clubs were supported in Florida by our Regional Coach.

48

 Kennebecasis was assisted in obtaining Competition Development certification for their Head Coach. A further three Division coaches were accepted into the Competition Development stream.  Thirty athletes attended a nutritional session hosted by the Division.  2013 was a Canada Games year with much concentration on ensuring our best representation at Atlantic Results

this event, resulting in; nine gold medals (56% Nova Under 23 Worlds: Scotia total), 12 silver (66% Nova Scotia total), and, 7 Michelle Russell, K1 200m: Gold Bronze (32% Nova Scotia total).  Fall and winter programming is underway to support Michelle Russell, K1 500m: Bronze athletes with weekly swims and runs including, a Cross Jason McCoombs, C1 200m: Silver Country Championship and Under 13 / Under 15 Maria Halavreszos, C2 500m: Bronze Olympian Challenge. Senior Worlds:  The coaching section of our website was improved.  The ADCKC made available the Bell Aliant Racing Mark de Jonge , K1 200m: Silver Centre to clubs as a further training ground for high Mark De Jonge, K1 200m Relay: performance athletes. Bronze  Forty-one participants in the “Community Level Coach Jason McCoombs, C1 200m Relay: – CanoeKids” training and twenty-one in the Bronze “Entry Level Competitive Coach” courses. Ben Russell, C1 200m Relay: Bronze  Twenty-two coaches also took all required ELCC 20 Medals at Pan Am Championships theory modules. This was coordinated specifically for Congratulations Cheema Aquatic the CanoeKayak community via a partnership with the Club 2013 National Champions Province of Nova Scotia.  2013 also saw the development and implementation of a Division wide “Women in Coaching Program” supported by the Canoe ’09 Legacy Trust, Sport Nova Scotia & the Province of NS. The program offered female coaches subsidization for training, mentorship via our Regional Coach and resulted in employment subsidies for four clubs. The program will complete with applicants obtaining certification in Competition Development in the spring of 2014.  Another main win for the Division was meeting all strategic goals regarding our Officiating base. The Division fully supported and helped to finance through applications to Sport NS the following initiatives; individual official initiatives, hosting our National Officials exam and having two local Officials obtain their Level 5, International certification.

Canadian Canoe

 C4 events were offered in the Regional Coach Long Distance series events.  At Nationals open women’s C2 200, 500, and 1000 were split into Junior and Senior women’s races doubling opportunities for participation.  The Atlantic Division was again dominant in the war canoe at Nationals resulting in thirteen out of twenty four medals.

49

Leadership

 Increased our officials’ boat drivers’ volunteer base by almost 37% through targeted recruitment efforts and training enhancements.  Developed volunteer position descriptions, application form and volunteer handbook as recruitment tools.  Increased the Divisions directed income through strategic applications to CanoeKayak Canada, Sport Nova Scotia, Canada Sport Centre Atlantic and the Province of NS.  Major progress increasing the Divisions operational income through developing a multi- faceted sponsorship program and application to the municipality for our management of the race course on Lake Banook.  Provided leadership to the Canoe Sprint Legacy Fund Association and made special applications to benefit paddling in the Atlantic Region and operational infrastructure required.  The Division was also successful in our “Expression of Interest” to become one of two new homes to the National Women’s Kayak Team, meeting an organizational objective to highlight our National Training Centre status.

Organizational Effectiveness

 Implementation of the Strategic Plan was our main priority. Updates were shared with our membership in the spring and fall of 2013.  The Division started a new regular practice of looking at all areas of return on investment regarding current program offerings.  A new draft governance model has been created and evaluated to ensure that our governance is keeping pace with the growth and demands on the Division.  Division By-Laws have been reviewed and updated.  Capital asset management, national and international venue positioning and improvements have been a huge priority for the Division. Future repair to the Officials Tower foundation and remodel of the facility has been a key task for the Division requiring many hours of service from multiple volunteers.

A total of eight-teen regattas were also operated by the Division and it committed volunteer base and staff.

In total Division volunteers devoted an estimated 12,000 hours to the paddling community!

Yours in Paddling,

Paul Dean Flag Officer, Atlantic Division CanoeKayak Canada

50

Flag Officer’s Report – Quebec

Healthy Club System

There are 12 competitive clubs and 2 affiliated clubs in Quebec. A new club will join the Lanaudière region next season. This year we saw a growing number of competitive members at the U15 youth level. The U15 Provincial Championship was our biggest championship so far with a participation of more than 426 youth. The event was held over several days and had more than 189 races.

We have 4 clubs with full-time coaches, four clubs have part-time coaches and four clubs hire seasonal coaches. Finances influence the club’s abilities to hire coaches. During the summer, the clubs have organized more than 8 inter-regional regattas and 8 regional regattas.

High-Performance

On the international scene, Quebec was well represented at many levels of competitions (the World Senior Championships, the U23 World Championships, the Junior World Championships, the two World Cups, and the Pan-American Championships). The Province of Quebec is proud of its athletes and it is worth mentioning the excellent performances by Laurence Vincent- Lapointe who won gold at the Senior Worlds in C1and C2 with Sarah-Jane Caumartin.

The Quebec athletes did well during the Canada Games in Sherbrooke, winning more than 30 medals and winning the overall competition as well.

The Canadian Canoe

The Canadian Canoe is being encouraged at all the regional and inter-regional competitions. During the Provincial Championships we have to hold heats. In 2013 we received more registrations for C4 than in K4 in some categories.

Leadership

CanoeKayak Quebec has given itself the mandate to be the reference for CanoeKayak in Quebec. We are trying our best to respond to the needs of all clubs.

51

Organizational Effectivenes

The Quebec Sprint CanoeKayak Association is going through organizational changes with the departure of Jean-Guy Lahaie who has been within the Federation for more than 25 years. Mission statements, CKQ’s vision, values and objectives have been completed. CanoeKayak Quebec has had a season full of events, starting with the successful 10 week training camp in Florida, with more than 50 athletes and 6 coaches.

The organization of the Summer Games in Sherbrooke was another success. We have also organized 3 Provincial Championships, U15, U16 and more as well as the long distance championship. As a finishing touch the Pointe-Claire group, supported by the division, accepted the challenge of organizing the Canadian Championship.

52

Flag Officer’s Report – Eastern Ontario

Submitted by Bevin Schmidt

Overview

Eastern Ontario Division made progress with the divisional goals of providing training to coaches, allowing athletes to excel following LTAD and managing safe, well run events within our division. Officials are an integral part of any division and the officials development lead by Kim Houston, continues to thrive. EOD held a level 1-2 CKC officiating courses which qualified 20 new officials within EOD.

We still experience a number of challenges including tapping in to the volunteer base for regattas, opening coaching and board level communication between clubs and answering the question, what does or can the EOD and the PSO do for us as a club?

Healthy Clubs

Divisional regattas were very well attended by all EOD clubs and even a few WOD and Quebec clubs joined in on the fun.

Some EOD clubs have embraced the multi discipline/multi age paddling model. Stand up paddling, dragon boat, outrigger canoe and surf-ski are becoming common place at a number of EOD clubs binging in new members of all ages and are generating revenue for the clubs.

The Hell or High Water Dragon Boat event in Petawawa was managed by EOD club members and featured a Stand up Paddle race mid day. We are encouraging this site to set up a multi- discipline Canoe Club.

The EOD regatta race cards followed LTAD with age appropriate race distances.

PaddleALL and adaptive paddling continues to develop in the division. EOD currently has 2 adaptive paddling programs in their infancy.

Our overall EOD membership numbers were up in 2013 to 1240 which includes 515 competitive members.

High Performance

RCC continues to lead the high performance model with one of the best facilities in Canada. Both the club house and water quality allow their athletes to train and excel. RCC is in the process of revamping its on water course for Nationals 2015.

53

ORCC received a Quest for Gold coaching grant to hire a full time coach. EOD now has 3 clubs with full time coaching staff.

Leadership

Coaching education courses / professional development commenced in early spring and ran through the fall. Joel Hazzan held a Community coach course in Carleton Place that trained 13 and an ELCC small boats/ war canoe course again in Carleton Place that trained 6 EOD coaches. 5 of the 6 that took the course have reached full certification resulting in the best follow through with certification ever for EOD.

EOD will assist our coaches in attending the CKC coaching conference this fall.

Organizational Effectiveness

EOD is in the process of refreshing the by-laws and rules of structure. A clear mission statement will be defined at this year’s EOD AGM with all clubs contributing. This will be a first step to answering the club question, ”what can EOD do for my club?”

In closing, I would like to personally extend my appreciation to the members of the Board of Directors for all of their work this past year. Their counsel, support and willing participation have been very much appreciated.

54

Flag Officer’s Report – Western Ontario

Submitted by Ted Roworth

I would like to thank all of the WOD Executive, Officials, Coaches and Athletes for their tremendous contribution to the events for the 2013 year.

A special thank you to Paul Vincent, Sue Cox, Joanne Bryant, Adam Oldershaw and Dean Jenkins for their dedication to WOD and ensuring that our season was successful as it was.

