Scottish Canoe Association Annual Report. April March 2017

Transcription

1 Scottish Canoe Association Annual Report April March 2017

2 Contents Page 3: Introductions from the Board & CEO Page 5: Committees Page 6: Access & Environment Page 7: Membership Page 8: Coaching & Development Page 10: Performance Page 11: Discipline Reports Page 16: Events Page 17: Financials Page 20: Recognition Award Winners Our Vision To help and inspire people to go canoeing and to enable people to progress throughout the sport. Front page image: Border Canoe & Kayak Club at St Mary s Loch

3 From the Board Image by Chris Denehy: A Hebridean Tall Ship Sea Kayak Adventure The volunteer directors on the SCA Board have worked effectively on behalf of members and the wider SCA organisation during the year. Since the approval of new Articles of Association in 2015 all the director posts have been successfully recruited and appointed in line with the plan to transition to the new board structure. The final new board position, the third General Director post, is due for appointment at the 2017 AGM in November. The work to restructure and clarify the workings of SCA committees concluded late 2016 and appointments were successfully made to committees under the new terms of reference. Whilst the Coaching & Development Committee and Access & Environment Policy Committee are fully populated not all discipline committees have been fully populated in the first year so there is the opportunity to get involved in these if you have a particular interest in one or more aspects of paddlesport. We continue to support our committees and affiliated clubs and one of the initiatives that started this year was the Data Protection awareness sessions which have been running via online conference call as well as some in-person events. We have also continued to roll out the training sessions on event safety and provide further information and guidance to clubs and committees regarding safeguarding children. All the many activities across the SCA streams are, as always, only possible through the efforts of a large number of volunteers. We would like to thank them all, as well as our loyal and dedicated staff, for another great year and for continuing to move the SCA forward. Steve Roebuck - General Secretary On behalf of the SCA Board

4 From the CEO During the year membership continued to grow and new clubs have affiliated. This was the final year of the 4-year Strategic Plan covering the period and during the year 21 Regional Meetings with members took place. The first round of these meetings took place in May 2016 with the purpose of agreeing some key principles for the next four plan. Further rounds of Regional Forum meetings took place in autumn 2016 and early spring Two key new events that took place this year were the Focus Club Conference, taking place the day after the AGM in November, and the orientation event for SCA Committee Members, which took place in February There are 12 Focus Clubs with whom the Regional Development Manager primarily works and representative members of these clubs got together to share their experiences of developing and growing their clubs as well as interacting with external experts in governance and facilities etc. The committee orientation event this year provided an opportunity for members of all the SCA committees (across recreation, competition, access and coaching & development) to get together over a weekend in Edinburgh and to start to plan and organise their forthcoming activities. The majority of SCA activity and events continue to result from the hard work and generous donation of time by a mass of volunteers across our sport from Regional Officers to Access Advisers and from club secretaries to the members of the various SCA committees who support, develop and promote the many paddling disciplines. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who make the SCA what it is and who, through their actions, make the events and activities possible. It is great to see new events added into the calendar including new venues and new formats. Thanks to our dedicated SCA staff who continue to provide a high quality and personal service to our members across the breadth of the sport. Stuart Smith - CEO sportscotland National Centre for Watersports Cumbrae: 40th Anniversary

5 Committees SCA committees consist of over 70 people who dedicate much of their time and energy into organising events and progressing the sport, thank you. Following a review of committee structures, new committees were formed and a wide variety of members, both long standing and new, joined each of these committees at the AGM in November If SCA members identify the need for a new committee to be formed, this is possible as long as it fits within the scope of SCA activities and receives Board approval. Access & Environment Policy Dave Rossetter Gavin Millar Grant Dolier Jonathan Kitching Robin Cole Zoe Newsam Coaching & Development Bob Baird Steve Linksted Lyle Smith Chris Wilson Kate Duffus Laura Bennitt Calum McNicol Kevin Knox Grant Dolier Dave Rossetter Doug Cooper Andy Murray Recreation Bruce Jolliffe Dave Rossetter Rachel Dance Willie Mcleod Marathon Adam Rzepinski Brian Chapman Gilbert Speirs Kevin Locke Lizelle Kemp Margaret Chapman Natasha Lawton Steve Mackinnon Tom Dawson Canoe Polo Anil Rach Chris Carracher Gavin Cox Paul Walker Poppy Croal Ross Barnie Slalom Bill Gerrie Calum McDiarmid Craig Douglas Elaine Forbes Gary Gibson Leanne Haining Tony Leaver Sprint Adam Rzepinski Brian Chapman Irene Stevely Margaret Chapman Natasha Lawton Patrick Armstrong Rhonwyn Smith Terence Kowal Tomás Duarte Surf John Inglis Ian Sherrington Neil Baxter Wild Water Racing Fraser Gormal Paul Anderson Cynthia Berry

