BVCC Newsletter - January '12

BVCC 25 years: 1986 to 2011

Blackwater Valley Canoe Club newsletter January 2012 1

BVCC Newsletter January 2012

NEWSFLASH: Congratulations to Lindsay and Chris on the birth of Douglas Henry on 17 December, weighing 7 pounds.

Welcome...

... to the January 2012 edition of the BVCC newsletter. We hope you all had a good Chirstmas and that Father Christmas brought you the paddling kit that you are after - and best wishes (and happy paddling!) for 2012.

We’ve had another successful lido season, and it’s been great to see all last year’s new kit being used each week. We can now look forward to the winter whitewater season - let’s hope it’s warmer than the last couple of winters have been!

Lindsay

BVCC’s 25 year anniversary: 1986 to 2011

The highlight of last year was of course the club’s 25 year anniversary, which we celebrated with an afternoon paddle on the Basingstoke Canal followed by a BBQ at the Canal Centre, with around 60 people attending. Thank you to Sophie, our new social secretary, for doing the organising, and a special thank you to Kathryn Thomas for making such a fabulous cake!

Trip reports

River Wye, July, and Dorset coast, August

We had two weekend trips over the summer, both well attended. The first was a trip to the River Wye, with a flatwater paddle on the Saturday followed by an introduction to moving water at



Symonds Yat on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. We had a mixture of juniors and adults having a go at the rapids at Symonds Yat and everyone made good progress.

The second trip was a (mainly) sea kayaking weekend on the Dorset coast (though some braved an open canoe). We paddled from Studland Beach out to Old Harry Rocks and round to the next bay, where we had fun surfing the waves that were breaking on the beach (which proved interesting in an open canoe!). On the second day we paddled across Poole Harbour to Brownsea Island, and on the third day we paddled a stretch of the Beaulieu River from Lepe up to Bucklers Hard.

Barle, October 2011

As in previous years the annual Barle trip proved to be very popular, with over 35 people paddling, as well as a number of non-paddlers in addition. In keeping with tradition we had a meal at the bunkhouse on the Saturday night – thank you to Bridget and others for doing the catering!

Dartmoor, November 2011

Back in Dartmoor for the first time this season, we were once again met with lower than ideal water levels, but managed to get a good paddle in anyway! After spending Saturday on the Dart with a mixture of coaching and leadership training (and the evening in the Prince of Wales…) we took a trip down the Tavy in the sunshine to finish the weekend off nicely.



South Wales, December 2011

As a bit of a change from our usual haunts, we took a trip to South Wales! The journey over in the rain was a good sign – there was plenty of water to float a boat in on Saturday when we took a trip to the upper Wye. Much fun was had by all, and was followed by an entertaining evening which included Richard showing off his Chess skills (no, really..!) and an unusual game of Scrabble... Special thanks to Tom (and helpers) for cooking a great chilli for us all, and to Jackie for keeping us supplied with cake! Sunday took us to the Usk, with some entertaining drops for good photo opportunities (although this is only one I could find..!)



Coaching and courses

We ran a number of courses at the lido over the summer, including the usual rolling course. Hopefully those of you who attended courses found them useful – if you have any feedback then please email [email protected] or [email protected].

Polo

This year we've seen a number of changes within the polo section and squad at Blackwater. Alan Blyth has taken over as polo chair and is doing a fantastic job with the day to day running whilst bringing in new ideas for growth and development. Jason Hancock and Tom Downie are organising and captaining the A & B teams respectively with Bryan Boswell taking responsibility for training structure. The Wednesday evening sessions are going from strength to strength attracting an average of 12 paddlers a week with in excess of 16 regular subscribers per month. The sessions have been extended to 2 hour sessions to allow new paddlers an opportunity to learn hand rolling and boat handling skills that are essential to becoming a good player.

