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Club Development

Currently the AWA does a good job of ensuring that competitive paddlers are taken care of. I would say that the structure inherit in racing ensures this. By nature, recreational paddling does not have the same structure imposed on it, and has been less successful than it can and should be. To help remedy this situation, we can do the following:

  1. Continue to rely on dynamic individuals, and hope that the new popularity and growth of the sport continues to supply more of these talented individuals.
  2. Put more focus into moving paddlers into the racing stream, developing the skills and experience necessary to run successful clubs.
  3. Use the existing system of grants for river rendezvous and sport outreach programs as well as company reps and pros to push recreational paddling.
  4. Find a way to make recreational programs as rigorous as racing ones.

Now the vision of the fourth method is already present in the AWA’s provincial education structure. However, I would argue that the implementation of this structure as it was envisioned has proved less than successful for small clubs. Now this may just be due to a lack of education. If this is the case, all we need to do is find a way to promote ourselves (with all the problems and limitations this entails). I would like to propose some changes that could be made to help the situation.

Changes
Before it is possible to make any recommendations for changes, it may be helpful to analyze what is required to get a paddling community developed.

Successful communities seem to have the following:

  1. Several experienced paddlers.
  2. An accessible local run
  3. A continuing influx of new paddlers
  4. Adequate supply of equipment
  5. Communication with other organizations

1. Experienced paddlers
Obviously, if there are not any experienced paddlers a paddling community will rarely flourish. I think the AWA already has programs to help this situation. The sport outreach programs has the potential to help small clubs develop the skills necessary to become experienced paddlers. However, this assumes that clubs members are aware enough to take advantage of this program. I, for one, am willing to admit that I was not. It also assumes that all that these outlying areas need is another pool session. I don’t think that individuals who are aware enough to discover this option are likely to need a pool session. I also don’t think that the transition rates from pool paddler to recreational boater is very high.

2. An accessible local run
If a club is to be successful, there must be a local run. If the club is going to be a racing or freestyle club, then this site can be a slalom course or play hole. If the club is going to encourage recreational paddling, then the site needs to be a local river. Local rivers are a perfect spot for recruiting those people that like to use the river, but have no idea about where, how, or why to get involved in the local paddling scene.

3. A continuing influx of new paddlers
The hardest thing for small clubs to do is to get new paddlers who actually go out on rivers. From experience I don’t believe that standard pool sessions are effective at this. In small population centers a passive approach is not successful. As mentioned earlier, a recreational program with many of the same traits as a racing program is needed.

4. Adequate supply of equipment
Clubs must have gear that they can use and rent to new paddlers. While it is possible to let clubs decide by trial and error what system of delivery of these goods works best, I think collective experience can show that there are some strategies that work better than others. We need to communicate this information so that club executives don’t get tied down into becoming a volunteer rental agency.

5. Communication with other organizations
If clubs aren’t going to fizzle out, they need the support of a parent organization, like the AWA, that provides a steadying influence through the inevitable transitions in leadership. The method of this support will, I am sure, be debated over quite some time.


Changes – Sport Outreach
While the sport outreach program has the potential to help small clubs develop the skills necessary to become experienced paddlers, I wonder how likely the smaller, less experienced clubs are to take advantage of this. I know that some of the old timers or racers may be familiar enough with AWA execs, so that a request is no big deal, but usually these are the clubs that need this support the least. Perhaps we need to be more pro-active in pushing a modification of this resource to the smaller clubs as their memberships are submitted.

If the sport outreach program is really going to help in the development of experienced paddlers, it might help to make this program more similar to the “paddle with a pro” days that some companies offer. If these clinics are designed toward the core paddlers within a club, held on rivers that are “interesting”, liaisons between the AWA and these outlying clubs are more likely to occur. For example if the active members of our club decide to go for a run down the Bull, or Elk, it might be nice to invite an established AWA River Leader to go with us (funding for their time of course). While this means the program looses some rigor, I think there will still be a large transfer in skills and information. Most importantly it opens the door for communication. It also can provide the first step for introducing and promoting the more rigorous educational programs that are suggested later.

Changes – Local Runs
For us down here is Lethbridge, the local river, the Upper St. Mary’s is having access issues. It would be great if information was available that listed the steps small clubs could go through to get grants for improved access.