6 Access & Environment The SCA continues to play an important role in access and environment work in Scotland long after the passing of the Land Reform (Scotland) 2003 Act and the introduction of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. We provide advice and information to members and other paddlers and work on your behalf with anglers, landowners and public bodies to ensure that paddlers continue to enjoy the right of responsible access. Our members represent us on many Local Access Fora across Scotland and we participate in the National Access Forum and relevant Cross Party Groups. We continue to work to highlight the need to prevent the spread of nonnative species, and the need to act responsibly to protect the river and marine environments that we all enjoy. Access & Environment Policy The SCA Access & Environment Policy Committee was recently established to handle national consultations and to advise the Board on access and environment policy decision making. This includes reviewing and updating where necessary the various outdoor and environmental codes and guides that the SCA has produced. The aim has been to separate the practical work involving incidents and local situations from the SCA s strategic direction and policy on Access & Environment. Where s the Water River level data continues to be hosted on the SCA website. Activities During the year the SCA has been involved with several access projects and issues. Some can be handled with a quick phone call or while others have been much more involved. The many SCA Access Advisors continue to be invaluable for dealing with local access issues as local knowledge is often the key and the ability to engage with landowners, anglers and community groups locally often leads to issues being resolved swiftly and amicably. The SCA continues to represent paddlers interests regarding the camping ban in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. We continue to receive notifications of proposed renewal developments (both inland and coastal/offshore) which we assess via reference to our access network and the knowledge and information that our Access Advisors have built up. New steps were built at Luncarty on the lower Tay thanks to a combined effort between the Andy Jackson Access Fund and the SCA. Andy Jackson Access Fund This independent charity is funded by donations and the royalties from SCA guidebook sales including the Scottish Whitewater Guide and the Scottish Touring Guide. This group continues to support small-scale yet important improvements for access to rivers and inland lochs. If you have suggestions for future projects, please contact the fund s trustees.

7 Membership As a membership organisation the SCA is only as strong as our collective members. Membership continues to grow and remains a key SCA target. Affiliated Clubs can now sell SCA membership to those in their club who have not yet joined the SCA - earning commission on each new SCA member. The take up of SCA Member Advantages, a range of member benefits, % discounts and offers available to Full Members, continues to increase as the scheme expands. At 31st March 2017 there were: 3,252 individual SCA members 3,562 registered members of SCA Affiliated Clubs The breakdown of individual SCA members is: Full Members (including Family Adult) 2,678 Life Members 15 Recreational Members (including Family Recreational) 244 Junior Members (including Family U18) 285 Honorary Members 2 Supporters 19

8 Coaching It has been another busy year for Coaching and Development with paddlers and coaches achieving many awards and attending training. We are fortunate that paddlesport brings such diverse opportunities for coaching and we are always grateful to the many hundreds of coaches and course providers across the country who make it all possible. Doug Cooper represents the SCA on the UK wide Coaching Strategy Group (CSG) and Andy Murray on the Coaching Administration Group (CAG). The Club Support Programme supported members of clubs through centrally organised subsidised courses and financial awards to clubs and individuals to organise their own courses. We continued to deliver training courses to members on topics such as RespectMe (anti-bullying), Safeguarding, Equality, Event Safety and Data Protection.

