Shropshire Paddlesport Blog

Deb and I had a very enjoyable weekend up at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham for the coaching conference. Given how little publicity there had been about the event it was reasonably well attended - I guess there were probably 60 or so coaches there from clubs across the country.

It was a combination of common (everyone in together) sessions and breakout sessions where you could go and do a half-day or a day on whatever interested you. On the Saturday we had a state of the (BC) Union session from Lara Tipper (the Canoe England coaching manager) followed by a sports-psychology lecture. Then we got to sit and listen to Tim Brabbants do a short lecture on “what I did over the summer”…

In the afternoon Deb and I split up with her going off to do the session on “Working towards successful coach / paddler relationships” while I went and did the Coaching Young Paddlers module with Phil Hadley (which also counted towards one of my CPD modules for my L2 coach award).

The day ended with Deb and I going out exploring central Nottingham in search of a mexican restaurant we’d found on the internet (and me driving the wrong way up a one-way street but we’ll not mention that), and then (unsurprisingly) we ended up back in the bar at the centre until late.

On the Sunday we both elected to do John Handyside’s Level 1 Race Coach course - this is the one they”ve been writing for the last few months and was the first time that they had run it for real, so we’ve now got that one under our belts.

All in all a good weekend and something we’d definitely do again - it’s *really* useful to sit and chat with other coaches and find out how they are doing things as we all seem to be running up against the same challenges and opportunities.

Deb and I were up at QH earlier today (Friday) and although the canal is frozen it’s only just the top few millimetres and so we’re assuming that it’s all going ahead tomorrow. Deb is going on an ice-breaking tour first thing to see if we can get up as far as the railway bridge at least.

Don’t forget to bring your thermals !!

[Saturday morning update]
It’s now 08:00 and it’s still minus 8 degrees C here in Pontesbury, so I’m guessing that the canal is going to be considerably more frozen. Deb and I will go up to the shed anyway as we’re on the coaching rota but we’re not optimistic that it’ll be possible to take racing boats out today. Joe and Chris are doing a session in opens remember and we can always take the Bell Boat out for an ice-breaking trip if people want to paddle.

Hopefully most of you have seen the email from Nigel (via Mike) but we’re currently putting together the coaching rota for the next two blocks of Saturday evening pool sessions which will be running after Christmas.

Anyone who is available to either lead (counts towards the pay-back hours on your coaching contract) or assist with any of these sessions can you please get in touch with Nigel as soon as possible please.

On Tuesday the section of canal infront of the shed, between the bridges was free of ice.

Today it is totally frozen.

If the canal is frozen on Saturday like it was tonight, the bellboat might get through but racing boats would take serious damage.

Can somebody living near the canal check it tomorrow and post an update here. (You don’t have to be registered to post comments.)

cheers!

This Thursday is the Shropshire Paddlesport Christmas bash.  There will be no on-the-water training.

.. and if you are coming to the bash and haven’t paid Karan, please do so ASAP.

I know it’s a bit short notice but I’ve just seen that Phil is running a Foundation Safety and Rescue course THIS Saturday (i.e. tomorrow Sat 22nd). It’s a course he is doing principally for Oswestry School and will be taking place mostly in their pool, but there is an opportunity for anyone who hasn’t yet done this course and wants to pick up (or update) their safety qualification to join them.

The course will start at the Shed (to pick up boats) at 9:30am and will finish around 5:00pm with all the wet work taking place in the pool (not in our canal!). The cost for the day is £30.00.

A group of us did this course as part of the run up to our L1 coach course and it is EXCELLENT - safety and rescue work, both planning and techniques are something which you just have to keep practicing so that it stays fresh in your mind.

Anyone interested in taking part should contact Phil Russel directly. Most of you will have his contact details, or if not then give me a shout some time today and I’ll put you in touch.

Andy

An important part of the club’s winter training programme gets underway this Saturday when we start the first block of pool sessions. This is the first six-week block (we hope to run two further six-week blocks after Christmas) with each one being comprised of three one-hour sessions.

Group 1 - 16:00 to 17:00 hrs. Basic paddling skills and building confidence on the water. Requirements: Able to swim 50 metres and not mind getting wet.

Group 2 - 17:00 to 18:00 hrs. Intermediate - this will be a skills developement session with some work on specific paddling skills (where getting wet is a strong possibility such as bracing and support strokes) plus a strong emphasis on safety and rescue skills.

Group 3 - 18:00 to 19:00 hrs. Advanced - skills imporvement and rolling.

As of last weekend the middle session was fully booked but with a few spaces available on teh beginners and advanced courses. If you are interseted please contact Nigel Butler who is organising this year’s sessions.

Just to remind you, swimwear and t-shirts are appropriate clothing, you will be expected to wear a helmet (provided) and we’ll be using the boats which are kept at the pool (BATs).

Andy, Deb & Ellie are competing in this event - although it would be nice to have some more company.   You can do it as a relay of 5 or 10 miles or the whole thing at 20.

For anyone currently wondering if they can race the distances, you are more than welcome to come training with us.  In additon to Tuesdays and Thursdays, we are going out to do the following:

Wednesday 29 October 6.30 - turning point and pack - 5 miles (55 minuts ish)

Sunday 2 November - lock and back- 7.5 miles (1:15-1:30 ish)

Sunday 9 November - Narrowboat and back - 10 miles 4 portages (2 -2.5 hours ish)

Sunday 16 November - mid-divisions race course - 8 miles 6 portages (1.5 -2 hours ish)

Sunday 23 November - lock to Maesbury - 10 miles 6 portages (2 -2.5 hours ish)

Wednesday 26 finalise team entry

Sunday 30 - RACE DAY!!!

We’re aiming at doing these distances at race pace (6mph) but since Andy has only just got back in a boat after 2 months of being damaged, we will probably start slower than that.

On Saturday afternoon we had a girly trip to the river. Choosing the first weekend of the school holidays, in hindsight, wasn’t the best idea but three of us were able to make it.

Stacey, Ellie and I played on the river leaving Dave B to watch the cricket at the County Ground.

The three of us spent a couple of hours sprinting between the English and Welsh bridges perfecting our wash hanging and moving from a point of “I don’t like you that near my boat, its scary” to happily clashing paddles and running into each other. We had some fun with Ellie in the world’s most wobbly boat and Stacey in the blue espada with rudder cables which resembled overcooked spaghetti making any kind of directional control difficult!

Passing under the footbridge by the Boat House an bunch of passers-by started to cheer us on, shouting and encouraging the blue boat, the yellow boat, the red boat in turn.

Having got the wash hanging thing sorted we started to work as a team, rotating the lead around the group after a long discussion about how it might work. Apart from the hard sprint for the person dropping back and round, it was very effective - and much easier than having to paddle on your own for the entire race!

On the way back we did some turns on wide rivers, because we’re dead good at 25 point turns on a canal which is only a couple of inches longer than the boat but turns in big spaces are somehow much harder.

Finally we returned to Frankwell for a quick change into dry clothing and a wander into town for the best ice cream in Shrewsbury at Bellini’s. Mmm blackberry, hazlenut, tiramissu, raspberry pavlova… what would you choose???

We had so much fun that we decided to do it all again some time. A date in August will be circulated by e-mail.