British Canoeing Marathon Racing Committee
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 29th October 2016
Cropredy Village Hall
1. Present at the meeting were:
Stan Missen (SM) (Chair)
Alan Laws (AL)
Keith Moule (KM)
Kat Wilson (KW)
Mick Nadal (MN)
David Enoch (DE)
Richard Ward (RW)
Dyson Pendle (DP)
Jim Ross (JRoss)
Daniel Seaford (DS)
James Smythe (JS)
Ollie Harding (OH)
Graham Warland (GW)
Jim Rossiter (Regional Delegate
Gemma Wiggs (British Canoeing International Affairs Manager)
Brian Chapman (delegate from Scottish Canoeing Association)
These people are referred to by their initials hereafter in the Minutes, except
in the sections on Committee Elections and Posts.
No apologies for absence were received.
2. Approval of minutes
a. The minutes of the Committee Meeting of 8th April were approved
by the Committee and signed by the Chair.
b. The minutes of the Special Meeting on K2 racing of 23rd July were
approved by the Committee and signed by the Chair.
3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising from the minutes of previous meetings
that were not covered by the current agenda.
4. Governance
a. Gemma Wiggs, British Canoeing’s new International Affairs
Manager, attended the meeting to explain her role in relation to
the MRC, and that of Anna Gray, Sport Development Manager.
Gemma will manage relations with the ICF/ECA and overseas
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federations, make GB entries on our behalf for ICF/ECA races via
the ISIS system, letters of authorisation for other international
entries (e.g. Sella, Waterlands, Masters World Cup), and manage
anti-doping. She is not expecting to manage international team
logistics but can provide advice and support if requested. In
Gemma’s words, she is “not here to fix what isn’t broken”.
Anna Gray will be the MRC’s main point of contact with BC HQ.
Dawn Keall will continue to be our point of contact for vehicles and
trailers.
b. SM reported back from a recent meeting with new BC Chief Exec
David Joy, and the other Discipline Chairs. The MRC is expected to
produce a 4-year plan by March 2017, with detailed costings and
plans for 2017 and outline costings and plans for 2018-21.
Financial concerns at BC continue with predictions that an income
cut in central funding is likely as much as 25% which will have
effect across all Discipline grants in 2017, and the MRC grant figure
is unknown at this stage.
It was confirmed that contrary to grant spend guidelines issued
previously by the old BCU, the central grant is not solely for the
purpose of internationals, but also sport development and admin.
The MRC’s new strategy should attempt to fit with BC’s 11 new
strategic “pillars”, to be revealed in full with the agreement of the
new BC Strategic Plan in December 2016.
A subcommittee was suggested to collate MRC information for the
new strategy, and report recommendations to the next MRC
Committee meeting on 25th February 2017. This committee will
comprise JS, RW, KM and KW. AL agreed to circulate a copy of the
last MRC strategy, and the draft SRC strategy document.
Actions: JS, RW, KM, AW, AL.
c. The MRC’s current Regulations and Administration policy will also
need to be reviewed by BC, with some umbrella policies brought in
for all Discipline Committees combined with Discipline-specific
regulations. BC’s new Compliance Officer, Vasi, will oversee this
process and liaise with the MRC.
JS presented an interim update of the existing Rules and
Regulations document, with some new content added by Vasi,
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particularly regarding Safeguarding policies. The committee gave
feedback for JS to edit. JS will also request copies of the relevant BC
Safeguarding policies from Anna Gray.
Actions: JS
d. Committee places and co-options following the ACM vote of
23/07/16 were confirmed. Stan Missen had been re-elected as
Chair, and Roland Lawler, Alan Laws, Mick Nadal, James Smythe,
Melvin Swallow, Katherine Wilson were all elected to the
Committee. Dyson Pendle, Dave Enoch, Ollie Harding, Keith Moule,
and Graham Warland all remain on the Committee following their
election for a two-year term in 2015.
Jim Ross, Richard Ward and Dan Seaford were all co-opted to the
Committee for the forthcoming year.