9 Development The sportscotland funded Regional Development Manager (RDM) role continued to deliver support to a group of 12 'Focus Clubs' selected to receive dedicated guidance and assistance. These clubs have been selected based on their potential to grow membership and/or develop young paddlers in the competition pathways. Four SCA Affiliated Clubs (Breadalbane Canoe Club, CR CATS, Forth Canoe Club and Strathallan Canoe Club) continued to receive sportscotland Direct Club Investment to employ a part or full time paid coaches. SCA took part in the second Celebration of Para Sport took event, at Castle Semple. This event offered people with a disability the opportunity to try kayaking and canoeing. It was supported by Glenmore Lodge and volunteers from focus clubs. An Orientation weekend for Regional Officers and other committees took place in February, introducing both those previously serving as RCO s and those new to role to the new format. This covered a wide variety of topics including: understanding the regions, terms of reference and role descriptions, communications, Regional Forums, the Regional Development Programme as well as future projects the Coaching and Development committee is to tackle. Club Funding Several clubs successfully gained Awards for All funding for new equipment. Glasgow Kayak Club: 10,000 for new recreational boats; Turriff Kayak Club: 4,500 as a new club; Edinburgh Schools Kayak Club: 6,000 to become a sustainable club & Strathallan Canoe Club received money to buy new boats to support their DCI slalom programme. Other successful funding was granted: Glasgow Kayak Club: over 50,000 from Cashback to Communities to fund new facilities at Firhill Stadium and boats; the local wind farm sponsored Breadalbane Canoe Club s new minibus; Aboyne Canoe Club: 1,000 from Tesco to kick off their canoe shed project, and Aberdeen Kayak Club: 50,000 facilities funding towards their Seaton Park project. Edinburgh Kayak Club received the funding required for their canoe shed from 2014 Legacy funding and the Edinburgh Airport Fund and have now completed the build and fitting of the shed. Andy Murray Head of Coaching & Development

10 Performance This was the fourth and last year of the SCA Strategic Plan. The aim of the SCA Performance Programme is to support Scottish athletes to enter British Canoeing Performance programmes which are funded by UK Sport in the Olympic disciplines of Slalom and Sprint. As in previous years, SCA Performance has achieved all the targets agreed with sportscotland, which invests in the SCA programme. We are continuously improving our sustainable performance system for canoeing in Scotland. Our Performance Programme is designed to support two stages of the Performance Pathway with a semi-centralised approach: Top Junior and U23 / Senior transition athletes showing the potential to reach finals and podiums at Junior and U23 / Senior World and European Championships to access the British Canoeing / UK funded programmes (Podium Potential) over the next 2-3 years in targeted Olympic disciplines. Junior athletes to build strong basic skills to gain selection into Junior GB Teams within 2-3 years so that they can progress through all the steps leading to world class level in targeted Olympic disciplines. We have continued to engage our performance support to athletes with a flexible approach around the 3 core elements of the SCA Performance programme being: Coaching support (based at SCA Training Centres): daily coaching offered with 80% Coach Contact Time. We have also looked at the possibility to provide Coaching support such as Profiling, Goal Setting and Performance Planning being available to remote athletes. Access to an annual planner of camps and race support approximately 70 days per year within the UK and Europe together with the support towards British Canoeing costs to prepare and race at Junior and U23 Worlds and Euros Sport Science & Medicine support via sportscotland Institute of Sport, either as part of the full programme or available to identified athletes training locally This year saw also 2 new areas of support coming to life: Winning Students: grants to 9 Athletes to receive extra support to embrace academic and sporting success. International Partnerships: allowing athletes that have an extended period to train full time (for example gap year) to train in another environment if they wish. In that case, we can support them and their parents to build an exchange with recognised slalom places (e.g. Nottingham, Lee Valley, European Clubs etc). With support from sportscotland being confirmed we are in a strong position to build from the success of this cycle going forward, to enable our Scottish athletes to realise their full potential on the world stage. Remi Gaspard Head of Performance & Pathways

