British Canoeing Marathon Racing Committee

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 5th May 2017

British Canoeing offices, HolmePierrepont

  1. Present at the meeting were:

Stan Missen (SM) (Chair)
Alan Laws (AL)
Mick Nadal (MN)
David Enoch (DE)
Dyson Pendle (DP)
Jim Taylor-Ross (JTR)
James Smythe (JS)
Graham Warland (GW)
Brian Chapman (BC)
Ivan Lawler (BC President)
These people are referred to by their initials hereafter in the Minutes.

Apologies for absence were received from Dan Seaford, Kat Wilson, Ollie Harding and Richard Ward.

  1. Approval of minutes

The minutes of the Committee Meeting of 25th February 2017 were approved by the Committee and signed by the Chair.

  1. Matters Arising
    The following matters were noted that were not covered by the current meeting agenda:-
  2. Gemma from BC due to report back on BC’s discussions with SLSGB on incorporating surf skis into canoe racing competition and possibly calendar in the future. Worcester CC have indicated tat they will continue to pursue options for hosting a major international marathon championships despite being aware that they cannot meet a 100m wide startling requirement. A revised paper is to be sent to MRC and BC in coming months.
    Action: Anna Gray to report
  3. Proposal under Coaching and Development, to require athletes selected for a major international to perform “community service” within their clubs or regions. This would require simple endorsement by their club to show it had been done.
    Action: This was not actioned following the last meeting so had not been included in the 2017 athlete letters. KM to follow up with a view to action in 2018.
  4. British Canoeing have prepared a summary document which will help the MRC understand the Governance implications for our discipline.
    Action: Anna Gray to send summary document to JS for distribution
  5. The request from Leighton Buzzard CC to waive the levy for their Remembrance Sunday race, was not supported at the last meeting but had not been notified to LBZ.
    Action: DE to confirm this position to LBZ CC
  6. All MRC staff, or volunteers/staff on international trips must have completed DBS check.
    Action: all to have completed by ACM, OH to report back.
  7. Anna Gray had confirmed that BC currently considers disclaimer notices on the race details are sufficient to cover race organisers, contrary to what we had believed and put into the 2017 race organisers’ letter.
    Action: to be posted on website (JS)
  8. International team and National Championship eligibility policy is still under review by BC. It is disappointing that we still have not had a full and workable clarification that can be used by all disciplines. Action: Anna Gray to report back once resolved.
  9. Despite MRC voting to support the SRC’s phasing out of Lightning classes, and replacing these with U10 and U12 racing in any racing craft, the SRC’s position is now less clear, so a formal notification to clubs has not been made.
    Action: MN to liaise with the SRC at the June regatta, and report back to MRC. Inclusion of a paper for the ACM seeking support for MRC’s decision, assuming the plans remain unchanged.
  10. Athlete safety in South Africa and the need for clear guidelines for the team.
    Action: DP to contact Tim Cornish/Jim Rossiter and write a guideline document for the team and staff.
  11. The old Marathon trailer is in the process of being repaired. There is now some doubt about BC’s commitment to buying a new trailer that is entirely suitable for marathon, so until we know the spec of their new trailer we should retain the old one. If the new trailer is suitable, we will sell the old one.
    Action: DE to investigate further at BC
  12. BC has asked whether it is appropriate or desirable for the MRC to still own, fund and run their own mini-bus. DE reported that the arrangement had previously worked well from both the financial side and availability side, for both BC and the MRC and questioned why there was need to change? The only issue was to ensure that BC continued the fair policy of ensuring that hire requests fully included our bus in the schedule of availability, in order that previously established income stream was not seen to be reduced. Action DE comments to be fed back by SM to Anna at BC
  1. Governance
  2. JS co-ordinated an exercise to discuss and prioritise the ideas coming out of the February meeting, for inclusion in the forthcoming 2017-21 strategic plan. The principal area where the MRC felt it could be doing more centered around support for clubs, which in turn connects to work taking place on coaching, completion and athlete development.
    Action: JS to write first draft of the plan for discussion. A single page summary must be ready for discussion at the ACM.
  3. The Duty of Care in Sport report written by Baroness Tanni Gray-Thompson will likely have repercussions for how we run the discipline. This will be tabled for discussion at the November all-day meeting.
    Action: OH to prepare this discussion.
  4. Finance
  5. DE circulated two draft budgets for the four years 2017-21. The ambition of BC is that all disciplines should at least maintain a balanced budget over the four year cycle, allowing for additional costs in certain years. With our current level of income, the budget is forecast to be roughly £17k in the red over the 4 years leaving us with reserves of less than one year’s running costs, which is the level permitted by BC.
    DE also circulated a second budget, which projected what would happen if we increased the racing levy from £2 to £2.50 per seat. In

this scenario, the budget would balance over the 4 year period leaving reserves of £58k, around £7k below a typical year’s running costs.
It was agreed that the £2.50 levy idea would be proposed to the ACM. In addition, AL is going to prepare scenarios for increased athlete contribution to major international trips, as in net cost these take up a little over half of our total budget (£32-37k). The levy has always been raised on the understanding that this helps fund development internationals, which cost an additional £10k per year on average, and the outcome of the Strategic Plan may lead us to invest more in this area.
Actions: DE to prepare summary for ACM; AL to prepare athlete contribution scenarios for Nov meeting.

