Category: Athlete Development

JDS Winter Series 2023/24 – Day 1 Sign-up

The Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and BC Talent Department are excited to announce the sign-up for the first JDS Winter Series 2023/24 day is now open.

Hosted by Falcon Canoe Club, the day of consist for a K2/C2 Racing Skills focus and a great opportunity to mix and meet with other juniors from other clubs. Coaches are also encouraged to sign-up to support the day but also gain some CPD by working with other coaches as well as our coach developer, Scott Hynds. There will be an additional online coaches briefing in advance of the day on Tuesday 24th October at 19:30.

For full details and the links to sign up, visit our website here. Sign up closes on 20th October at 17:00.

Please also check the criteria for athletes attending and if in doubt, contact Charlie Barwis and Holly Mobbs using the emails on the website.

SAVE THE DATE – National Schools 2023

More information to follow….

Junior Development Squad Winter Training Days 2023/24

The Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and British Canoeing Talent Department are excited to publicise the Junior Development Squad Winter Training days for the 2023/24 winter period.

The Junior Development Squad was established by the MRC many years ago to provide a supportive and enjoyable experience for juniors across the country to come together to develop skills, build confidence, create crew boats and form friendships. Over the last two years, the JDS has evolved into a collaboration with the SRC and BC Talent to ensure a joined up strategy towards junior development in the UK as well as engaging with and encouraging coaches within the flatwater community.

For further details on the JDS and the criteria for juniors to attend, visit the JDS website here.

Paracanoe Program Education Day

This year has seen so much success for Paracanoe paddlers, from Paralympic Quota spots booked, Sprint World Championship medals and a hugely successful Marathon World Championships. The Paracanoe department at British Canoeing want to continue to grow and develop such performances and opportunities by sharing insights into how you can make this possible within your environment. As well as enhance your coaching knowledge, which is applicable to any areas of coaching you may be involved in!

Following the successful first interactive day, the Paracanoe department at British Canoeing are laying out another face to face day that will cover a range of topics and workshops to help facilitate knowledge and share expertise.

The venue is yet to be confirmed but you can sign up here if you are interested in attending.

If you have any questions, contact Hannah Brown here.

GB-ONE Junior Conference October 2023

Following on from British Canoeing’s inaugural GB-ONE conference in March this year, they are going to be delivering a GB-ONE conference centred around junior development. Our Marathon Coach Development Lead, Scott Hynds, has been working with British Canoeing to design this event and it is also being supported by our Junior Development Leads, Holly Mobbs and Rachel Lovell.

The conference will take place on Saturday 7th October at Falcon Boat Club (Meadow Ln, Oxford OX4 4BJ). The day will start at 11:45 and culminate around 17:00.  

To sign up, please click HERE. Deadline for sign up is Monday 25th September.

The event will be free of charge and will include lunch. Coaches in attendance will also receive 10 CPD points. 

This is a great opportunity to get the community together and work towards common goals, particularly around our junior athletes.

Precision Fuel & Hydration Partnership Announcement

The Marathon Racing Committee are excited to announce our formal partnership with Precision Fuel & Hydration for the 2023 season. For full details, visit our Nutrition and Hydration Support page.

Junior Development Squad Camp 2023 – Expression of Interest Open

After a highly successful summer camp in 2022, the Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and British Talent are delighted to open the expression of interest (EOI) form for the 2023 edition. The camp is once again returning to Norwich Canoe Club and will be taking place from Monday 14th August to Thursday 17th August.

The camp will have 28 places available to athletes, by completing the EOI, it provides you an opportunity to be selected to attend the camp. The camp is predominantly aimed at those juniors who have engaged in JDS this winter and who are most likely not to be competing internationally for GB this year. The EOI form will close on Friday 28th April.

Fill out the Expression of Interest Form here.

Selection for the German Nationals and World Cup

The first assessment race of the season will be held at Elmbridge Canoe Club on the 22nd of April. This will be used for continuous assessment for the 2023 major championships and for the selection of the following events:

  • German Nationals – Rheine – 19-21st May
  • World Cup – Ruse, Bulgaria – 2nd-4th June

To be considered for selection for either of the above events, you must complete the appropriate availability form by midnight on the 18th April.

The details of the first assessment race and online entry can be found here: Assessment Race Elmbridge 22nd April

NB: Entries close at 5pm on the 19th April. There will be no entries on the day. Elmbridge Canoe Club are hosting, so any questions regarding the race need to be directed to them.

Please familiarise yourself with the Selection Policy. This is linked below. If you have any further questions about the assessment or selection process, please contact the Chair of the Selection Committee, Nanette North, here.

JDS Skills Day 4 – Sign up open now

The Marathon Racing Committee are delighted to open sign up for the final JDS Skills Day of the 2022/23 season. Joint organised and run by the MRC, Sprint Racing Committee and British Canoeing Talent Department, JDS is aimed at junior paddlers (U18) who are looking to develop their flatwater racing skills. The training days will offer paddlers the opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people and paddle in new waters. 

The fourth JDS skills day of the 2022/23 season will be a multi racing skills day at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. Paddlers will be split into smaller groups and work around 4 activity/session stations throughout the day. Each activity station will be led and delivered by a specialist coach. The stations will consist of the following:

  • Station 1 – Race day warm up routines (land based)
  • Station 2 – Starts from a bucket (K1/C1)
  • Station 3 – Three buoy turns (K1/C1)
  • Station 4 – Plan, Do, Review (K4/C4)

There will also be a lunchtime sport psychology talk focusing on motivations and finding your strengths. This will be based off the JDS booklet.

For more details on the day and how to sign up, please visit our website here.

We are also excited to offer more specific coach development workshops throughout the day led by Scott Hynds. For more information and how to sign up, please visit our coaching website page here.

JDS Skills Day 3 – Reading

The Marathon Racing Committee, Sprint Racing Committee and BC Talent Department are pleased to announce that our third JDS Winter Series event is open for sign up. The event will be held at Reading Canoe Club on Sunday 29th January and will be led by Tim Scott & Paul Dimmock. 

The day will have a crewboat focus, specifically K4/C4’s. The day will focus on improving technique and working better as a crew boat. The morning session will be focussed more on skills and drills with the afternoon an opportunity to put those skills into action. 

We have 14 K4s available for the day and as such, kayak numbers will be capped at 56. This will be allocated on a first come first served basis. 

Since its inception in September 2021, the JDS has proved hugely popular with our earlier event at Elmbridge attracting 70 juniors from 21 clubs. While the uptake has been fantastic, we are having to dilute the content to manage the varied ability levels. Additionally, this requires a high number of coaches to support the sessions. As such, we will be sticking to the standards set out on the website (and below) more rigidly than before. 

The eligibility criteria for Kayak paddlers is as follows: 

  • U13 or above 
  • Girls – Girls C or above (Sprint Division) and/or Div 5 marathon or above for U16’s / Div 4 marathon or above for U18’s
  • Boys – Boys C or above (Sprint Divisions) and/or Div 4 marathon or above for U16’s or Div 3 marathon or above for U18’s

The eligibility criteria for Canoe paddlers is as follows: 

  • U13 or above
  • Girls & Boys – Any paddler who has competed at a Sprint National Regatta

We have changed our sign up process from using a Formstack to using British Canoeing’s membership system, JustGo. This will require you to create an account if you don’t already have one. For those with British Canoeing membership, this should be your normal account details. 

To sign up for the event, please click HERE. As a reminder, the cost is £10. Sign up closes on Friday 20th January at 17:00. Late entries won’t be accepted.