Healthy Clubs

 Camp Ak-A-Mak was successful with approx. 51 first year U15 and U17 Athletes and Coaches attending. A special thank you to Cory Burnatti, Dean Jenkins, Kyle Jeffery and the coaches  Engaged Northern Clubs including Sudbury, Parry Sound  Continued support and funding of PaddleALL Programs and PaddleALL HP / athletes under WOD HP Policy

High Performance

 High Performance Fund Policy was implemented, dispersing $5000 to various athletes identified by the policy  Three WOD Clubs placed in the top ten, in order, Burloak 3rd, Balmy Beach 7th and Mississauga Canoe Club 9th

Organizational Effectiveness

 Continued Volunteer participation at our events, providing the division with safe, fair and enjoyable regattas  Improvement made to our registration procedures  Volunteers for the World U23 and Junior Championships stepped up along with Officials from WOD and other division across Canada, making the regatta an overwhelming success  Moving forward with Governance and by-law restructuring and facilitating governance mentoring for the division clubs  Ongoing Officials development with 2 Officials qualifying for Level 4

Leadership

 Ongoing training and certification courses for Coaches from ELCC and above

55

2014

Looking ahead for 2014, we need to engage our younger paddlers in the U11 and U13 age groups. Growing our membership base in this demographic is important to our success in future years.

Moving forward with governance and by-law changes for both WOD and individual clubs is extremely important. With Mary-Ellen Bench, Judy Tutty, Sue Cox and Charlie Stevens on this committee, I feel confident a template for the clubs to follow will help the clubs with their task implementing the coming legislation.

Also finding revenue/funding streams to help under pin the HP Fund, allowing for more HP athletes to be assisted with training costs is very important.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of the WOD Executive for their support, advice and feedback . Your dedication to Canoe Kayak and WOD makes us stronger and helps the sport to grow in our division.

56

Flag Officer’s Report – Prairies

Submitted by Chris Laplante

2013 was a busy and successful year for the Prairie Division. There were several nominations to National team status on Development and U23 teams.

The season started off with training camps held in Florida with all our clubs attending. We had a smaller group of athletes participating this year and some significant results with one athlete being named to the U23 team. The Saskatoon Racing Canoe Club held its Annual season opener at the end of May. It was well attended with some 100 athletes and coaches. It was nice to see this level of participation at this first regatta as racing is what our athletes require to better themselves for further competition levels.

Many of our up and coming athletes participated at Canada Summer Games. There was good attendance with a full team being selected to represent each discipline. These athletes will most likely be part of our CORE athletes for the and continued support of will be critical to their ultimate success.

The Wascana Canada Day Regatta was held at the beginning of July with teams travelling from Alberta and Manitoba. Many parents have indicated interest in learning more about the sport. As a result there was lots of mentoring and opportunities for them to assist in officiating. We also held the first known 200 meter 10-person dragon boat knockout race with teams being selected randomly to build blended crews.

The Divisional Championships were held in Regina where numerous athletes earned their entries to the Canadian Sprint Canoe Kayak Championships in Montreal. Following Divisionals, many of our HP athletes left in preparation for Canada Games. We had good representation from all our clubs at the Canadian Sprint Canoe Kayak Championships and CanMas with many very good results. Credit goes to Manitoba for their excellent results in the Women’s Canoe events.

The Prairie Division has a healthy club system and the Provincial organizations are strong in their activities in growing the sport. Club registrations have dropped in some clubs but is on the rise in others. There are others that have been off the radar for years that have been resurging with athletes. This year we are hopeful that the Prairie division will be out front again with the NAIG games, which include some sprint events, as well as the CKC Championships. The Prairie Division is hoping to be able to share our Western hospitality.

This year also saw the departure of the South HP Coach for Saskatchewan Dave Robertson who accepted a position with as the Men’s 1000M Kayak Coach.

57

Flag Officer’s Report – Pacific

Submitted by Sara Hopkins

Throughout 2013, CanoeKayak BC has focused on improving opportunities for high performance athletes in British Columbia, and on growing our sport through grassroots initiatives. Although balancing the priorities of our disciplines, our members, and our external partners is a continued challenge, we have several exciting developments, including hiring a provincial coach and moving to a new multi-sport facility, which bode well for the coming year.

Healthy Club System  continuing our highly successful CanoeKids on the Road program, which brings quality programming and coaching to communities without permanent canoe clubs; our Squamish program also included a whitewater component, which was very well-received;  engaging Aboriginal communities in advance of the North American Indigenous Games with coaching, officiating and technical planning support; in the spring, we delivered the CanoeKids program to 12 coaches in Aboriginal communities, and have developed ongoing relationships with those coaches;  assisting member clubs, particularly our new clubs including Ditidaht and Penticton with grant applications;  hosting club teleconferences, in which club representatives share program successes and challenges, and identify organizational issues;  partnering with Yukon and NWT with a focus on coaching development and expanding the Roadshow

High Performance  athletes competing at the Canada Summer Games for the second time had excellent performances, and our first-time Team BC members will be well-placed to earn podium finishes at the next games; o coaching staff conducted a post-Games debrief with each athlete; the more than 9 hours of audio interviews have been valuable for all stakeholders, particularly our Canadian Sport Centre partners.  continue to focus on club-level coach development; this year we have 4 coaches attending the CKC Conference, and 3 attending the Comp. Dev. course  working with our Whitewater clubs to increase opportunities for both participation and high performance; specifically, the Chilliwack Centre of Excellence has embarked in several projects, including the protection, branding, and development of the Tamihi rapids;  collaborated successfully with CSC in applying for funding for a Provincial Coach within the ISP model; in late October we hired Blake Dalton as our Provincial Coach;  likewise, our application for Regional Coach funding was successful, and we have hired Jon Allen to direct our Whitewater program out of the Chilliwack Centre of Excellence; we are in the process of defining an appropriate regional coaching model for sprint with Blake;

58

 athletes from BC clubs won 8 medals at Nationals (6 previous year); and earned 28 top 9 performances (26 previous year);  continue to work with all clubs in the development of selection criteria and regatta schedules; emphasizing LTAD principles in regatta planning  moving into the Fortius centre, a new multi-sport facility has been an onerous and exciting process; we are keen to access a greater range of athlete services including sport-specific training equipment and athlete dormitories; these facilities will encourage provincial, regional and national level training opportunities;

The “Canadian” Canoe  providing equal training, coaching and competition opportunities for developing canoe and kayak athletes;  developing relationships with clubs outside the Lower Mainland, particularly in the Okanagan, to support canoe (and war canoe) events;  working with the Aboriginal Partners Council to build on canoeing traditions in Aboriginal communities, particularly related to opportunities with the NAIG;

Leadership  continuing to prioritize board development; focused on succession planning;  working to integrate our whitewater, and marathon disciplines both in terms of LTAD and sport administration;  providing administrative support, and supporting capacity building within our whitewater community and multi-discipline clubs;  partnering with national team athletes to foster relationships with BC athletes; specifically at our November paddling camp, and January ski camps;

Organizational Effectiveness  strategic planning sessions throughout fall/ winter to review goals with member clubs;  moving into a new multi-sport facility will enable us to partner with other PSOs and sport organizations to share best practices and strategies;  recognized by our partners for our commitment to sport excellence and leadership; specifically we are one of the few sports working with CSC that has identified and implemented KPIs;  continue to develop new ways to use technology to track athlete goals, and performances;  working with CKC on developing consistent advertising materials for programs including CanoeKids, which will be available to all BC communities;  consulting member clubs to standardize introductory paddling courses;  renewed focus on officials training and retention; created and online tracking system for WW

Challenges  continue to work towards meaningful collaboration with CKC regarding high performance programs, particularly at the development level; the unique challenges faced by western athletes require more consultation at the planning stages;  small, but very dedicated, cadre of volunteers; we struggle to attract and retain volunteers

59

 difficulties encouraging member clubs to attend local regattas, particularly long distance events;  despite working to expand our whitewater and marathon disciplines, lack of volunteers, particularly in the marathon discipline limit our attempts at programming.

60

Whitewater Reports 61

Whitewater President’s Report

Submitted by Harold Van Winssen

The past year has certainly been an interesting and eventful year.

Nationals

For me, the Nationals were one of the highlights of the year. Canoe Meadows and the Kananaskis is always a great site for the Nationals with the centralized camping and group atmosphere that occurs with the mixing of athletes from all across the country and indeed even international athletes at the event.

The highlight was the number of competitors, at over 100. This is double the number of only a few short years ago and I would like to thank all of the provinces for their hard work in encouraging Junior development and the growth of the sport.

Another highlight was the attendance from Manitoba. For first time whitewater paddlers with their infectious enthusiasm set a real tone for the event. They just couldn’t seem to get enough of the whitewater. Many thanks to their Coach, Jerome Seremak and to Michal Staniszewski for assisting.

Pan American Games

As you know, the Pan American Games are coming to Minden as part of the Toronto Pan American Games in 2015. Through the hard work of Orest Stanko, Jim Tayler and the rest of the Pan American Games Committee, additional funding has been secured, allowing for the construction of a gate system which can be used on a go-for basis, and also the purchase of a timing system. This leaves a real legacy from the Games. We are excited and looking forward to this great event. Volunteers will be needed not only in 2015, but 2014 for all aspects of the competitions.

Having a chance to host the Pan American Games also provides an opportunity to receive additional funding and we are hopeful that we will receive some funding for the Pan American Games from Own the Podium.

International Events

The various disciplines have been very active in putting together bids for international events. Some of these include the following:

1) A demonstration event/international exhibition event in connection with the Pan American Games 2015 to be held by Canoe Polo in Welland in 2015;

2) A bid to hold the 2015 Freestyle World Championships on the Ottawa River and in addition, the World Cup in 2014 on the Ottawa River;

62

3) A potential bid to hold the 2018 Canoe Polo World Championships also at the Welland site;

4) Unfortunately our bid for the 2018 Slalom World Championships has run into some technical and practical difficulties. This is a very ambitious proposal as it would involve the construction of a new artificial course in Montreal which would be extremely exciting for the sport in general. We are still working hard on such bid through the Quebec Federation and Julie Crepeau-Boisvert and hope that a bid for a later World Championship will proceed.