Despite having more than enough regular paddlers to form 3 teams we decided to concentrate on fielding an A & B team only this season made up of a core of experienced paddlers who are dedicated to playing competitively, winning the league and taking their team into the next division. There are proposed changes to the league structure for next season which have been implemented in order to increase the size of the leagues which effectively leaves both teams in the best position to gain promotion at the end of this year.



With the loss of Mark Raymond and Glenn Carlton last year, Jason Hancock made the decision to have a minimal line up to this years A team fielding only 5 players for each tournament. Putting the onus on fitness and team play the A team have had a great start to the season. Playing a dynamic game with good structure and tactics we find ourselves exactly halfway through the season having lost no games and with either wins or draws under our belts are in second place which would give us automatic promotion to Division 2 for 2012/2013.

The B team have wisely chosen a 6 player line up although with Ben Lawrence unable to make the first tournament and Tim Blyth out due to injury for the next two tournaments it is likely that they will only field five players during each tournament. Having only played one tournament this season, the B's have won half of their games, however with the line up changing and another 14 games to play the tables could quite easily turn in their favour.

Blackwater youth paddlers will be taking part in the Paddlesport polo events in January and I look forward to reporting on their performance in the next newsletter.

Polo training takes place on Wednesday evenings at Alton Swimming Pool between 8.30-10.00pm throughout the winter, all welcome, please contact us in advance if you wish to attend so that we can make sure we have enough kit. Please email [email protected] if you are interested.

Paddlepower

Paddle Power Series 2010-2011 – June 2011 – July 2011

The final event in June was the Introduction to Moving Water on the Nene White Water Course. There was plenty of coaching and fun activities for all. Even Ed went in a boat!, it was good to see the older youngsters progression with some of them doing their 3 Start Kayak this year on the Barle. Overall we were 4th which is excellent compared with other larger clubs in the region. Pangbourne Regatta

This was a great family event on the Thames at Pangbourne with sunshine and picnics. All the youngsters had fun racing in different boats with even Ed and Mike racing together in a sinking duo!. We all got certificates and some of us won our races and classes. There was a grand finale race where everybody raced in all kinds of craft. Hope to see more of the parents and others compete next year. Summer Season Lido

Over the summer season (in between Ed becoming a Dad ) we had lots of fun trying out the various boats and water confidence in order to get ready for the next Paddle Power season which helped in the open canoe events.

Paddle Power Series 2012-2013 – Sept 2011- Dec 2011

Triathlon – (James Bond) (Sept)



Despite the windy weather and muddy field Marc had an excellent race in the under 13s.

Open Canoe (Oct)

We had a good turn out at this event with Lewis, Sam, Alex, Jamie, Bella and Chantel all having fun climbing, orienteering, archery (some interesting shots!) and then the canoe events, poling, X Stream through the bridge, race and then the wet rescue which they all wanted to do twice!.

Wavehopper (Nov)

Due to sickness and other commitments we did not put a team in but provided rescue support to the event with Ed walking the bank with a throwline.

Fun Event (Dec)

As this newsletter goes to press we have a fun event at Willink Pool which hopefully will not be cancelled to the weather like last year.

Jan 2012- July 2012 (see calendar below)

Polo – (without Paddles) (Jan) Generation Games(Feb/Mar) Dragon Boat (Mar)

These events are designed to help keep the youngsters interest going over the winter months, so a big thank you to all of you for taking part over last few months. A particular thank you to all the Parents/Carers for ferrying the youngsters around and keeping them fuelled with hot tea’s/ coffees , chocolates bars, cakes and the occasional picnic. These events are all run by club volunteers so your support/participation is key to their successful running and future.

Trip/event calendar

We have now put together the club calendar for the next few months. During the winter we will be running a number of whitewater weekend trips aimed at a range of abilities, to locations such as Dartmoor (one of our regular haunts), and, new for this winter, south Wales and the Lake District. We will also be running some flat water day trips which are aimed at both juniors and adults, the first one being a post-Christmas paddle on 8 January on the Basingstoke Canal – a good chance to burn off some of those mince pies, but let’s hope it’s warmer than last year! In addition for the juniors there are several paddlepower events running in conjunction with other local clubs (see the trip calendar or email [email protected] for more information).