Melvin Swallow unfortunately tendered his resignation from the
Committee last month with immediate effect, due to personal
commitments. The Committee registered their thanks to Melvin for
all his work in the past.
e. The following Committee posts were allocated for the forthcoming
year:Chair – Stan Missen
Vice-Chair – Alan Laws
Rules Secretary – Mick Nadal
Admin Secretary – James Smythe
Treasurer – David Enoch
Selection Committee – Alan Laws (Chair), Dyson Pendle, Roland
Lawler, David Enoch, James Smythe
Athlete Development sub-committee – James Smythe, Kat Wilson,
Keith Moule, Richard Ward
Racing Calendar Compiler – Graham Warland
International Logistics – Dyson Pendle
Safeguarding – Ollie Harding
Race Records and Trophies – Graham Warland
Hasler Final and National Championships liaison – Dan Seaford
Regional Marathon Officers co-ordinator – Mick Nadal
Website – James Smythe
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f. The Committee requested full details from BC HQ on the
Committee’s Safeguarding responsibilities. OH has completed the
“Time to Listen” course, which is a prerequisite of being a
Safeguarding officer.
AL confirmed that the Committee is not responsible for the
Safeguarding compliance of the Discipline as a whole, but only for
activities directly organised by the Committee such as
international trips, training events and assessment races run
without an organising Club.
The Committee’s current understanding is that all staff organising
such MRC events must have a current DBS Certificate, subscribe to
the Update Service, and have British Canoeing registered to
conduct online status checks.
All MRC Committee Members should also have completed the full
Time To Listen Safeguarding course. Gemma Wiggs offered that
British Canoeing would cover course fees for Committee members,
and will work with Anna Gray to provide the MRC with more
detailed guidance.
RW highlighted the benefit of good Risk Assessment templates to
help marathon Race Organisers to make appropriate assumptions
and plans.
KW volunteered to support OH with his Safeguarding Officer
duties.
Actions: Anna Gray to forward guidance documents to OH. RW
to share his best Risk Assessment examples with MN.
g. Gemma Wiggs explained that as anti-doping is now run by UKAD,
not BC, there is no random domestic doping control in Marathon.
The new approach relies on information sharing, which can lead to
more targeted testing. Any athlete may nevertheless be eligible for
a random test, especially if there is reason for concern. Gemma
agreed to feed information to the Athlete Development subcommittee for education purposes.
Action: Gemma Wiggs to liaise with JS
h. The Committee will in future publish Minutes in draft form sooner
following each meeting, and written in a clearer fashion. Drafts will
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be published on the MRC website as subject to amendment, and
only published as Approved following the subsequent Committee
meeting.
5. Finance
a. David Enoch presented 2014-15 Final Accounts as previously
distributed at the ACM, with one amendment to show Athlete
Contributions to international trips as a separate income line.
b. The draft 2016-17 Budget was presented. With the Central Grant
not yet confirmed, we expect our reserves to be £59k at the end of
the 2015-16 financial year (31/10/16). With a budget loss of £14k
projected for 2016-17, the reserves are expected to fall to £45k at
the end of next year.
c. The levy increase to £2 per head for Junior entries has helped to
increase Levy income to an expected £24k for the year. The
number of Junior entries contributing to the levy has not fallen
since the introduction of the new rate, suggesting that this move
has not had a detrimental effect on race participation.
d. Concern at the unusually high costs of the World Championships in
2017 (South Africa), and the uncertainty about the Central Grant,
have constrained the budget for the forthcoming year. Only eight
athlete places are likely to be available for the World
Championships, and no switch to the likely new cross-discipline
GB kit being arranged by BC is budgeted for. The Committee also
discussed ways of reducing costs on individual budget lines, with
OH agreeing to create digital photos of trophies, as an alternative
to printed copies.
Action: OH to liaise with GW about feasibility of replacing
print photos with digital copies for trophy winners.
e. SM reported back on concern from BC that a large proportion of
the reserves, apparently held by BC, are not held centrally and too
high a proportion is held by various Committees. This means that
it not directly available for use across BC. It is BC’s intention that in
future all reserves will be held centrally for targeted use across the
sport. Where a Discipline faces an unusually high cost, their 4-year
plan would allow for this and additional funds would be available
to draw upon. The question of Racing Levy income was raised, as
participants would have reason to expect that this is paid for the
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benefit of Marathon, not the sport as a whole. It was also noted
that the MRC is successful at funding much of its own activity and
has developed the largest competitor numbers in the sport. There
was also note that the MRC reserves are not all held in cash, with a
high proportion accounted for in Trophies, Minibus and other
assets.
f. KM raised the possibility of securing sponsorship money for the
GB Marathon team. The Committee agreed that any such
incremental income would need to be ring fenced for the
additional purposes agreed with the sponsor, and not used to
reduce the budget deficit.
g. The Draft Budget was adopted, subject to caveat about the
unknown Central Grant figure.