Pan American Championships

The Pan American Championships for Slalom were held in Union de Tula, Mexico. Highlights were Jessica Groeneveld taking Gold in K-1 and Silver in C1-W, Cam Smedley taking both the Bronze in C1-Men and Silver in C2-Men. This bodes well for our potential for 2015.

Freestyle World Championships

I happened to attend the Freestyle World Championships held at Nantahale, North Carolina. I was struck by the great team support and atmosphere of the Freestyle Team. They were enthusiastic and supportive of each other, the event was extremely well attended and run and a real testament to the future of the sport.

Canadian results featured seven Canadians in the Top Ten with the top result being Matthew Godsoe in Open Canoe with a 4th place finish. Thanks to Rob Zwanenburg and his team.

International Results – Slalom

International results were probably highlighted by Ben Hayward’s 12th in the World Cup Final in Bratislava a personal best. This followed on his 15th place finish in World Cup 1 in Cardiff, Wales.

In C1-W, Haley Daniels achieved 13th in World Cup 1 and made the Semi-Finals in World Cup 3. Alexander McGee finished 15th in the World Cup Final and 23rd in the World Championships.

David Ford achieved season best in the World Cup Final with a 22nd, as well as making Semi- Finals in World Cup 2. Cam Smedley made the Semi-Finals at the World Championships and made Semi-Finals in World Cups 1 and 3 with a best finish of 22nd in World Cup 1 and 27th at the World Championships with Ben Hayward finishing 28th at the World Championships in the Semi-Finals and John Hastings also made the Semi-Finals at the World Championships placing 34th.

Junior & U23

Four athletes made the Semi-Finals in Junior /U23 World Championships. This was highlighted by Cam Smedley’s 12th in U23 in C-1, Michael Tayler’s 13th in U23 in K-1, Alexander McGee’s 13th in U23 in C1-W. Liam Smedley was 23rd in Junior C-1.

63

Director General

As you are probably aware, Lorraine Lafrenière, Director General, has resigned to take a position as CEO of Coaching Association of Canada. Lorraine will be missed and her hard work and willingness to become involved in and learned about the Slalom Discipline was much appreciated. We wish her the best of luck in her undoubtedly successful career as CEO of Coaching Association of Canada.

Budget

As can be seen from the financial statements, we ran a surplus last year and partially made up for the deficit incurred in a prior year. We are also anticipating a very small surplus in the current year as we try to maintain fiscal conservatism and responsibility. This has been a special challenge with a 10% cut to our base budget, although we have managed to get $35,000.00 in special project funding thanks to the efforts of James Cartwright, our High Performance Manager and Lorraine LaFreniere. Budgets will continue to be a challenge in the current Ottawa environment.

Governance

As a result of the new Canadian Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, our governances at the CKC level are going through a complete change and review. This has resulted in substantial changes which will be dealt with at the Annual General Meeting. This will be highlighted by making the membership into two classes of members, one being the disciplines and the other being paddling associations. Associations include individual registered clubs or provincial sporting organizations, depending on the discipline. There will be separate reports on the governance and I will not do anything other than highlight the changes that are occurring and will need to be approved to the membership model at the 2013 AGM with a further special meeting required likely in May to finalize changes to the Board of Directors and the remainder of the By-laws.

Hopefully this represents an opportunity to make this a bigger and better organization looking after all disciplines, rather than being focused on the individual disciplines.

Our own internal rules for governance will likely require revisions as a consequence.

64

Whitewater High Performance Manager and Head Coach Report

Submitted by James Cartwright and Michal Staniszewski

1. Highlights of 2013

Successful Athlete Bursaries

Jazmyne Denhollander & Jon Allen  Fueling Athlete and Coaching Excellence Cameron Smedley  CIBC Team Next

Canoe Slalom international results

Cameron Smedley  12th U23 World Championships Ben Hayward  15th World Cup #1  12th World Cup #2 Michael Tayler  13th U23 World Championships Alexandra McGee  13th U23 World Championships Haley Daniels  13th World Cup #1  13th World Cup #3

Freestyle World Championships results

Matthew Godsoe  4th World Championships Sydney Nixon  6th World Championships Emily Zwanenburg  8th World Championships Martin Breu  9th World Championships Mattheu Cuccaro  9th World Championships Nicholas Troutman  10th World Championships Ruth Gordon-Ebens  10th World Championships Shaunna Neil-Martin  12th World Championships Jamie Pope  13th World Championships Kalem Kennedy  13th World Championships

ICF Ranking Race at Kananaskis  ASCK and AWA invested in upgrading race Timing & Scoring hardware for the 2013 ICF Ranking race held in conjunction with the Whitewater National Championships. Many lessons were learned at the National Championships and have been shared with WO race organizers who will be preparing for Pan-Am Games.

TO2015 Pan-Am Games Funding & Legacy

65

 Sport Canada and OTP have announced High Performance funding that will be targeted to Pan-Am Games preparation. CKC has submitted a TO2015 funding application to OTP. Sport Canada has indicated that Canoe Slalom will benefit from this program which will be targeted to Pan-Am Games preparation.  Planning for WO to purchase Timing & Scoring hardware is underway and will empower race organizers to run world-class Canoe Slalom events in Canada.  Gate system has been designed by S2o that will reduce risk of injury and expedite course construction.

Arc’Teryx uniforms  50% discount on NT uniforms  Slalom, Wildwater and Polo teams have taken advantage of Arc’Teryx partnership.

Canada Summer Jobs  Successful application to Canada Summer Jobs to partially fund seasonal full-time development coach in Ottawa from May-August

2. Healthy Clubs

 Thank you to all the club and provincial and, volunteers, and parents who put on all the local, provincial, and national whitewater events. The CKC event calendar was filled with over 30 provincial and local whitewater events that took place in 2013.  CanoeKayak Canada provided Zone 4 registration and communications support to event organizers leading up to the Canoe Slalom Team Trials and the National Whitewater Championships.  A special “thank you” is in order to Whitewater Ontario/ and Alberta Whitewater Association/Alberta Slalom Canoe and Kayak in recognition of all the time and energy these organizations dedicated towards hosting the 2013 Canoe Slalom Team Trials and the National Whitewater Championships under very challenging circumstances.  CanoeKayak Canada allocated $10,000 in coaching support to assist PSO coaching programs.  CKC also lead a coach mentoring program in conjunction with the Canoe Slalom National Championships.  Participation up at Whitewater National Championships

3. High Performance

 A busy international schedule started with the Pan-Am Championships in Mexico in February.  A prioritization of High Performance resources enabled CanoeKayak Canada to support a three week U23/Junior National Team tour in Slovakia that exposed 7 JR NT athletes and 7 U23 National Team athletes to training and competition at two world-class venues.  A small Elite Team of 5 athletes attended World Cup 1, 2 and 3  9 National Team athletes attended World Cup 5 and Senior World Championships.

66

 Results at Senior World Championships were disappointing as CKC did not achieve expected targets. Unfortunately a few key athletes’ performances were negatively affected by a GI virus that hit the team the week of the World Championships.  A new NT fee facilitated expenses and accounting, and made up for 10% Sport Canada core budget cut. The NT fee allowed CKC to hire support staff and to cover athlete accommodation expenses.  CKC was fortunate to have Louis-Philippe Légaré work with U23/JR national team.  CKC also hired a Slovakian contract coach to work with national team at the Junior and U23 World Championships and Senior World Championships.  Unfortunately, both National Canoe Slalom events were affected by flooding. The Gull River escaped destruction but visible damage did occur resulting in a breach of the river left concrete wall situated below the Gull dam. Sadly, the Kananaskis race course was completely destroyed and required significant repairs prior to hosting the National Championships.  2 DR National Team athletes attended World Cups and World Championships.  22 Junior and Senior National Freestyle Team athletes attended 2013 World Championships.

4. Leadership/Coaching

 Coaching Association of Canada staff changes: 3 new CAC consultants throughout the summer of 2013. Still working on knowledge transfer.  Refined Whitewater Leadership Development Model.  Instructor 2 manual and LF guide have been translated into French.  Started Regional slalom coach update conference calls to improve collaboration and to provide opportunity for coaches to provide feedback on NT programs.  Whitewater Competition - Introduction Pilot tentatively scheduled for January 2014.  Ongoing maintenance of CKC-W instructor database and certification card distribution.

Distinct Instr. Pool Lake Instr. 2 Lead 2 Instr. 3 Lead 3 SW Res. AB 212 85 66 30 27 12 10 104 BC 72 7 37 34 40 7 1 2 CA 1 1 1 1 KY 1 1 1 MB 2 1 2 1 NB 3 1 3 3 1 1 NC 1 1 1 NL 3 1 1 2 2 NS 6 4 4 NT 23 5 11 7 2 2 12 ON 141 30 56 90 85 31 13 2 QC 13 7 7 9 3 1 SK 10 7 8 2 2 1 VT 1 1 1 1 1 YK 3 3 1 International 6 6 4 6 4 3 Grand Total 497 130 192 192 190 62 32 122

67

5. Organizational Effectiveness

 There is an opportunity for CKC-W to improve membership tracking which could also assist in connecting with CanoeKayak Canada membership. Sport Canada recommends that NSOs should be able to account for and communicate with its membership.  CKC uses Padtrac which allows sprint clubs to register CKC members. Overall, this would improve reporting to Sport Canada and also marketing CanoeKayak Canada.  CKC also has a tremendous opportunity to expand a nation-wide whitewater instructor program; however, resources are currently limited and require a greater investment to make significant progress.