You can find details of all club events (weekend trips, local day trips, weekly sessions, paddlepower, polo etc) on the club website (http://www.bvcc.org.uk/trips-training/). There is also a list of all planned events on the final page of the newsletter.



If you would like information on any events, please email [email protected] or for Paddlepower events [email protected].

Club Christmas meal and awards

The Christmas meal and awards evening was held on 14 December at Caffe Piccolo in Farnham. Thank you all for coming and well done to those of you who received awards – you all deserved it. Also, thank you to Sophie for organising us all and making sure we had a good time!

Club nights during the winter

Our Wednesday night club sessions during the winter will be indoors, at a different venue this year, the Scout Hut in Tongham. Sessions will start at the slightly later time of 7.15pm, and will finish at 8.45pm. We ask that you contribute £1 towards room hire and also a cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit. If you have any (sensible!) ideas for topics that you would like to cover over the winter, please email them to [email protected].

In addition, as an alternative to Mytchett, the polo team welcomes anyone who would like to train with them at Alton on a Wednesday night. Email [email protected] if you would like more information.

From the start of April we will start paddling again on a Wednesday evening, at our usual spring venue of the Basingstoke Canal (meeting at the Basingstoke Canal Centre in Mytchett).

Please note that there will be no club night on either Wednesday 21 or Wednesday 28 December. Sessions will start again on Wednesday 4 January 2012.

Winter indoor pool sessions at Cranleigh School

As in previous years we will be running some indoor pool sessions during the winter. These sessions are great for a wide range of activities including water confidence, skills practice and rolling practice; there will be a number of coaches on hand and we'll do our best to tailor the sessions to your needs!

These sessions will be at Cranleigh School, using their 25m indoor pool. As before, we're planning to split the evening into three 40 minute sessions (£5 per session), although this will be a bit flexible depending on who is there:

1. Juniors 2. Adults Instructed 3. Adults Uninstructed

Priority will be given to those according to the sessions above, but as long as there's enough space, you're welcome to do more than one!



Club boats and equipment will be available; if you wish to use your own, please make sure it is clean, or we will have to refuse its use on the pool. Please wear a T-shirt and swimming shorts/costume as a minimum. Soft footwear is advisable due to the potentially sharp interiors of boats.

Dates are as follows (7pm to 9pm):

13 January 10 February 23 March 27 April

BCU Southern Region Long Service Awards

To mark the 75th anniversary of the BCU, the Southern Region Development Team asked all its clubs to nominate volunteers who have been regularly helping run club activities for the last fifteen years. Volunteers were presented with a certificate at the Southern Region’s Annual Consultative Meeting on 2 November. I’m delighted to say that the following BVCC members were recognised for their efforts:

Damian (Ed) Edwards Tom Brindley Graham Snook Mary Rogers Jerry Rogers Paul Atkinson Helen Tidy

Well done to all of you, and thank you on behalf of everyone in BVCC for all the help you have given over the years.

BCU Southern Region Awards – Coach of the Year

Damian (Ed) Edwards was presented with a certificate as Coach of the Year for the Southern Region’s Annual Consultative Meeting on 2 November as well, for all his work helping at the Hampshire Games, Disability course and Paddlepower.

Clubmark reassessment

Many of you will remember that in 2008 we were awarded Clubmark status. The club is required to undergo a reassessment every three years and an annual health check. We have just had our first such reassessment with Samantha Jones the Paddlesport Development Officer for Hampshire. Indications are that we have retained our Clubmark status we will know in about a month’s time once confirmed by Canoe England. Thanks to Ed for all the work he has put into sorting out the paperwork for the reassessment!



Messages from the Committee

Thank you to all of those who collected the Tesco and Sainsbury vouchers over the spring and summer, and donated them to the club. We will be looking at what we can exchange the vouchers for shortly.