I think one of the first steps in getting a paddling community going is to publish, and promote the local river. This can either be through newsletters, AGM’s, or info given out during pool sessions. If the AWA is to help local clubs, we need to have a way to promote clubs as means for getting onto the river. Perhaps one way to do this is by providing clubs with some funding so they can erect signs on their local runs giving run descriptions, contact information about the local club, or even better, contact information to the AWA website. Info on the AWA website could then be used to refer people back to the local clubs in the area. The thing that really helped me to get involved in organized paddling was the signs along the oldman and castle rivers. I don’t think I would have been paddling solo for as long as I did if those signs had a way to get in contact with local clubs and information on big events like the Castle River Rendezvous (I know I looked frequently for some information on the signs)

Changes – A continuing influx of new paddlers (Rec. Ed Program)
I think the biggest change needed for recreational paddling is to find a different way to get new paddlers out on the rivers. Pools do not do this. As mentioned earlier, I believe having a structured program is essential. What follows are what I believe are some of the necessary characteristics of this program.
1. A local river with appropriate signage and contact information.
2. An adequate supply of boats with a developed rental plan.
3. Set practice times on the local river
4. Experienced trip leaders (if necessary) to assist trips to non-local, or more advanced rivers
5. An end goal whose focus is on running rivers

While this information may seem unnecessary to anyone who has ever taken a friend down a river, I think there has been a lack of focus in this direction. The focus is on either teaching slalom, or on accrediting leaders to instruct. Nothing is developed to help support clubs in leading river trips that provide the population base for these other events. Usually this is because there is the idea (most likely true) that we don’t want to give money to some experienced boaters to go run a river that they were going to do anyway. Here is how we could change this:

  1. Give a grant to clubs who are willing to run a recreation program. This is similar to grants given to clubs to set up race clinics. Ensure that this does not become a money grabber by giving out the money only after clubs have successfully demonstrated how they have completed the program (ie # of new boaters trained, # of days paddled, trip with a AWA trip leader, examples of promotions used, etc)
  2. Ensure that the recreation program does not turn into a moving water instruction course. Club members are often not trained for this, and usually do not want to spend their weekends running clinics for free. A recognition of the uniqueness of club trips has to be made. This includes such things as a focus on learning how to get down a river, not on specific paddling techniques. It also includes the idea that paddlers are running the river as a community, not as an instructor & class. The difficulty for the AWA and the clubs then becomes insurance (the usual reason small clubs have joined the AWA). It is much easier to have a qualified instructor lead a group down a river. However the whole idea behind a club is that there will usually not be a formally accredited guide. As such many members will be boating on water on which they just feel comfortable. If the rivers run are always mellow for the members, burnout will occur. Leading trips becomes a burden, not something to share. Whether this issue can be solved really decides if the AWA is able to support recreational paddling effectively or not. We can hide the issue from our issurance rep, and continue the status quo, but I think not confronting the issue is a big injustice to the recreational paddlers that make up most of the AWA.
  3. Have a series of trip dates for the recreation programs. I believe the reason race based clubs are able to succeed in small venues is because they lend themselves to organization. Most clubs are disorganized in running trips. This is not to say the trips themselves are disorganized, but rather it is difficult for someone on the outside of the club to come in on them. Often trips locations are decided at the last moment due to water flows, weather, interest, etc. This means, that unless you are in close contact with those running the trip, you will usually get left out. While gregarious people may overcome this, I think a lot of people don’t. With a local river to go to, clubs can set up a series of paddling dates early in the season, in much the same way racers may have Wednesday practices. To be realistic, few clubs will choose to run these dates on weekends. Thus the need for a suitable river, with good access to a short run becomes important. For example, to qualify for a recreational program grant, a club may have to run six trips down their local river. Fees for boat rentals can be collected at the start, ensuring that new paddlers attend all of the club trips. The club can still run its standard club trips, taking advantage of the modified sport outreach program if needed.
  4. Rentals. Usually clubs get a number of members from pool sessions that never do anything. These numbers usually belie that actual activity level, turning the club into a rental agency. To help get a paddling community developed, new members need to be encouraged to get out. Perhaps allowing new paddlers free use of equipment for their trip is a way to encourage this. The first time paddlers go on a club trip, their membership could be “activated” allowing them rent to boats at standard rates after this first trip. This would prevent the rental agency syndrome. With the establishment of “practice days”, the difficulties this imposes on new paddlers would be lessened.
  5. River Rendezvous Successful events like Chuck Lee’s Castle River Rendezvous need to be supported more than they are. Current Rendezvous funding is inadequate. Events with expenditures close to $10 000, don’t benefit much from $150. If all 12 grants ($1800) aren’t being used, then something is wrong. Again, perhaps we need to support success. Clubs usually have some reserves to play with, so upfront funding under $1000 usually isn’t an issue. If we gave grants out on a graduated scale based upon turnout until the fund was used, we could support large events. We could also keep people from getting a few of their friends together to go boating and get $150, although I don’t think that there has been much problem of abuse. Personally I always figure it is better to spend more on a few events that you can require more from, than just spreading funding out.

Conclusion
We need to support the development of recreation paddlers. To do this, we need to ensure access to a local river for each member club, forsake the idea that club trips are modified instructional courses, encourage clubs to make trips events more organized through responsible funding, and help the AWA communicate with its member clubs through a modification to the sports outreach program. I believe as these things are done, and recreational events and river rendezvous are funded on a level that is representative of their importance, we will see a growth in the pool of experienced boaters. These boaters will then be in a position to move on to support of slalom and freestyle teams.