11 Discipline Reports Canoe Polo We had 21 teams competition in 3 Divisions, and are pleased that attendance at competitions has dramatically increased this season. 3 teams competition in the National Leagues. We continue to be well Div 1 Polo at Pinkston represented in the squads with Alison Brown and Bethan Dean being selected for the Senior Women s team, and Poppy Croal selected for the U21 Women s team. They all went to the Worlds in August Brian Anderson continues as an ICF grade 1 referee and was selected to referee the senior Women s World Final. Future plans: Encourage and support more teams playing in the National League Encouraging 100% attendance next season Development of current events Try to find storage solution for kit Marathon Over the 2016 racing season there were 12 Marathon races held, together with 5 marathon races on the sea. Within the racing calendar there were also 10 additional 10km events which represent a distance crossover with the discipline of Sprint Racing. The total number of seats taken by paddlers in the races held was 530 seats. The average number of paddlers taking part per race was 40 and an exercise is underway to establish how many individual paddlers and from what clubs took part in the race programme with a view to identifying best efforts to develop the sport of marathon racing in Scotland. The most well attended race of the year was the Tay Descent with 82 paddlers. If we take that race out of the calculations the average attendance per marathon event was 33 paddlers. The Ness Marathon and the Dee Marathon were the least supported marathon races. In order to support canoe clubs taking part in Marathon Racing it is a priority to work to try to establish the correlation between good racing standards and race attendance in Scotland. Two of the five Winter Time Trial events held by Linlithgow Kayak Racing over the winter of 2016 were cancelled due to ice. However over the three events that were held 49 seats were taken up with an average of 16 paddlers per event. One of the racing distances within the Sprint Racing Discipline which attracts marathon paddlers is the 10,000 metre race. Three events were held as part of the 2016 Scottish Racing Week and one further event was held as the K2 Scottish Championships again by Linlithgow Kayak Racing. Overall 236 seats were taken by paddlers racing Scottish 10km races with an average of 24 paddlers in each event. The Summer Series 10km events put on by Linlithgow Kayak Racing had an average of 18 paddlers taking part in each race. Sea racing revived considerably in popularity in 2014/2015. There were five sea races held in the 2016 season. Two are held strictly on the basis of remaining independent of the SCA. Whilst the three races of the Forth Challenge, Cumbrae Race and the Tail O The Bank race may suggest a revival in sea racing it is more realistic to consider the development and growth of downwind ocean ski racing across the UK and certainly in Scotland. Numbers are not available for the Tail O The Bank Race 2016 but the Forth Challenge and Cumbrae Race had 57 paddlers between them with Calum Urquhart taking first place in all three races (and, we understand, also in the Oban Sea Race). Attendance at these races is growing and the role of Ocean Ski Racing alongside what had previously been considered traditional sea racing is a large growth area. The GB Series Ocean Ski events are based largely around the South of England and Lizelle Kemp attended several events including an Irish International Ocean Ski race, and as a women s Ocean Ski paddler is regularly found on the winners podium. Several Scottish Ocean Ski paddlers competed at Colwyn Bay, Coquet, Icon Classic and other English events plus the Eurochallenge and Duth Coast race internationals. Scottish Masters paddlers also attended international marathon events. Andy Morton won a gold medal in K1 at the 2016 ICF World Cup Marathon Championships in Brandenburg in his Masters category. Kenny Fraser and Gilbert Speirs raced in their K1 event and in their K2 event at the same ICF World Cup but were sadly not in the winning positions they had been in 2015 in the same event.