6. Facility Development

Current whitewater park initiatives include the following:

 Montreal  National Capital Region  Rutherford (River surf user-group)  Kananaskis flood repairs  Harvie Passage flood repairs

Rapid Water Courses pre-cast construction method is advertising courses from £1.5 million = $2.5 million. ICF is recommending smaller/less extravagant projects as design and constructions costs are decreasing with technological and design advances. http://www.rapidwatercourses.com/index.htm

68

WW Education and Certification Committee Report

Submitted by Chuck Lee, Chair – Education and Certification, Chair – Standing Committee

Long Term Athlete Development Project

The translation into French is complete and we now need to look at implementation strategies and developing an easy to reference chart. The first step was the Passport project that helps to identify the progression through the initial skills required in our sport.

Whitewater Passport to Paddlesports

Passports are now available to CKC members to use for their programs. The report cards allow instructors and coaches to check off the accomplishments for each of the first 3 levels the LTAD (Fundamentals, Developmentals, Transformations).

We are now looking for a National Sponsor for the program and are exploring ideas for online promotions. The completed materials will be translated to French by Paul Mason.

Schools in Pools Pilot

Alberta secured a $29,600 grant from The Calgary Foundation to develop materials and pilot a Calgary program to teach school children to kayak in pools. The funding had to go through CKC because of its charitable status. The goal is to teach fundamental skills to grades 4-5 students.

The funding was used to develop curriculum materials for teachers, a business plan for pools, a promotional video for schools, and pilot the project in Calgary.

We have an opportunity to really change our sport through the Schools in Pools Kayaking concept. The program can create safe boating habits in children, fight Canada’s obesity epidemic, and build physical literacy for boating in young children. This project is nearing completion and we are hopeful that the initiative will drive development.

Memorandum of Understanding with Physical & Health Education Canada

A MOU with PHE Canada was signed last February for the delivery of in classroom materials by school teachers in Canada.

The agreement will promote the CKC Passport to Paddlesport program and build new resources to promote physical literacy skills for boating in the classroom.

69

Transport Canada Safe Boating Initiative Grant Application

In October we applied for a $1 million grant over 3 years to take the Schools in Pools program to the rest of Canada. Essentially it will be an expansion of the Schools in Pools with a slight change to focus the program more on safe boating practices.

The program will start in Western Canada, add Quebec, BC and Manitoba in year 2, and expand into Ontario and the Maritimes in year 3.

Program funding provide administrative and marketing assistance in the CKC and PSO offices. It will also support Pool Instructor getting certified and initiate programs. We should know the status of the grant application sometime early in January.

National Coaching Certification Program

NCCP - Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) approvals

The Education Committee spent 2.5 days after the last AGM with our Coaching Association consultant, Anna Mees to: - finalize NCCP River Instructor 2 materials - better understand how our courses fit into CAC’s program - develop framework for Comp Intro Coaches

River Leader – Whitewater Leader certifications 2 does not fit the NCCP certification model. We think it will fit as a CAC professional development module that we can also work within the CKC system.

Pool and Lake Kayak Instructor certifications will be placed in to the Community Sport stream instead of the Instructor stream.

Mark Taylor finished and submitted our River Instructor 2 materials. Several staff changeovers at CAC delayed the process and we are now placed with Kathy Brook, who we hope will be around for the long run. We are waiting for final confirmation of approval.

The River Leader 2 will only be a CKC accredited program because it does not fit the CAC/NCCP vision for coaches and instructors.

Meetings are underway to adopt Level I and III certifications.

Mike Holroyd was contracted through ASCK to pull together the Comp Intro Coach materials. We plan to be ready for a pilot presentation this spring.

We have written the materials for Pool Kayak Instructor, Lake Kayak Instructor 1, Whitewater Leader 3 and Whitewater Instructor 3. We will be presenting these to CAC for accreditation this and hope to have them fully endorsed in 2014.

70

Instructor Level 1 Program Delivery

The Level 1 Pool and Lake Kayak Instructor courses continue to be offered. Pools are interested in certifying non-kayakers to teach fundamental skills in pools. We anticipate this program could generate $25,000 for CKC-W Education Programs. Each province certifying 100 lifeguards (20 courses x 5 lifeguards) would generate $3,000 annually for its programs.

L2/I2 Program Delivery

River Leader 2 and River Instructor 2 certification programs are offered in BC, Alberta, NWT, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The program in Quebec was stalled until materials were translated . With the French in place we are poised to move ahead in Quebec if the Federation approves. Claudia VanWijk presented the new NCCP program at the FQCKEV AGM on November 2 and we trust this will be the launch of a new attitude that will embrace our program in Quebec going forward.

L3/I3 Development

After launching the L3/I3 in 2012 we have seen an ongoing demand for this certification. There are some edits required to make the program CAC ready and the final submission should be ready soon.

L4/I4 Development A separate certification for Class IV water is on track for a 2014-15 launch in the Instruction stream. after completing the Pool & Lake and L3/I3 materials.

Intro Coach Development CAC was supportive of this Coaching Certification stream and providing funding. Mike Holroyd was contracted to write the materials for the Kayak Coach Intro. A working committee of Canoe Polo, Wildwater, Slalom and Freestyle members drafted the guidelines for the Intro coach.

The Intro Coach program is being built on the premise that the Coach does not need to paddle. A parent or non-paddling volunteer can be very valuable in helping children to develop as competitors so long as: 1. all coaches will have the appropriate safety mechanisms in place 2. athletes have already passed through the Fundamentals and Developmentals with certified CKC Instructors and are competent in Class II water

Swiftwater Rescue CKC Swiftwater Rescue certification fees were overpriced compared to similar programs offered by other organizations. The Education Committee approved a fee change down to $60 from the previous $90. This program needs some serious attention to developing the resource materials to bring it in line with the quality of our other CKC programs.

Administration The past year we struck a new working relationship with the CKC office by committing $10 of each certification fee to the office. The CKC/NCCP interface with our new Coaches, Leaders and

71

Instructors has been getting better this year because of this financial reward system. More emphasis and resources must be placed on handling our NCCP programs within the CKC office by our staff.

Conclusion I am looking forward to completing many of the projects we are working on. This will create a solid base on which we can build a new paradigm for the sport in Canada.

Lastly I want to thank the members of the many different working groups with whom I have been associated this past year:

Jon Allen, Mike Holroyd, Mark Taylor, Mark Lund, Simon Coward, Saskia Van Mourik, Brendan Curson, Mick Lautt, Claudia Van Wijk, Jeff Johnson, Ryan Whetung, Brenna Kelly, Mike Smith, James Cartwright, Julie Crepeau-Boisvert, Marc Gilbert, John Edwards.

72

Canoe-Polo Report

National Development Activities JC Pothier (Canoe-Polo Chair)

2012-13 was a non-Worlds year so the Canoe-Polo council focused on recruitment and development of national level athletes, as well as setting up a stronger structure to surround the National Organization, National Team coaches and athletes. We have reviewed some of our internal rules of structure and set higher standards for our main organization.

National Open Training Camp, July 1-5th in Welland, Ontario This was the 3rd instalment of our Pre-National Open Training Camp. It is clearly our best developed tool yet for training and giving a great boost to our younger and newer canoe-polo players.  65 athletes from Canada and USA - Beginner to National Team skill level  3 National Team coaches worked with all athlete’s in attendance  World Champion, Chaz Cheug (UK), invited to help development of Women’s team  Encouraged National Team players to play with their club team at Nationals the following weekend  Registration funds went to help out National Teams

National Club Championships, July 6-7th in Welland, Ontario This year was our biggest Nationals yet with 85 games taking place on 3 full pitches set up with the help of the Welland Recreational Canal Corporation.  About 100 participants  17 Club teams for Club A and Club B division  4 Teams in Women open division  8 teams in Open division with both USA and Canada National Teams present

73

World Games, Cali, Colombia, 2013 Our Men’s team had the privilege of playing against the top 5 teams in the World this summer as the country representing Pan America. They played Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands and Australia and proved that they could handle the pressure in keeping low scores on most games and were even tied 1:1 with Italy (3rd) at half time. The event gave our athletes and coaches a huge opportunity to learn and improve for the 2014 season.