We are always grateful for volunteers to help out the club – whether serving on the Committee, coaching, organising trips or events, supporting events (e.g. transporting kit, setting up etc), helping out at taster sessions (these are a valuable way of attracting new members into the club and ensuring our sport continues to grow in popularity) and so on. On lido nights in particular, extra pairs of hands are always useful – helping with kit, pointing first-timers in the right direction and so on. If you would like to get involved or help out in any way at all, please email [email protected].

Contacts

Details of club contacts are below.

Chair Lindsay Heeley [email protected] Secretary Ian Morris [email protected] Treasurer Damian (Ed) Edwards [email protected] Coaching officer Dave Cook [email protected] Youth officer Damian (Ed) Edwards [email protected] Polo Alan Blyth [email protected] Youth polo Alan Blyth [email protected] Courses Graham Snook [email protected] Events Mark Lovegrove [email protected] Website Mike Hamilton [email protected]



Paddlesafe

Be safe Are you being heard? Is something worrying you? Are you keeping it you yourself? Need someone to listen? Contact us in confidence

Your Club Welfare Officers:

Damian (Ed) Edwards

Telephone: 07715 749636 e-mail: [email protected]

Matt Williams

Telephone: 07790 915888 e-mail: [email protected]

Alan Blyth

Telephone: 07969 350218 e-mail: [email protected] BCU CHILD PROTECTION 24 Hour Child Protection Contact Number Mobile: 0777 570 7364 (For use by professionals and people wishing to report incidents outside of office hours) e-mail: [email protected] BCU Child Protection, Vulnerable Adults and Harassment Lead Officer – Mike Devlin Tel: 0845 370 9514 Postal Address: Child Protection, British Canoe Union, 18 Market Place, Bingham, Nottingham, NG13 8AP For more information on our child protection policy please visit www.bcu.org.uk NSPCC Child protection Helpline: 0800 0800 5000 Childline 0800 111 (a free 24 hour helpline for children in distress or in danger)



BVCC events calendar


Date Location Event / Notes

7 Jan 2012 Paddle power - Polo Polo – Willink Pool, Burghfield – 6-8pm

8 Jan 2012 Basingstoke Canal Flatwater paddle and BBQ

13 Jan 2012 Cranleigh School Indoor pool session

21 Jan 2012 Paddle power – Polo Polo – Willink Pool, Burghfield – 6-8pm

28 Jan 2012 Paddle power - Polo Polo – Willink Pool, Burghfield – 6-8pm

28-29 Jan 2012 Dartmoor Whitewater trip (probably intermediate) Bunkhouse River Symposium also running in Dartmoor (non-club event)

5 Feb 2012 Local Flatwater paddle

10 Feb 2012 Cranleigh School Indoor pool session

17-19 Feb 2012 Lake District Whitewater trip (probably intermediate) Bunkhouse/youth hostel

TBA March 2012

Adventure Dolphin, Pangbourne

Paddlepower – generation game event

10-11 March 2012

Dartmoor Whitewater trip (probably intermediate) Bunkhouse

18 March 2012 Local Flatwater paddle

23 March 2012 Cranleigh School Indoor pool session

25th March 2012

Paddepower – Dragon Boat

Dragon boat race Waterside centre (Thames Valley Business Park

27 April 2012 Cranleigh School Indoor pool session

29 April 2012 Paddlepower – K1/K4 Sprints

K1/K4 event - Reading Canoe Club

20 May 2012 Paddle Power Slalom Event

Our club slalom event on Basingstoke Canal for the Paddle Power clubs in the region




Date Location Event / Notes

9 June 2012 Nene Paddlepower – Nene event

16th June 2012 Hampshire Games Runsways End -Hampshire Games – Paddlepower

8 July 2012 Pangbourne Canoe Club

Pangbourne Regatta

Note: in general for winter trips we stay in bunkhouses, but you are welcome to stay at alternative accommodation, and similarly for summer trips when we usually camp.

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BVCC Newsletter - January '12