12 Many Scottish Marathon paddlers regularly attend larger events such as the Devises to Westminster classic, the Thameside and Waterside Series and some of the English Hasler Series. The Summer 10km Series was won by Alan Tordoff. Second in the series was Gilbert Speirs and third was Derek Marshall, noteably all in the Masters age category. Names regularly showing good results in sea racing in 2016 were Calum Urquhart, Andy Morton, Douglas Wilby, Brian Turnbull, Tom Dawson and many others, with Lizelle Kemp, Ursula Mackintosh and Susan Smith regularly on the winners podium. All of these paddlers mentioned except one, are Veteran or Masters age category. Scottish K1 Marathon Championship 2016 winners; Senior Men Sean Redmond LKR Senior Women Margaret Chapman KIR Masters Men Derek Marshall LKR Under 16 Calum McAndie KIR Under 14 Alexandra Armstrong LKR Under 12 Hannah Clarkson GKC Under 10 F Naomi Fisher GKC Under 10 M Sam Stevely NMC Scottish K2 Marathon Championship 2016 winners: Gilbert Speirs and Kenny Fraser (KIR/IND) The winner of the Scottish racing week award was Tom Dawson, who also won the Highland Series award (Spey + Ness + Dee). The women s winner of the Highland Series was Susan Low and Nairn Kayak Club won the Highland Series Club award. In terms of UK national marathon racing 23 Scottish paddlers raced at the Hasler Finals in Worcester with placings for: Gilbert Speirs (KIR), Calum McAndie (KIR), Neil Chalmers (KIR), Sandy Bell (KIR), April Chapman (KIR), Melissa McGarva (KIR), Tony Thomas (GKC), Findlay Lewis (LKR), Aidan Malcolm-Gourley (GKC), Joseph Peddie (GKC), Hannah Clarkson (GKC), Thomas Smitheram (GLW), Damian Zasadzinski (GKC), Naomi Fisher (GKC), Hannah Malcolm-Gourley (GKC), Madison Campbell (GKC), Neive McGarva (KIR). Brian Chapman and Margaret Chapman (K2 KIR), Morgan Serpell amd Michael Yeomans (K2 KIR), Rachel Murray and Raven Caira (K2 KIR). Glasgow Kayak Club were placed second in the National ranking of Lightning Racing points. Glasgow to Edinburgh Marathon Derek Marshall & Gilbert Spiers, photo credit Lorraine Spiers Again at an UK national level, the 2016 UK National Marathon Championships at Reading saw 25 seats for Scottish paddlers, including medals for: Finlay Lewis (LKR) 3 rd in Under 12 male Margaret Chapman (KIR) 1 st in Over 49 Veteran ladies Ursula Mackintosh (KIR) 4 th in Over 49 veteran ladies Gilbert Speirs (KIR) 1 st in Over 59 Veteran mens Andy Morton (KIR) 1 st in Over 69 veteran mens Ursula Mackintosh (KIR) Margaret Chapman (KIR) 2nd in Over 44 Veteran ladies K2 Gilbert Speirs (KIR) Kenny Fraser (KIR) 1 st in Over 54 Veteran mens K2 Kirkcaldy Canoe Club came 13 th in the National Awards of Club Points. Linlithgow Kayak Racing came 5 th in the National Awards of Lightning Club Points. There is a piece of work underway to plot the change in entries per age classification. In this financial and social climate it is important to learn how to support the paddlers who will be winning Scotland International Marathon medals in years to come. This is a focus that has been lost over the last 10 years, and open information sharing protocols are essential to undertake the research needed to evidence attempts to find funding. Future Plans: The Marathon Committee is gathering information to target Marathon Racing Development strategies in order that; Existing adult paddlers can be supported through a sound local Canoe Club structure.

13 Younger paddlers can have the regular opportunity of quality training opportunities and training support in marathon racing Paddlers 14 years of age and younger are supported in coaching and training through the transition to full size racing boats, including crew boats. New paddlers of all ages can feel welcome to take part in marathon racing and receive encouragement to race to a high standard in singles and in crew boats. Scottish Club paddlers from a wider range of Scottish Clubs are prepared to race effectively at UK national events. A Scottish Marathon Racing Team once again visits international marathon events by having suitable coaching, training opportunities, selection policies and support funding to represent Scotland in Marathon racing. Sea races continue to receive the support they need. Ocean Ski Racing in Scotland and by Scottish paddlers is supported to form its own Committee. Slalom There was a full calendar of well-run slaloms from Prem to Div 4 in The Adventure Show returned to film the Prem at Grandtully; they were delighted with the resulting programme and will return again in Easter Grandtully site has been upgraded. DCI development coaches are employed by 4 clubs, Stephen Macdonald working at Breadalbane, Poppy Croal at Forth, Janet Peck at CR CATS and Stuart Gerrie at Strathallan. Florence with C2 partner, Richard Hounslow, won a Silver medal for C2 and was 10 th in the C1 final, and Fiona Pennie was 6 th in the Olympic K1W Final. Eilidh Gibson and Bradley Forbes-Cryans both attended the Olympics on the GB Ambition Programme. Fiona, Eilidh and Bradley made World Cup finals; Bradley won a silver medal at the Tacen World cup final and finished the World Cup series ranked 3 rd ; Eilidh was 7 th C1W and Fiona 9 th K1W. Angus Gibson finished 6 th in the Junior European champs and Sophie Ogilvie 7 th. GB Veteran and U16 championships: several Scottish paddlers won their class and age and there were more Scottish paddlers in the top 3 places. The end of season ranking lists also show many in the top 3 spots, across all ages (from J10 to the Masters classes). Fiona Pennie and Bradley Forbes-Cryans were British Open Champions 2016 and Angus Gibson the Junior C1 Open champion. Two slalom athletes were on the BC Podium Programme and four on the Podium Potential Programme; 11 received SIS support and 4 received Winning Student funding. Future plans: To continue to support and provide a full competition pathway within Scotland. Foster and encourage support with Clubs and voluntary Coaches to promote and develop the sport and paddlers from entrance to elite performance. Continue to review Slalom infrastructure and in particular seek options to develop a replacement timing and telecommunications system suitable for use at all Slalom events. Around 40 paddlers participated in the summer training camps in Europe in 2016, coached by volunteer coaches. This was enjoyed by paddlers/ parents and resulted in significant improvement in skill levels of participating paddlers. At the Pan Celtic event at Teeside in October 2016 the Scottish team came a close second to England. Well done to all those who represented Scotland at that event and many thanks to Colorado and Gary Gibson for the gift of a helmet bearing the Saltire to every paddler in the team. 2 paddlers on Olympic Team GB in Rio, 4 paddlers on the GB senior team, 3 on the GB U23 team and 4 on the GB Junior team. David To continue links and interface with the BC Slalom Committee to support Scottish Slalom development, and progress within the UK structure to influence BC Performance and selection criteria. Plans for future summer training camps in Europe, coached by volunteer coaches, are well in hand. Eilidh Gibson, photo credit Balint Vekassy