International Coaching Like the 2011/12 cycle, we “hired” international help for various events and training camps so that our National coaches and athletes could learn from their experience and expertise.  Erwin Ross, Worlds Medalist from Netherlands o Senior Men International Coach o Present at various training camps and 2013  Chad Cheug, World Medalist from UK o Women Teams and main development o Present at Cup of the North 2013 (ACPA) and Open National Training Camp in Welland

Other Development and Visibility  While waiting for CKC: redesigned CPC website at canoepolocanada.wordpress.com  More active Facebook Page – some post are up to a reach of a few thousands  Canoe Polo was presented on 2 TV shows in Quebec  CPC branded polo balls - over 200 sold with profit to National Teams  Canoe Polo now actively played in 7 provinces and 2 territories o NS, QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC, YK, NWT o New international level site now fully developed in Welland  Creation of a Summer Polo League in Alberta with mix player strength teams  Participation of 2 Canadian teams at the 2013 World Master Games in Torino, Italy

Main Upcoming events for 2014:  February 8-10, 2014 - Cup of the North / 2014 Team Selections, Edmonton, Alberta  July 5-6 (TBC), 2014 –Club National Championships, Edmonton, Alberta  Sept. 22-28, 2014 – Canoe Polo Worlds Championships, Thury-Harcourt, France

High Performance Activities 2013 Daniel Fuller (CPC HPD)

CPC initiated a new world championship cycle in February 2013 in preparation for the 2014 World Championships in France. Interested athletes were recruited and invited to join the national team training squad for the 4 categories represented at the World Championships (Senior Men, Senior Women, Under 21 Men, & Under 21 Women). A total of 48 athletes (16 Senior Men, 14 Senior Women, 9 U21 Men, and 9 U21 Women) joined the training squads.

Squad Training Camps Squad Training camps are a time for teams to come together and work on tactics and game play. It is also a chance for coaches to assess player’s fit within the team. At each training camp

74

the coach completes an evaluation for each athlete and ranks all athletes who are in attendance. Complete training plans and schedules are available upon request.  Edmonton, Alberta: June 7-9, 2013  Edmonton, Alberta: September 14-15, 2013  Welland, Ontario: July 1-4, 2013  Montreal, Quebec: Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2013  Edmonton, Alberta: August 17-18, 2013

National Team Competitions From coaching evaluations during the training camps and competitions teams of 8 athletes were selected for each event described below. Complete documentation of coaching evaluation forms and evaluations is available upon request.  All Teams | National Championships (Welland, Ontario: July 5-7, 2013) o All teams competed in the Open Men and Open Women’s categories at the National Championships.  Senior Men | World Games (Cali, Colombia: August 1-4, 2013) o The Senior Men finished the tournament in 6th (of 6 teams) but played the top 5 teams in world to scores within 3 goals for many games. There has definitely international buzz about the Canada Men’s team and Canada’s program in general after the World Games.  Senior Women | World Championship Qualifier (San Francisco, USA: September 20-21, 2013) o The Senior Women qualified for the World Championships by defeating the USA in a best of 3 play down at the US National Championships in San Francisco.  Senior Men & Under 21 Men | Pan American Championships (Londrina, Brazil: Sept 20-21, 2013) o At the time of writing, the Senior and Under 21 Men were in preparations for the Pan American Championships in Brail in November 2013. We expect that both teams will qualify for the World Championships.

Fitness Testing We continue to complete biannual fitness testing for all national team athletes. Tests are to be conducted in April and October of each year. They are not used as an absolute measure of fitness and factor in only slightly to team selection. They are to be used as a measure of individual improvement by the athletes. A full testing protocol has been developed but in short the tests are: Running Weights Canoe-Polo Specific 400m Run Bench Press (2min) 17.5m Sprint 4000m Run Chin Ups (2min) 8x10m Turn and go 200m Swim (opt) Throwing Right and Left arm

75

Freestyle Report

Submitted by Robert Zwanenburg

2012/2013 has been an interesting and a challenging year. Team development started with successful team trials in early August 2012, hosted by AO Boatwerks and Whitewater Ontario at Earls on the Gull River in Minden.

The team had the opportunity to join the World Cup Series (Rock Island Tennessee, Pigeon Forge Tennessee and NOC in North Carolina). Top performers were Nicholas Troutman (5th K1M), Adam Chappel (27th K1M), Brandon Fasan (33rd K1M), Ruth Gordon (4th K1W), Zachary Zwanenburg 9th (Jr K1M) and Mat Godsoe (11th OC-1).

With the generous help of Nich Troutman, we hosted a National Team training camp in North Carolina in March 2013. The complete Junior team and several seniors attended and took advantage of group sessions, daily video reviews, and off-water training for the Juniors.

The following team sponsors were secured:  Salus provided life jackets  H2O Performance paddles sponsored interested Junior and Women’s Team members  Salus and H20 Performance received framed signed t-shirts in recognition.  Kiwi Dezignz provided nose plugs  Jackson Kayaks offered team pricing for 2013 and 2014 competition boats

Slalom Nationals were combined with a National Freestyle event for the first time at Santa’s Little Helper on the Kanaskis River in Alberta. The event was well received and is a good start for combined events in 2014.

Other Canadian Freestyle events:

 2013 Capital Cup (Level 6)  Double Du Saguenay  World Kayak continues to be a presence:  World Kayak The Seaway Valley: Quebec, Ontario with CReW in Valleyfield Quebec.  World Kayak NWT: Saskia Van Mourik hosted events in NWT  World Kayak Eastern Canada: Mark Richard held a 3 event series in the spring, well- attended.

World Kayak is growing slowly with an Ambassador in Alberta, new Ambassador in Montreal and potentially on the Ottawa River.

2013 World Championships:

The 2013 ICF Freestyle World Championships were hosted by NOC on the Nantahala River in North Carolina on September 2.

76

The event was combined with activities from other disciplines, including US Down River Nationals and several sponsored events like an old school stern squirt competition, an 8-ball race, stand-up board race and continuous entertainment for spectators. Semi-finals at night, first rate live video stream and media involvement also made the event was a smashing success and sets the bar for future events.

2013 World Championship Results Junior Women’s K1:  Sydney-Jean Nixon 6 Men’s K1:  Emily Zwanenburg 8  Nick Troutman 10  Adam Chappell 26 Men’s Squirt:  Tyler Curtis 30  Brent Cooper 9  Brandon Fasan 41  Marc Richard 16  Joel Kowalski 42  Matt Hamilton 18

Women’s K1: Women’s Squirt:  Ruth Gordon Ebens 10  Shaunna Neil Martin 12  Jessica Droujko 21  Cheryl McGregor 23 C1:  Jamie Pope 13 Junior Men’s K1:  Francois Bergeron Proulx 16  Kalem Kennedy 13  Zachary Zwanenburg 16 OC1:  Jonathan Boily 26  Matt Godsoe 4  Matt Cuccaro 9

2013 Hits:  Fundraising allowed helped cover some expenses for the 3 volunteers at World Championships including current Coach Ryan Whetung, Sylvie Lebel (Team Mom and Acting Manager) Robert Zwanenburg (Assistant Team Manager and team Dad.)  Sports Physio was included at a fee of $100 per interested athlete for the week from VC Athletics. This was well used and will be a regular part of this type of event.  A Team Mom and Dad were on site to provide logistics support which allowed athletes and coaches to focus on the competition.  Parents were encouraged to volunteer  An RFP has been sent out for 2014 Team Trials for next spring or early summer. ICF has delayed announcing the next Championship location so the RFP deadline will be extended accordingly.

Misses & Lessons Learned:  National Team support is weak from current volunteers and structure: o Team support from team manger position was weak in 2013. o Team coaching support for the year prior to Championships was weak to non- existent. o Freestyle Committee involvement has been weak o Athletes will select their new manager and athlete rep at the next team trials and a selection of volunteers will be drawn from interested parents o A new committee will be assembled after the AGM and provincial reps will come

77

from within the regional PSO’s o A new coach management structure will be implemented after the AGM . A volunteer coach manager position will be posted and the selected individual will act as a coordinator to put athletes in touch with regional coaching options.  Funding: o Funding is grossly insufficient and a restructuring is coming o The next team trial will include a user fee, similar to the slalom fee structure, to cover uniform, Championship registrations, administrative cost and volunteer on-site support. o Available funding options from AthletesCAN and other sources will be compiled and communicated clearly

 Athlete Agreements: o Lack of understanding of expectations for athlete behaviour at events o A contract, similar to Slalom, will be required for all Freestlye athletes that agree to team positions o Athletes will be held to the standard of the agreement.

 Team support and communications: o Freestyle has tried to manage independent websites o In 2014 freestyle will reach out to CKC and seek to better utilize the web and available marketing resources. o New Team Uniforms for summer 2014. o Team manager will provide funding support and solutions for athletes wishing to subsidize fees

Future Directions

Freestyle Canada goals for 2014 include:

1. Build a stronger team identity for the National Freestyle Team

2. Ensure a strong presence at the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Freestyle Championships

3. Coaching: Our athletes require dedicated and paid coaches. Our goal is to provide a better coaching program (on and off the water) with a strong focus on the Junior athletes

4. Provide better Junior Team Support

5. Continue to encourage cadets and juniors to compete at local events.

6. Coordinate provincial and national events

7. Encourage more grassroots freestyle events – Summer series, MACK FEST, The Double and World Kayak

78

8. Improve the image of kayaking in the public eye. Encourage athlete to attend community events.

9. Seek out additional sponsorship for teams.

2014 to 2015 National Freestyle Team:

 Team Trials bids will be received until 1 month following the announcement of the 2015 World Championship location.  The new freestyle committee will scored the bids using a balanced scoring method already developed.  Athletes will select their new manager and athlete rep.  Athletes will be presented with the fee structure, athlete contract and code of conduct agreement for 2014/2015 period.  Photos and bios will be provided immediately following team trials and subsequently added to the CKC website space for freestyle.  New team members will be encourage to participate in the 2014 World Cup series in Spain, France and ending in the not yet announced location. Support will be provided to the Junior and senior athletes.  Team members will also be encouraged to participate in community events and regional competitive circuits.  ICF committee is reviewing and will vote in the coming months on keeping OC-1 and Squirt in the Freestyle circuit. More on this in the future.