6. Domestic Racing
a. Following an incident at Worcester, guidance around safety at
Marathon races was discussed. Race Organisers will be advised to
consider useful safety equipment to be carried by marshals around
the course, such as space blankets or throw lines, as always
dependent on good event planning, risk assessment and safety
plan. The annual Race Organisers letter to include this advice.
Action: MN drafting Race Organisers’ letter
b. With an increasing number of pre-entries happening via the HRM,
in many cases Team Leaders and individuals are not signing any
kind of disclaimer before taking part in a race. Race Organisers
should be advised to seek this and to spell out the assumed risks
and participant competencies in their race details, via the annual
letter. The Handbook should also be re-worded to cater for
independent entries where a club Team Leader is not present to
assume responsibility, or junior entries where the implied Team
Leader is a parent or other responsible adult. The Committee will
also seek advice from Anna Gray at British Canoeing.
Actions: MN to include in Race Organisers’ letter and 2017
Handbook drafting. Anna Gray to review and advise.
c. RL raised a concern that the existing automatic promotions system
does not drive up racing standards, or encourage athletes to
stretch themselves in competition, and requested that rankings
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become entirely at the discretion of clubs, coaches and individuals.
He also pointed to a problem between divisions 3 and 4 where
some athletes are caught in a regular yo-yo of promotion and
demotion as they are not up to racing faster athletes over a longer
distance.
It was pointed out that the measured ability-based divisional
system is central to fair Hasler competition, and that not all clubs
have the ability to appropriately assess the ability of their athletes
relative to others outside that club, so the first point was not
approved. J. Ross recommended that we remind racers that their
divisional ranking is only a minimum and that they are free to
“race up”.
The Committee approved that the Race Rankings Officer (RL)
become responsible for promotions/demotions between Divisions
3 and 4, along with the 1-2-3 P&Ds he currently approves.
Actions: MN to include in Handbook draft and approach Wiki
Daniels re. amend to HRM.
d. A question was raised about whether Race Organisers should be
required to publish race entries in advance and discourage late
entries. SM pointed out that we do not want to change a system
that allows people to make a decision on the day dependent on
conditions and the likely competition. DS uses a system for the
Thameside races, which publishes a live entries list, and could be
replicated as it feeds off similar software to the HRM. The
Committee agreed to encourage Race Organisers to publish entries
before the race as far as they are able.
Actions: MN to include in Race Organisers’ letter
e. It was noted that SCA races do not pay a levy on entries to the MRC
despite being listed in the Racing Calendar – nor indeed do sprint
races, but an important aim of the combined Racing Calendar is to
discourage clashes. As BC is currently reviewing the mandate of
the regional and disciplinary committees as well as the possibility
of a central calendar, this was simply left as a point for future
review.
f. The MRC previously recommended a target race entry fee of £10,
principally to encourage a higher standard of race presentation,
but that fees above this should be accompanied by some
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justification in the race details. Having no minimum reflects the
economic diversity of our sport and should be retained. Fees for
major national events have to be approved by the MRC and
provide a good testing ground for increasing the value of races.
g. The racing community has responded positively to the new rule on
drinks containers, gel wrappers and littering generally. AL
confirmed that the ICF will also implement a rule in 2017 banning
competitors from leaving litter on the course, with accompanying
sanctions for offenders.
h. DE reported that the increase of the racing levy from £1 to £2 for
junior seats has not led to any decline in the number of junior seats
reported as entered in races since the implementation of the
change. The increase has allowed the MRC to raise as much from
levies as from the Central Grant for the first time in 2016.
i.
Following complaints about alleged cheating in assessment races
in 2016, the MRC recommended that competitors be reminded that
complaints and protests must follow the prescribed route and
should be addressed to the Race Organiser in the first instance.