14 Sprint The committee ran: the Scottish Sprint Championships at Strathclyde Park; the K1 10km/5km/2km at Castle Semple; the K2 10km/5km Championships on Linlithgow Loch. In conjunction with the marathon committee we also ran: Scottish Racing week (2 x marathons & 3 x 10km races); the annual Sprint and Marathon Prizegiving at Ratho. There were 3 local Sprint regattas, one held by Linlithgow Kayak Racing on Linlithgow Loch and two by Kirkcaldy Canoe Club on Kinghorn Loch. Linlithgow Kayak Racing held 5 Summer Series 2/5/10K races on Thursday evenings. Scottish paddlers also competed in good numbers at each of the 5 National Regattas held at Nottingham in Junior (Ieuan James) and 2 U-23s (Lewis Fletcher and Deborah Kerr) selected for the GB Junior and U-23 World Championship Team (including 6 th for Ieuan in JM K1 200m); 1 U-23 (Lewis) and 2 juniors (Emma Brockway and Rachael Kneen) selected for the GB Junior and U-23 European Championship Team; 1 U-23 (Lewis) selected for the GB Senior European Championship team and also selected for the senior World Cup squad along with another U-23 (Deborah); 5 Juniors selected for the GB Olympics Hopes Regatta team; 3 Juniors selected for the GB Piestany International Regatta team. Incredible success at National Regatta level 39 medals (10 gold) at the Junior British Championship Regatta in July, with at least one medal for every member of the Scottish Development Squad. 8 medals (2 gold) at the Senior and U-23 British Championship Regatta in June. Excellent turnout at local regattas and at the Scottish Championships with over 110 paddlers competing over the course of the season. Future plans: With the Marathon Committee and Performance Programme continue to try and re-establish a club coaching structure for development of Lightning and U14 paddlers prior to them being considered for the Performance Programme. This remains a challenge due to lack of club resources and lack of qualified coaches. The absence of a fully developed pathway for young paddlers puts the growth of Sprint in Scotland at risk. Re-establish the crew boat training days for Lightning and U-14 paddlers and work with the Performance Programme to include non- Performance Programme paddlers to Saturday time trial training sessions. Re-establish a second sprint regatta at Strathclyde Park to provide more experience of racing on a laned course (this took place on 17 June 2017 and was a great success with a good turnout). Seek to promote sprint racing through a more concerted presence on social media (e.g. posting results, pictures and video after events). Surf The committee continued with same personnel and had been happy to see a successful Scottish championships run at Thurso with a good attendance and emerging promising junior paddlers, as well as continued interest in developing a Scottish squad able to attend the Home Internationals in Northern Ireland in September 2016 at Portrush. Although this was a curtailed event due to surf conditions the team had been competitive and showed good promise with subsequent team training on the west coast of Ireland. This activity was the lead in to the World champs to be held in Portrush in Oct 2017.