79

Wildwater Report

Submitted by Ed Winacott

Well! Certainly a different year from last in the category of water levels.

The Ontario races all took place according to plan this year starting with the Credit River Race held on April 6, followed by the Humber River Race April 13, and the Moira River Race April 21. The team trials were hosted by Marie-pier Cote of the Beaupre Club on the Ste. Anne River. All results can be found on the CKC website.

The Nationals were hosted this year by the Alberta Whitewater Association and despite severe flooding at the Kananaskis site, by dint of hard work the race was pulled very nicely together. Ed Winacott trailed a load of wildwater boats out for the race and they were all extremely well used. A flatwater club from Manitoba brought 15 paddlers to compete…for many a first experience in whitewater. One of the advantages of the new and shorter downriver race course (the top section was out of bounds; so the start was at the Widow Maker to the end of the slalom course) was the speed and ease of the shuttle. This meant that boats could be repeatedly used and shared for multiple runs by different competitors. Harold`s C-2 probably holds the record with 5 runs (I still have to get those repairs done).

This year`s Wildwater Championships certainly set a record for the most competitors racing wildwater in competition boats. Congratulations to the Alberta organizers and all others who had a hand in making it all happen. By using wildwater racing as the gateway drug (so to speak) to entice flat water paddlers into whitewater, we hope to continue to increase the competition base. To aid in this intention boats have been loaned to clubs that have indicated interest in participating. Thanks to Moira River Club and individual wildwater racers for sharing. I am looking forward to the 2014 season and continuing the increase in participation in wildwater. Next year`s team trials will be either the first or second weekend in May and held on the Madawaska River section from Bark Lake Dam past MKC to the next lake…subject to water availability. Nationals at Minden and the Upper Gull (Eagle Lake Dam).

80

BC Whitewater Report

Submitted by Rob Fletcher, Canoe Kayak Canada PSO BC (Representative) and Chilliwack Centre of Excellence Paddling Club (President)

1. PSO by the Numbers (2013)

514 full members 705 individual event members 6 member clubs in province 125 sanctioned events hosted in province 5 active Canoe Slalom coaches 2 active Freestyle coaches 0 active Wildwater coaches 0 active Canoe Polo coaches 11 certified WW instructors 95 active volunteers 1 clubs currently running Canoe Slalom development or HP programs

2. Highlights of 2013

Endless Adventure and Borderline Boaters Kayak Club (BBKC) successfully hosted the Kootenay Whitewater Festival in Crescent Valley BC.

Chilliwack Centre of Excellence Paddling Club (CCE) has entered into partnership with CKBC with the development of the Regional Coach Position (held by Jon Allen). CKBC applied for funding via the Integrated Performance System (IPS)

CCE entered into partnership with Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe, Chilliwack Tourism, Fraser Valley Regional District, BC Parks for the improvement of the Tamihi Rapids Whitewater Training site. The is a two year plan, and involves improvements similar to Canoe Meadows (washrooms, change facilities, enclosed meeting area, gate and wire improvements, etc.) as well as beneficial improvements for tourists, and outdoor enthusiasts to the area.

NorthWest Brigade Paddling Club (NWBPC) successfully hosted the Prince George Paddle Fest in Robson Valley, Prince George.

Squamish Paddling Club (SPC) was visited by Ben Marr, Evan Garcia, Aniol Serrasolses and a few other world class freestyle paddlers. They stayed at the Mamquam Whitewater site, they were very friendly to the club kids, signed helmets and invited them to come and watch them paddle Mamquam Falls (60ft) the next day.

Vancouver Kayak Club (VKC) successfully hosted the 6th Annual Chilliwack River Paddle Festival in the Tamihi Rapids. Kahoots Kayaking for Youth program had good attendance with six pool sessions and one river day

81

Vancouver Island White-water Paddling Society (VIWPS) successfully hosted the 9th Annual Puntledge River Paddle Festival in the Comox Valley.

NOTE: CCE, SPC, VKC, and VIWPS all sent coaches, volunteers and officials to the 2013 Cowichan Youth Kayak Festival. This successful event evolved from the annual Northwest Slalom Race where limited numbers participated, to a youth based, get bums in boats event involving youth from throughout BC. Event organized in conjunction with Dan Norman of Brentwood School.

3. Healthy Club System

The six member clubs held over 120 participation events across BC. Every club has some involvement / organization of a Festival style function throughout the year. Participants use the CKC Padtrac database. CCE held its first Annual Boater Cross style event in April at Tamihi Rapids.

4. High Performance

BC Clubs participated in 19 Competitive Whitewater Events (Downriver, Freestyle and Slalom disciplines).

CCE hosts the only High Performance program, currently with 2 full-time, and 9 part-time athletes. CCE members participate in the Northwest Cup Slalom Circuit. 2013 Races and were held in BC (2), Washington (2), and Oregon (3).

Jazmyne Denhollander and Sam Fletcher participated in Canadian Team Trials in Minden, Ontario under high water conditions. Jazmyne made the team and that went to Junior/U23 World Championships in Liptosky.

Jazmyne Denhollander, Margaret Langford, Craig Allen, Jon Allen, Derek Beer, Anna Williams, Sam Fletcher, Rhys Taylor, Maddison Atkins, Finlay Capstick, Avery Wilkins, Austin Atkings and Isabel Taylor participated for Team BC at 2014 Canadian National Whitewater Championships in Kananaskis, Alberta. Jazmyne made percentage for the Canadian Senior Team and will represent Canada in Penrith, Austrailia at the 2014 U23 Slalom Championships.

5. Leadership

Each club has identified leaders, members capable of coaching, instructing and mentoring and a volunteer base (ever changing with the complexity of the event). Each club requires appropriate coach certification courses to improve the strength of each of the organizations.

The main coach for whitewater in the Lower Mainland is Jon Allen. He is based out of Chilliwack. CCE has entered into a partnership with CKBC to promote Jon’s coaching abilities, and to have him assist other regions of BC with athlete and coach development opportunities.

The coach training and development guidelines need to be clarified, and strengthened, and courses need to be offered on a more regular basis so that succession plans can be built for the future and allow others to be certified assistants to Jon in other regions of BC.

82

6. Organizational Effectiveness

Further conversations have to occur between clubs in BC to increase the exposure of each club in their regions. This would allow for a stronger community of paddlers.

The partnership between CCE and CKBC should result in more training opportunities throughout BC. This partnership is currently being finalized and will be operational in 2014. Statistics between 2013 and 2014 should be able to demonstrate the benefit of the partnership. Purchases of 10 Donsa (by CCE - Slalom trainers) and 10 Vuvubat (by CKBC - Canoe Polo trainers) and one trailer (by CKBC) will assist the Regional Coach in delivering paddling opportunities to clubs throughout BC.

7. Facility Development

CCE stewards the Tamihi Rapids site and has entered into a verbal partnership with stakeholders in the Chilliwack River Valley to improve the facilities. This location has hosted Slalom and Whitewater athletes for over 30 years and been appreciated by the Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe for over 600 years. CCE hopes to make the Tamihi Rapids the gateway of the Chilliwack River Valley.

SPC stewards the Mamquam River Slalom Site which has slalom gates. It is a great place to train but is rarely used. SPC would love to have more of a slalom scene however there is little interest and a small local volunteers base. SPC continues to improve the site, but a lack of use and storm damage has displaced a number of gates. Plans for storage and shelter are on hold due to insurance. The beauty and charm of the site is welcoming.

CCE and SPC are mutual stewards of the Rutherford Course (just 45 minutes North of Squamish). Rutherford is often brought up in discussion, but has not been tapped into for various historical reasons. Currently a group from Pemberton is raising funds to make changes at the course by building a surf wave to make it more usable for their board surfers group. Southwestern BC paddlers would like to see the course more functional for all levels, recreational and competitive. Many questions exist. What are the plans for the course? Can we modify it to make it friendlier? Can we modify it and create a world-class whitewater park/play feature?

By rebuilding or improving the Rutherford site so it can be used daily throughout the summer with regular events, slalom, freestyle, visits by the Kayak Academy and pro kayakers, the sport will start to show up on people’s radars and kids will choose it over the other sports as proven in Europe and the States. “If you build it they will come”

CKBC Whitewater, in consultation with CKC, has made contact with Innergex, the company that has the facility. Future conversations will address the questions constantly being asked. Possibly subtle changes could result in bringing more local, National and International events to the facility, and create partnerships with other user groups like the Pemberton Surf group, rafts, and swift water training groups.

83

Alberta Whitewater Association Report

1. Alberta by the Numbers (2013)

908 full members 313 individual event members 16 member clubs in province 21 sanctioned events hosted in province 6 active Canoe Slalom coaches 6 active Freestyle coaches 0 active Wildwater coaches 7 active Canoe Polo coaches 212 certified WW instructors 150 active volunteers 3 + ASCK clubs currently running Canoe Slalom development or HP programs

Naming: ACPA – Alberta Canoe Polo Association AFKA – Alberta Freestyle Kayak Association ASCK – Alberta Slalom Canoe Kayak PA –Paddle Alberta

2. Highlights of 2013

 Devastating floods in Southern Alberta that destroyed Alberta’s whitewater training sites including the Kananaskis, Harvie Passage and Deerfoot Meadows in Calgary and Boulder Run in Pincher Creek. The good news is we will be rebuilding and believe that we will be able to restore our training sites to be better than before.  Alberta hosted the first National Whitewater Championships that included freestyle, for the first time, with the slalom and wildwater events this summer at the Kananaskis. This included the first paddler in recent years from the Yukon and 15 sprint paddlers from Manitoba.  The Calgary pilot of the Schools in pools project was launched and has gained attention from school teachers and pools in the city and in southern Alberta. Targeted for elementary school children there was wide interest amongst all teachers up to Grade 12.  A new website was developed and launched in 2013 for the AWA and ASCK.  The AWA is finalizing the terms of a Lease agreement to take over management of the Canoe Meadows campground on the Kananaskis River for 2014.