Discussion at the ACM had suggested that disqualifications in race
results should be accompanied by a code so that others could see
why disqualifications have taken place. (suggestion – the
corresponding rule reference from the Handbook is used)
Actions: MN to include in Race Organisers’ letter. KW to
collate a list of possible disqualification codes to include in
results.
j.
As of the 2017 calendar, all Race Organisers will have confirmed
that a principle organiser of their race has attended the Event
Safety Course.
k. British Canoeing has confirmed that the inclusion of major racing
events in a Gold Series has been discontinued, as the additional
presentation and marketing activity done around the events by an
external marketing consultancy had not delivered a satisfactory
return.
l.
It was confirmed that a loss of race points for not wearing club
colours would apply only to individual athletes, not whole K2/C2
crews if one of the pair is compliant with the rule.
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m. J. Ross highlighted a desire to see more schools who currently
participate in the DW, to take part in more marathon races.
Current rules mean that Schools cannot be registered as Canoe
Clubs with BC, so must be registered as an affiliate of another
Canoe/Kayak Club to be covered by its membership of BC. This
affiliation must be backed up with a written agreement between
the School and the Club to enable the school’s paddlers to compete
under the name of the associated club. People who are not full
members of BC must be members of a BC-registered club to race.
They may therefore also race as members of a group or school that
is affiliated with a registered club depending upon the actual event
entered.
Actions: MN to include in Race Organisers’ letter and 2017
Handbook draft.
7. Racing Calendar
a. GW reported that the Racing Calendar was almost complete, with 3
race dates outstanding. It also includes all BC or MRC planned
flatwater training events. J. Ross asked if surf ski races could be
included on the calendar as a way of avoiding clashes, especially in
the SW region. However surfski is not currently overseen by BC,
but by SLSGB.
Actions: Gemma Wiggs to report back on BC relations with
surf ski.
8. International Racing
a. The budget-setting process has identified international events that
the MRC can afford to send a team to in 2017. The late-season
World Cup and International in China is not included on that list,
although AL confirmed that the organisers will fund up to 40
places from top-performing athletes at the 2015 World
Championships. This is likely to include at least one GB athlete.
Action: Selection Committee to agree and publish an
assessment and selection calendar for 2017
b. AL confirmed that all races on the ICF Calendar must have entries
made by the relevant national governing body via the ISIS system.
This will ensure that any athlete racing for GB at such an event will
have been approved by British Canoeing via the MRC Selection
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Committee. However, in past years the Sella and Liffey descents,
both on the ICF calendar, have seen numerous entries registered
as GBR but not approved via the MRC. It has been the race
organiser’s decision to register these entries as international in
order to boost the prestige of the event. The committee agreed to
communicate via the handbook and Athlete Agreement (for those
in selected GB teams) that athletes are not allowed to enter an
international race as a GB athlete unless approved by the Selection
Committee. Any athletes entering as a club entry must continue to
request permission via Gemma Wiggs at BC.
Actions: MN to include in Race Organisers’ letter; DP to
include in 2017 Athlete Agreement.
c. DP submitted for discussion, a target time based system used by
the Portuguese federation to select their international teams. The
Selection Committee does not support a pure time-target based
system as athletes are racing to win, not for a target time. It is
extremely difficult for an individual athlete to set a fast race pace
from the front and still ensure they beat others across the line.
Selection policy will remain unchanged, but the time targets
system may be used alongside the other available performance
statistics as information to aid the Selection Committee’s decision.
d. Gemma Wiggs outlined BC’s desire to support viable ICF/ECA
Championship events in all disciplines in future. Worcester CC had
submitted a proposal to host the World Canoe Marathon
Championships. British Canoeing did not feel able to submit this
proposal to the ICF until BC and the MRC were satisfied that it
meets the technical requirements of the ICF’s working document
for prospective championship organisers.
Actions: AL to send working document to Gemma at BC.
Gemma to contact Worcester CC.
e. British Canoeing are advancing plans for a single set of GB team kit
across all disciplines, but each discipline will to have to pay for it.
Due to budgetary constraints and the fact that marathon athletes
have contributed to their current kit, the MRC will retain the Joma
kit for 2017 major internationals and review once the BC
decision/supply is known in full. However, racing vests, and kit for
development internationals such as Gent or Waterlands is not
included in the Joma arrangement, so a decision must be made in
time for the 2017 early-season development internationals.