15 At the World Waveski Champs in Santa Cruz, Portugal in July 2016 John Inglis had been 2nd in Veterans class, David Russell had been 10th in seniors class and Mike Marsh was top ranked Scot in 33rd place in the Open. Future plans: Developing surf training weekends for all. Allowing people to opt in at a level of their choice Developing squad in preparation for international events Linking with recreational kayaking for free surfing as a recreational activity for clubs and groups of individuals Wild Water Racing Established a full Scottish WWR Series, including the Scottish Championships for both Sprint and Classic Hosted the GB Open on behalf of the GB WWR Committee Ran and hosted GB Selection in conjunction with above for 2 years Ran 4 designated starter events for new entrants to the sport Established a partner relationship with Strathallan and Pinkston panthers for cross discipline participation WWR Tyne Classic: Anderson and Fotheringham C2 Winners Key Highlights 9 SCA members selected for GB National Worlds Team SCA members selected for GB National Team 2017 C2 National Champion WK1 Junior National Champion C1 Junior National Champion Bronze Medal Under 23 European Champs (WK1 Louise Revell) Bronze medal Under 23 European Champs (Team MK10) Bronze Medal Under 23 European Champs (C1 Team Fotheringham/ Houston) Future Plans: working to the WWR 4 year plan, albeit the KPIs set have already been achieved at the half way mark. Focus is moving to establishing the partnership clubs and looking towards Edinburgh and Forth CC and Edinburgh Schools CC. Recreation The Recreation Committee has continued to run really successful and popular events including the Wet West Paddlefest. In addition, the Go Canoeing programme of tours and introductory events has provided opportunities for other paddlers to take to the water in a variety of environments. The Freestyle events at Pinkston have proved popular and provide a regular opportunity for paddlers to hone their skills without the need to travel further afield. The Tay Descent again ran in October 2016 offering two course lengths and with people taking part in racing boats through to Freestyle at Hurley: Jonathan Riddell, credit Jack Gunter Stand Up Paddleboards and every craft in between.

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17 Financials Income FY : 806,889 Total The largest income stream for the SCA is sportscotland investment and the majority of this is to fund the SCA Performance Programme in Sprint and Slalom. Membership income (which includes individual membership fees, club affiliation income and fees from Quality Mark Providers) makes up 15% of SCA income. Facilities income from the Grandtully Campsite is 4% of the total. sportscotland Investment FY : 465,016 Total The aim of the sportscotland Investment into Performance is to enable Scots to reach the standard for inclusion in GB Canoeing programmes and to go on to win Olympic medals. sportscotland also invests into Coaching: for staffing, coaching projects and UKCC Scholarships.

18 Expenditure FY : 819,499 Total Committee Income & Expenditure FY

19 SCA Income & Expenditure by Year

20 Recognition Award Winners There is a fantastic amount of work happening within the paddling community across Scotland, with a huge number of individuals involved. The SCA Recognition Awards are one way to give thanks and appreciation to a small number of these people. The winners and nominees regularly and voluntarily, give up much of their time for the good of their clubs and other paddlers. The dedication and passion they have shown (and continue to show) helps to keep our sport alive for everyone. Congratulations, not only to the winners but also to the nominees for all of their outstanding work this year. Club of the Year Nominations: Edinburgh Kayak Club, Craignish Boat Club, Glasgow Kayak Club, Forth Canoe Club, Stirling & Falkirk Canoe Club. Winner: Craignish Boat Club In 2010, Craignish Boat Club became homeless and it was unclear whether they would survive. After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, they managed to secure a new site which they moved to in 2014, after 3 years of uncertainty. Since securing the new site, the club has gone from strength to strength, and through forging links with local schools it is now seen as a pillar in the community. Every child in the local school from P3 upwards has attended at least one of the activities (sailing or paddling) for at least one season. They now have 60 kayaking members and with three Level 1 coaches and 7 assistants, they are building on their bank of coaches, providing ongoing training and support to help them progress. Achieving all of this in such a relatively short period of time is a fantastic achievement, which is why Craignish are recognised as Club of the Year Youth Coach of the Year The award is for a volunteer coach that dedicates much of their time to the development of junior paddlers. Nominations: Natasha Lawton, Alex Linksted. Winner: Natasha Lawton Andy Murray with Natasha Natasha has shown great dedication with her facilitation of a very intensive programme at Glasgow Kayak Club; she is always in attendance and supporting the other coaches in a very mature manner. Over the past year she has had to adapt and take on more duties and her relationship with the youth squad just gets better and better; she is a very positive figure and always approachable. Currently, Natasha is training herself daily to overcome an injury as well as studying full time and yet she still gives absolutely everything to the children. She clearly loves what she does and that shows through. The success of the club is linked to her tireless dedication and her hard work and patience.