84

3. Healthy Club System

 The AWA is nurturing some new relationships with 4 clubs around the province but has also seen 4 clubs fold their tents this year.  The Bow Valley Kayak Club ran a very successful disabled kayak program for the 2nd year this summer in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Adaptive Sports Centre and CKC support.  The 3 Rivers Whitewater Rendezvous in Pincher Creek kicked off Alberta’s spring paddling season on the May long weekend hosting 305 paddlers this year.  The Grande Cache Whitewater Rendezvous continues to attract a loyal following of 50 paddlers and has now opened its agenda to be more inclusive of beginner paddlers.  The Sundre Paddlefest included instructional sessions, river runs, a freestyle comp and a slalom race and was up in attendance to 80 this year.  Alberta’s big paddling party - Kanfest hosted 200+ paddlers and lots of friends even on the flood damaged Kananaskis River.  Due to budget cuts, the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation suspended some granting programs that a number of clubs have benefited from in the past.

4. Competitive Disciplines

Slalom  The post Olympic year saw the number of HP athletes down to its lowest level in 10 years.  9 athletes made various National Teams competing in 4 World Cups, the Jr, U23 & Senior World Championships, Pre-World Championships, SickLine Creek World Championships and the PanAm Championships (where Jessica Groeneveld was PanAm Champion.)  Alberta hosted the National Whitewater Championships (Slalom, Freestyle and Wildwater) at the Kananaskis River. Alberta won the Brian Creer Cup for the first time since 2001.  Three Alberta Cups, two club level slaloms and two pool slaloms were held through the year.  The slalom program is looking to support a new group of junior and cadet athletes. Development initiatives include outreach to clubs and a more camp-based coaching delivery. o Seven weeklong training camps were held in AB, BC, ON and TX. o 27 summer outreach days to clubs by the Head Coach and Assistant Coach.

Canoe Polo  The Canoe Polo program is very strong with 11 active clubs and a strong national team focus.  Six High Performance events were hosted in Alberta, the top event being the yearly Cup of the North International Open Tournament.  4 National Team skills camps and a Christmas skills camp were also hosted in Alberta.  Alberta was well represented at the Canadian Nationals in Welland, Ontario, with nearly 30 players and participation in all divisions.

85

 Alberta players were also very active on the International scene with our top players competing in: o World Games in Cali, Colombia o PanAm Cup in California where the Women's Team won gold o Master Games in Torino, Italy where Alberta's EWP Crunch won their 3rd Gold Medal in the Recreational Over 45 division.

Freestyle  Freestyle is not very strong at this time in Alberta but with a new Board being formulated it is hoped that the Freestyle program can be re-launched with a junior development program and competitions.  Two Freestyle Throwdowns were held with a third cancelled due to the floods.

Creek Racing  Creek racing is starting to build and some cross-training with the Slalom Team is paying dividends for Alberta’s elite person in this discipline.

5. Leadership

 Alberta’s NCCP Learning Facilitators ran a number of Instructor certification courses this year at all levels across the province.  In 2013 ACPA held 3 Club Canoe Polo Referee clinics to deepen our available pool of officials. We plan to scale that up for 2014 with more clinics and a manual with photo references to the fouls and signals, planned to be released prior to the 2014 Alberta Summer Games.  The internationally qualified slalom officials (IJCSL) supported our domestic events. Three individuals also represented Canada at international events. Duncan Daniels was at Jr Worlds, and Bruce Waldie & Dan Groeneveld were in Mexico for PanAm Championships. Several IJCSL officials from Alberta have applied to fill judging roles at 2014 ICF sanctioned events.

6. Organizational Effectiveness

Canoe Polo  The ACPA board was increased from 3 to 7 to ensure there are individuals on the board who will represent a wider scope of their membership.

Slalom  ASCK upgraded their timing system and can now use the ICF required 123Result system.  One ASCK board member attended a race in WISP to observe the use of the SIWIDATA System prior to the ASCK upgrade.

AWA and Clubs  Four of Alberta’s clubs have now contracted the management and delivery of their club kayaking programs to private companies. This has been done to alleviate the demand upon volunteers and guarantee a consistent quality standard of programs.

86

 Recruiting enough qualified staff proved to be a problem this year and next year will likely be worse as many of our experienced coaches and instructors in Alberta are moving ahead with careers that will take them away from paddling.

7. Facility Development

 The June flooding in southern Alberta destroyed 4 of Alberta’s 5 permanent slalom sites just weeks before Nationals and during our peak training season. Athletes were left to scramble to put up temporary gates and find alternative venues for training. We were able to salvage the Nationals by getting a few river fixes completed in time and getting a gate system in place for the rest of the season. Lots of work to be done to rebuild our rivers for 2014.  The good news is the Government has stated they will support us to redevelop our lost assets either through Disaster Recovery funding or provincial grants. This is likely to mean that we will be able to rebuild the facilities so that they are more useful for all disciplines going forward and be better for hosting top level competitions and training in the future.  The AWA will be signing a Facility Operating Agreement with Alberta Parks this year to take over management and operation of the Canoe Meadows Campground in April, 2014. This will make the facility more paddler friendly and more available for individual camping with better services into the future.

87

Saskatchewan Whitewater Report

1. PSO by the Numbers

45 full members 0 individual event members 2 member clubs in province 0 sanctioned events hosted in province (0 competitions, all ongoing club activities/programs) 1 active Canoe Slalom coaches 0 active Freestyle coaches 0 active Wildwater coaches 0 active Canoe Polo coaches 1 certified WW instructors – 1 11 active volunteers 1 clubs currently running Canoe Slalom development or HP programs - 1

2. Highlights of 2013

Canoe Polo: . One club athlete is competing at the Pan Am Games in Brazil as a member of the U21 men’s team . One club athlete is on the Canadian Women’s training squad competing for a spot on the national team . One club athlete competed at the World Master’s Games in Italy.

Slalom: . 3 club athletes competed at the 2013 national team trials in K1W, K1M, C1W, and K1M Cadet in Ontario. . 1 club athlete was named to the 2013 Junior U19 team (K1W).

3. Healthy Club System

Canoe Polo: . 2-4 learn-to series are provided annually to the U of S campus recreation program. . The 1st annual women’s only learn-to series was held in the spring. . The 1st annual Fall 3 on 3 tournament was held for club members of all skill levels.

Slalom: . 4 learn-to slalom programs delivered annually through winter. . 2 Family paddle/swim series delivered annually. . Annual family whitewater weekend in Alberta (4 days).

88

4. High Performance

Canoe Polo: . 2 Saskatchewan teams of 5 athletes each competed at Cup of The North 2013 in Edmonton, AB. . 3 Saskatchewan athletes attended the National training camp in Welland, ON. . 3 Saskatchewan athletes competed at Canadian Nationals in Ontario. . Several club athletes participate in the Canada Canoe Polo skills and fitness assessment twice a year.

Slalom: . Training camps occurred in May (pre-trials in Ontario) and August (Nationals in Alberta). . SWKC started a slalom excellence program in September to help the HP athletes prepare for World Champs and 2014 senior trials in the spring. . Several athletes competed at Nationals/2014 Team Trials in Alberta in the DR Classic with one 1st place finish in C2M U19. Athletes competed in the DR Sprint with 4 top 5 finishes and a 1st place finish in C2M U19. Athletes competed in Open Nationals with 3 top 10 finishes. One athlete qualified for the U23 2014 team selection in K1W with one athlete qualifying as 1st alternate boat in K1M. . Athletes competed in Provincials with 7 top 5 finishes.

5. Leadership (i.e. coaching, officials, volunteers)

Canoe Polo: . New learn-to volunteers are paired with trained and experienced leaders during learn to series, who support the leader as assistants until they are fully trained to lead learn-to’s themselves.

Slalom: . Development of a coaching job description including duties, responsibilities, and expectations. . Contract developed for a High Performance Coach for National Team Trials and National Championships. . Coach Development – through the operation of 1 Pool Kayak/Lake Kayak Instructor Course.

6. Organizational Effectiveness (i.e. strengthening internal resources)

. Improved practice and implementation of standard governance procedures. . Development of provincial Future Best funding criteria.

89

Whitewater Ontario Report

Submitted by Steve Pommeroy

1. PSO by the Numbers (2013)

455 full members 363 individual event members 9 member clubs in province 12 sanctioned events hosted in province (there may be more club events ) 0 active Canoe Slalom coaches 0 active Freestyle coaches 0 active Wildwater coaches 0 active Canoe Polo coaches 152 certified WW instructors (of which 54 are current 2013 members) 40 active volunteers 1 clubs currently running Canoe Slalom development or HP programs (ORR)

Note these are preliminary membership numbers; we typically receive additional club and instructor memberships late in year.

While we have no full time coaches we have some part-time instructors (mainly student- athletes) that offer some coaching in slalom (ORR) and freestyle (mainly commercial schools)

2. Highlights of 2013

The Petawawa River Rats hosted Canada’s largest whitewater event Hell or High Water, with over 1,000 participants combining a form of DR (plastic only) and raft races, as well as a on flatwater. Funds raised go in part toward WO river advocacy activities.