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Actions: Gemma Wiggs to investigate what is to happen for
“development” team kit and report back.
f. Gemma Wiggs confirmed that BC is not expecting to take over
travel and team logistics for international events beyond making
the race entries, but can help where necessary. DP will co-ordinate
for 2017 internationals with the help of Dave Sackman.
g. AL confirmed that he has retired from the ICF CAM. The Committee
again registered its thanks to Alan for his years of service. Brian
Chapman, supported by British Canoeing, is one of five
international candidates for the vacant position, but is aware that
due to the need for proper gender representation on the ICF CAM,
a female candidate is more likely to be chosen. Brian is
nevertheless likely to be asked to volunteer in a technical role for
major ICF events.
9. Coaching and Development
a. Richard Ward outlined his work, commissioned by British
Canoeing, to develop a coaching plan specific to marathon and
racing in general. The aim of this is to make it easier to become a
discipline-specific coach and reduce the need for cross-discipline
qualifications for specialists. The MRC is asked for its active
support and advice.
Action: Richard Ward to work with MRC members, especially
OH and the athlete development sub-committee, and report
back progress at next meeting.
b. The athlete development sub-committee has planned four winter
training days for the National Marathon Training Squad, and
reviewed squad membership based on the 2016 assessment races
and major domestic championships. Via GW dates have been set to
avoid clashes with BC Performance and Talent groups.
c. Due to the difficulty of centrally organising regional as well as
national training days, the committee agreed to liaise with the
organisers of RTA training days to find a way of identifying
developing paddlers suitable for invitation to the Gent marathon.
Action: JS to ask GW for contacts and to approach RTA training
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organisers
d. KM proposed that athletes selected for GB teams be expected to
carry out some kind of “community service” to the sport via their
clubs, e.g. involvement in regional training days. This was
supported by the Committee.
Action: KM to work with JS to identify athletes who can
support regional/RTA events.
10. National Championships 2017
a. Confirmed as 29-30 July 2017 at Pangbourne, similar format as
2013.
Action: DS to approach Pangbourne CC to support
11. Hasler Series
a. Hasler Final confirmed as 24th September 2017 at Richmond,
similar format as 2014.
Action: DS to approach Richmond CC to support
b. RL raised concern that an increase in very small clubs competing
in a region sometimes made it possible for all the major clubs in a
region to qualify for the Hasler Final with ease; this lack of
competition for club places in turn reduces participation and
competition in regional Hasler races.
Action: MN to review and report back at next meeting
12. Declaration of Interests
a. All elected and co-opted members of the MRC must complete an
annual Declaration of Interests form. This is due for renewal now.
Action: JS to circulate form and collect completed copies. All to
complete a form.
13. Website
a. It was pointed out that the official MRC website tends to be a list of
rules rather than a news resource for our sport, and that the
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“interesting stuff” is usually found on social media. KW and OH
agreed to support JS in finding ways to make the site more newsy.
SM re-iterated that the site must only hold the official news and
views of the MRC
Action: JS to develop a plan with KW and OH.
14. Other Business
a. At the ACM it was requested that the MRC discuss making voting
individual, not club based. The MRC unanimously agreed that it
should remain club-based to ensure that block votes from larger
clubs cannot dictate the direction of the discipline. However we
should publicise the ACM better in an effort to grow and diversify
attendance. Gemma Wiggs agreed to check this position with
British Canoeing.
Action: JS to plan increased communications for the 2017 ACM.
Gemma Wiggs to report back.
b. We do not yet have venues confirmed for the 2018 Nationals or
Hasler Final.
Action: Dan Seaford will start actively
approaching/researching, clubs and venues
c. It was reported that the MRC’s trailer may need replacement very
soon. There was concern that the central message from BC, that we
are all working together in the interests of our sport, might extend
to such items as trailer use; as it is sensible that unused trailers are
made available when free, rather than having disciplines use
potentially unsafe trailers due to lack of funds.
Action: DE to investigate further
15. Meeting dates 2017
a.
b.
c.
d.
25/02/17 half day pm meeting (Cropredy)
05/05/17 evening meeting (NWSC)
29/07/17 ACM (Pangbourne)
18/11/17 ‘all day’ meeting (Cropredy)
16. The meeting closed at 15.15.
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