  1. BC have issued guidelines for the financial management of discipline committees. DE reported that the MRC is generally compliant across the board so no significant changes will be required. However, as noted above, budgets must balance over a four-year period.
  1. Safeguarding
  2. Kim Walsh is now back at BC and should be used as our contact for any safeguarding or DBS queries and assistance.
  3. Domestic Racing
  4. There is no new update on progress towards BC supplying membership status live data for marathon race entries.
    Action: GW to remind Anna Gray that this has been requested, and is not necessarily tied to BC plans for a new cross-discipline race entry system.
  1. BC have indicated a desire for all disciplines to have Event organizer’s electronic pack; such as the comprehensive documents pack available for Salmon events. MN proposed aninitial checklist for race organisers covering all the items they should have in an event organiser’s pack, including current requirements on details and risk assessment. Some items can be borrowed from the salmon website.
    Action: MN to draft this.
  2. BC are seeking to research health and safety incidents, and are therefore asking all event organisers and clubs to record such incidents via the BC website, however small they may seem.
    Action: JS to post the link to the BC reporting page on the MRC website.
  1. Calendar
  2. GW reported that the calendar process is operating well.
  3. International
  4. JS reported back on the Gent race. Two issues are the relative lack of competition, despite the existence of good Belgian marathon teams, and also the difficulty of identifying the right athletes to invite to the race. It was agreed that this process could be tied to better communication with clubs in the Strategic Plan, and the establishment of a more formal network of marathon racing qualified coaches once the new qualifications are established.
    Action: JS to write to Gent race organisers requesting that they encourage better involvement by Belgium and neighbouring countries, if we are to continue to attend.
  5. The possibility of including additional athlete places for the World Championships is still not able to be resolved, as we do not have complete cost projections and the budget is still very tight.
    Action: DP to finalise cost projections for World Champs asap, in order that final athlete numbers can be calculated within the planned budget.
  6. BC had raised the question of whether trailer use by disciplines should be charged in a similar way to minibus use. DE pointed out that this cost could just be kept within the minibus cost charges as currently and why change a system that has worked well previously. If new charges are introduced it may increase the benefit of us retaining our own trailer.
    Action: AL to ask Anna Gray about BC’s intention in asking this question.
  7. Designs and costs for the new BC Errea kit were circulated. The MRC needs to budget for subsidising a new set of kit to replace the Joma collection for 2018 season. There was also a question about two different colours of racing vests and this contradicting ICF team boat rules.
    Action: DE to prepare costs in budget; AL to query lack of separate white vest in kit.
  8. A question was raised about the safety of assessment race courses after an incident at Elmbridge. It was agreed that assessment races should have their risk assessments checked in the same way as any other race. Portage risk should always be considered as it is where most incidents occur.
  9. A code of conduct for parents of international athletes proposed by BC was discussed, along with the requirement that they should hold some membership of BC. It is assumed that the overhaul of BC membership categories that is coming would provide appropriate level. The MRC felt this is likely to be impractical however, as we do not select teams as far in advance as some disciplines which could cause a serious deadline problem. More information is to be requested.
    Action: SM to feed back to BC via Chairs committee/Anna Gray.
  10. BC also asked if there was a requirement to book travel for British ICF officials centrally. The answer is not as far as Marathon is concerned because officials book their own travel and simply claim expenses towards costs incurred.
    Action: SM to feed back to BC via Chairs committee/Anna Gray
  11. Coaching and Development
  12. JTR reported that there is now an agreed two-day level 2 (Club Coach) Racing Coach course with SRC & BC. The course draft is awaiting final sign off from BC. The next stage is to prepare course supporting documentation and guidance for course providers.
  13. A concern was raised, based on initial discussions with the new Paddlesport Leaders qualification providers, that training providers chosen by BC may be without expertise in racing (& craft) and using racing craft to perform ‘rescues’.
  14. BC has agreed that the providers for this course should be based in active racing clubs not professional centers and should have a significant and active racing background. JTR and RW are compiling a list of the initial cohort of providers for BC to consider.
    Action: JTR to discuss with AL, who will raise with Anna Gray.

Action: MRC committee members are request to put forward suitable names for Racing Course Providers to JTR and RW

  1. Major Championships
  2. Laura Sutherland is new at BC and co-ordinating major events. This will include a “Super September” with multiple disciplines organising national events in the month, and possibly a multi-discipline event at Nottingham.
    Action: DS to contact Laura
  3. Organisation of the National Championships and Hasler Final are going to plan. Action:DS to provide update urgently after speaking with organizing clubs
  4. GW proposed a provisional date for the 2018 Hasler Final at Norwich, which is 30th September. JS reported that the date and venue for the French Nationals is unlikely to be known until the autumn of 2017.
  5. A host club for the 2018 Nationals is still sought. Interested clubs or clubs willing to join in a joint venture should contact DS. Ideally a new or different venue will become available.
  6. AOB
  7. The MRC decided that at all future assessment races, participants will be required to be racing for a club and to wear their club vest. The correct colours of this vest must be published in the Racing Handbook. This will be in place with immediate effect for the balance of the 2017 assessment events; and from 2018 non-compliance will result in the athlete’s race placing, in any event in which his/her club vest is not worn, being disqualified as a result used for selection.
    Action: JS to post on website
  8. DE reported that Lightning medals need a new self-adhesive roundel.
    Action: DE to follow up with Anna Gray (done).
  9. JS reported discussion with the DW committee regarding closer collaboration.
    Action: SM and JS to meet DW Committee.

The meeting closed at 22.00

Reminder of meeting dates for 2017

29/07/17 ACM (Pangbourne) ACM after racing, anticipated start 6pm

18/11/17 ‘all day’ meeting (Cropredy) 9am start to 3pm finish.

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