21 Volunteer Coach of the Year This award is for coaches who give up their free time to pass on their skills and knowledge to other paddlers. Nominations: Alex Linksted, Sandy Johnston, Howard Aspinall. Winner: Alex Linksted Alex was selected to receive the award for her dedication, maturity and for the fact that she is an outstanding role model to all those she coaches. She frequently demonstrates the breadth and flexibility of her character, skilfully balancing her behaviour to adjust to changing situations. She leads by example, setting high standards for herself. She has a great way of breaking down skills into components and communicating these simply, always striving to build confidence and has a remarkable ability to both generate ideas and concepts and then take them to completion. We ve also been told that her chocolate brownies have become legendary and worthy of an award on their own! Andy Jackson Award This award is open to those who have achieved great things working to improve/preserve access and/or conserve the canoeing environment. Winner: Kevin Knox Kevin Knox Kevin has worked extremely hard this year on making safe the Weir at Stanley. The January floods damaged the Weir, the result being that the Weir became hazardous to paddlers, with spikes pointing upriver. This is the most-paddled section of river in Scotland, and is often used by beginners. Making this area safe involved difficult negotiations with the different groups involved, getting consensus on a solution, and organising the engineering of the solution, all of which Kevin did successfully and voluntarily. A measure of the success is that the work was done by the relevant engineers at no cost to the SCA, and that lots of good will was generated. This good will hopefully lead to further improvements here. President s Award This award is for someone who has shown outstanding performance, service or duty to canoeing. Winner: Derek Watson Derek Watson has been a member of Edinburgh Kayak Club since its inception, and has held almost every post in the club - he currently sits on the committee as the Director of Fun organising social events including the Christmas Ceilidh. He has been coaching voluntarily for almost 20 years, there isn t a member of EKC that hasn t been coached by him. On occasions he has been known to be at the shed at the end of a paddle to help people unload equipment even when he wasn t actually on the trip himself. He has also been integral in developing the club infrastructure. Derek has shown an extraordinary amount of commitment to the club over a sustained period of time.

22 Willing Hands Quaich This award recognises someone who acts in a voluntary capacity, and makes a significant contribution to the sport. Nominations: Drew Milroy, Derek Watson, Howard Aspinal, Mark Mitchell, Morven & Dave Fisher, Ron Clark. Winner: Ron Clark Ron is into his 5th decade of paddling and advised that he bought his first Valley Nordkapp in 1970 at the age of 30y/o for 450 (he was only getting paid 9 per week at the time). Now at the age of 76, Ron has been involved in coaching for over 40 years and is always willing to lend a hand to any club coaching events. Ron regularly gives up his free time to coach new members on a one to one basis and never asks for anything in return, he is just happy to help people enjoy paddling. I know Ron from being an honorary member of the Stonehaven Canoe Club, however Ron actively paddles with NESKy/Cults Canoe Club/Peterhead Canoe Club too. Ron is also involved with the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and has introduced numerous youths to canoeing over the years through this scheme too.even planning any trips, if you ask Ron, he will happily chat about it for there is very few places that he has not paddled around Scotland. It would be very difficult to find someone involved in paddling in the North East of Scotland who has not been helped by Ron at some point. SCA Chair Eddie Palmer with Ron Clark

23 Scottish Canoe Association Caledonia House, 1 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh, EH12 9DQ office@canoescotland.org The Scottish Canoe Association is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in Scotland, number SC