Ontario hosted National team trials at Gull under challenging conditions as floods washed out part of course and persisting high water levels precluded a managed flow for races. This created a true test, perhaps appropriate for TT, but precluded some developmental aspects, especially for juniors and C1W. Ontario placed 7 of 15 national team members (Sen/U23/ Jun).

We hosted our first Youth Paddling Festival in Minden. This was a rebranding and reoriented version of former summer series. Focus was on development with fewer races (Westlake and MKC) and more fun activities, including river runs, boater cross and freestyle. We hope to continue this next summer, and possibly build with participation from sprint and marathon. Quebec athletes were absent so total participation was lower than expected but we also hope to attract Quebec youth next summer with more advanced planning.

Much of WO time and effort are diverted by planning activities in preparation for Pan/Para American Games TO2015, for which Minden is site for Canoe Slalom. While hosting the games provides access to some funding opportunities this involves extensive work with a large bureaucracy (TO2015) and a very cumbersome process to gets things done.

90

The preparations include installation of a semi-permanent gate system (masts and lateral wires at the Gull, as well as renovation of the Roger Parsons Centre to update bathrooms and kitchen, add showers and extend the upstairs area, with a fully accessible building.

WO was successful in winning a Trillium grant ($150,000 to undertake this work, but in order to secure matching funds from TO2015 we must go through an onerous procurement process, which has created delays in commencing construction/renovation. We still hope to complete work in spring but there is a risk it will be deferred to fall 2014.

WO has also been very active in river advocacy, funding and supporting campaigns to create and preserve river access including working to protect paddling rights in the face of a major dam proposal on the Petawawa River.

3. Healthy Club System

WO has 9 active clubs, primarily recreational and each runs an array of programs such as weekly paddle nights and trips.

Clubs also host various events, such as a river running festival in the Hwy 7/Kawartha area, the HOHW event noted above and some slalom events at Ottawa Pumphouse. ORR also runs an active summer camp program and has tried to recruit from that into developmental programs.

WO has leased space to a kayak school to operate instructional programming at the Gull and this had almost 600 participants in 2013. A challenge is to attract these participants as WO members.

4. High Performance

Ontario has no HP program and no coach. Most HP activity undertaken under auspices of CKC national team program at ORR/Ottawa Pumphouse. We hosted National Team Trials as well as a provincial championship (at Pumphouse in Sept)

5. Leadership

WO continues to deliver the L2I2 certification courses in 2013. We have 8 Learning Facilitators and 1 in process. There are 17 new instructors and 5 recertifications (some additional pending from a fall course).

We are still going through a learning process in delivering new modules and managing paper work. A number of previous instructors due to recertify did not do so. This will be an area of focus next year. We are also exploring ways to have instructions take a more active role as ambassadors to promote their students to become WO members.

6. Organizational Effectiveness

91

WO remains a volunteer run organization with minimal government funding ($11,000) which covers cost only of a part-time administrator and bookkeeper. We do generate 80% of revenues from activities, primarily camping and rental fees at Minden and membership fees. As an affiliate of Canoe Kayak Ontario we were successful in a Trillium grant application to review organizational structure including changes necessary to comply with the new Not-for- Profit Corporations Act (similar to changes now being implemented at CKC). Due to some healthy reserves, CKO made decision in 2012 to hire a full time Executive Director (Orest Stanko) and this has helped WO especially in preparing grant applications and in activities related to TO2015.

7. Facility Development

As above Minden upgrades are ongoing. We hope to use some of levered funds from TO2015 to undertake remedial repairs to Gull as lower retaining walls were also washed out and most of pathway gravel washed away. Ideally this will include new trail on river right to avoid walking on road.

The Pumphouse in Ottawa was closed until mid July as construction work on the foundation of the Pumphouse building was completed. The upper section has slightly different flows. The new obstacle, fondly know as the “room of doom” was renovated and is now slightly less intimidating, but still a great new feature to enhance the level of challenge in Pumphouse races.

ORR has completed the design phase for Clubhouse and is now fundraising to build the building.

92

Whitewater Quebec Report

1. PSO by the Numbers (2013)

925 full members 130 individual event members 11 member clubs in province 5 sanctioned events hosted in province 4 active Canoe Slalom coaches 1 active Freestyle coaches 0 active Wildwater coaches 1 active Canoe Polo coaches 13 certified WW instructors 15 active volunteers 3 clubs currently running Canoe Slalom development or HP programs

2. Healthy Club System

. New sponsors for members. . New national Learning Facilitator training program will bring new possibility to the instructors. Program presentation by Claudia Van Wijk at 2013 AGM. . Help for recruitment ambassadors in the regions.

3. High Performance

Slalom . NCCP Level 2 and 3 done in Valleyfield last spring. . Sports Study Project at the CEGEP in Valleyfield, in Quebec City and in Montreal (in developing stage)

4. Leadership

Whitewater Award 2013 . Recruiting, volunteer committees and team leaders are getting organized for the next edition in May 2014. . Acknowledgments were given to the volunteers of the 2011 edition.

5. Organizational Effectiveness

Federation Structure . Present state evaluation done annually and strategic planning made after comparing with other models of federations. . The importance of a representative for every discipline.

93

. Basic structure is practically finished (Website and Database). Questionning about which would be the best Database in order to make life easier within the clubs) . Best structure at Board of Directors’ level. . Creation of guides/manuals in order to ensure a better transmission of information to the future administrators and employees. . Creation of a governance manual/events planning. . Help with the establishment of new clubs. . Creation of a philantropic committee for fund raisings and member retention. . CEO job description. . Find new financial sources

Emploi Québec: 1. Use of grants from Emploi Québec for the temporary employment of new employees (presentation by Linda Van De Casteele et Alexandre Fréchette)

Sport Placement: 2. New MELS financial program which will be managed by SportsQuébec : Funds collected by sport federations pairing program. (270% of pairing for our federation)

6. Facility Development

Montreal Whitewater Park . First study of the work plan . City of Montreal is very interested and implicated . More discussions needed between Parc Jean-Drapeau and the City of Montreal to arrive to a more formal agreement . Too late for 2018, planning for 2021-2022

94

Marathon Report

Bringing the heritage and life experience of traditional long distance paddling into the future 95

Marathon Canoe Racing Council Report

Bringing the heritage and life experience of traditional long distance paddling into the future

Submitted by Fiona Vincent, CKC-MCRC Chair

2013 has been the year of renewal for the Marathon Canoe Racing Council. With a nod to Aristotle’s axiom that “The soul never thinks without a picture”, the MCRC executive has focused its efforts on sketching its landscape for the future. These efforts coalesced around developing and implementing strategic plan for the organization in line with the global organizational flow.

Throughout the spring and summer, the MCRC undertook a series of strategic planning sessions which culminated in a face to face meeting in August 2012 at the Canadian Marathon Canoe Nationals. The meetings resulted in the creation of a five year plan with our current goals linked to the four spheres found in the 2012 Canadian Sport Profile. This profile is structured around the four levels of participation in sport – competitive sport, high performance sport, recreation and sport development. This new approach by the Sport Profile “accommodates the movement of participants between the spheres of participation, which can be fluid, self-directed and multi- directional and is intended to depict the complementary and interdependence of the spheres.” (CSP 2.0, Draft Feb. 14, 2012). This approach has been a foundational platform for the development of the MCRCs priorities.

Specifically, over the next five years, the MCRC has identified its primary goals to be:

 Encouraging opportunities for all Canadians to develop the fundamental skills, knowledge and attitudes to participate in marathon paddling events;  Facilitating access for all Canadians to both organized and unstructured recreational marathon paddling opportunities that emphasize fun, health, socializing and community- building benefits;  Creating opportunities for all Canadians to improve and measure their performance in marathon paddling events that uphold the principles of sportsmanship and safe and ethical competition;  Enabling Canadian marathon paddlers in achieving world-class results at international competition while promoting their sports positive values at home and abroad; and  Striving to maintain, revisit, and improve how our organization functions in order to ensure efficiency, affectivity and excellence.

The MCRC is pleased to have completed its inaugural strategic plan and plans to use it to direct its activities in the coming year. The Council committed to sharing its experiences by participating in the national renewal process through representation and active participation on the CKC finance committee as well as the governance committee. Another initiative that the Council was pleased to see move forward and which ties in nicely with our efforts to improve

96

the quality of paddling instruction is the work being done on coaching courses. After a prolonged period of review, the Entry Level Competition Coach module was recently forwarded by CKC to the CAC for final approval. I am pleased to report that both new and experienced coaches have completed this first step towards having their qualifications accredited by the NCCP. We are now eagerly awaiting recognition of their work by the NCCP.

Success was also seen on the international front as paddlers achieved international success at the General Clinton, the Ausable River , La Classique International de Canots, the ICF Marathon Worlds, and the ICF Marathon World Cup in Oklahoma. It goes without saying that our members are ably carrying on our national heritage of long distance paddling on our own waterways and on waterways around the continent.

Paddling is a sport anyone can find enjoyable – all ages, all abilities, all disciplines – and a sport which can be enjoyed in all regions of Canada. Being an inclusive community continues to be our greatest challenge. However, I am confident that with an open attitude and the transition to the new governance structure, MCRC will continue to grow along side CKC and strive towards sharing the joys and benefits of paddling to a wider audience.

97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107