Cherwell Canoe Club Email Newsletter – Spring 2009
Membership Renewals
The membership renewals are now due . Your renewal form should arrive in the post in the next week or so. Please check the details on the form and return them promptly to Pat along with payment to ensure that you qualify for the discounted membership rates.
Open Day – Saturday 25th April
The open day at the reservoir held in conjunction with the sailing club is this Saturday from 11:00am until 3 pm. If you have any family, friends or colleagues who would like to have a go at kayaking or canoeing then bring them along.
We would appreciate help from as many club members as possible during the day- even if you can only spare an hour or so.
This year the open day coincides with a national youth canoe polo league tournament that we are hosting at the reservoir. It would be great to see plenty of Cherwell people along to help out as well as support the Cherwell youth team who are competing.
Weekly Activities
Club Paddling Evening
Wednesdays 7pm - dusk
Grimsbury Reservoir, Banbury (Map: http://www.cherwellcc.org.uk/Reservoir/ )
Open paddling session available to all club members.
The trailer will be there most weeks with plenty of boats and kit available for club members to use. Please note that demand for kit may be high during the novice courses and some weeks it may not be possible to have the full range of boats available – please call to check availability if you are going to be travelling and will need to borrow a boat.
We will try to ensure that there is at least one coach available to give guidance to any paddlers wanting to progress their skills.
For novice paddles wanting to start out with the basics we will be running our usual series of novice courses (see below for more details).
Polo training- open to all club members
Wednesday Evenings during open paddling session
Polo Squad Training
Sunday Evenings 6pm – 9pm
Grimsbury Reservoir (from 10th May onwards - sessions continue at Stratford for the next two weeks)
Open to Squad members .
If you are interested in getting involved in Polo then email me for more details or ask any of the polo players around on Wednesday evenings. The game may look fast and furious but we’re a friendly bunch really and we are always keen to see new people taking part.
Youth Training
Saturday Mornings 9:30am – 12:00pm
Grimsbury Reservoir
Open to anyone aged 10 – 18 who has basic novice boat skills (forwards and backwards paddling and turning)
Although the focus is on Polo skills there will also be plenty of opportunity to develop general boat skills as well.
Trips – Various Weekends
We plan to run the usual selection of trips this summer including the River Wye at Symonds Yat, The River Avon in Stratford, Surfing and possibly sea kayaking as well.
Dates have yet to be finalised but these will be communicated shortly via email. If you are not on the trips email list and want to be added or want to find out more details or even suggest a trip you would like to see organised then contact Pat : Trips@cherwellcc.org.uk / 01295 265935
Novice Courses
For those new to the sport we will be offering our 5 week novice courses again this summer. This is an introduction to all of the basic skills needed to paddle safely on sheltered water. It is also an ideal first step for those looking to move onto more challenging paddling on whitewater or the sea or those interested in getting involved in Canoe Polo.
Provisional Course Dates for 2009
|
Course |
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5 |
|
1 |
20th May |
27th May |
3rd June |
10th June |
17th June |
|
2 |
1st July |
8th July |
15th July |
22nd July |
29th July |
|
3 |
5th August |
12th August |
19th August |
26th August |
2nd September |
These will run in parallel with our regular club paddling session from 7pm – 8pm on Wednesdays. The first course will take place at the reservoir but subsequent courses may move to Woodgreen Leisure centre if this opens as planned . (see below)
Please contact me for more information or to request an application form : chair@cherwellcc.org.uk / 07775 991931
Woodgreen – watch this space
You may have seen through the local media that the council have agreed funding for Woodgreen outdoor pool to re-open and the renovation work is currently underway.
As Woodgreen has previously been the club’s ‘home’ it is likely that some of our paddling programme will move there in July / August if the re-opening goes ahead as planned. We will communicate more details of this as soon as they are confirmed.
Polo Squad News
With the indoor league season is now drawing to a close most of the Cherwell Teams have now completed all their games and are looking forward to the International Tournaments over the Summer.
Here are a few highlights from the 2008/2009 league season:
Cherwell A successfully retained their position in Div 2 South finishing 6th out of the 8 teams.
Cherwell B finished 5th in Division 3 central - a great achievement with several young players who had never played league polo before this season.
Cherwell C finished 2nd in Division 4 central and will attend the playoffs in May to compete for a place in Division 3
The Ladies and Youth teams both have one more tournament left. The Ladies face a tough battle their final tournament in May to maintain their place in Division 1.
In the Midlands regional leagues Cherwell 'D' finished in mid-table in Division 1 and Cherwell Youth won Division 2 convincingly losing only 1 game throughout the whole season.
Josie Martin and Nicole Brain have been selected for the Great Britain Ladies development squad. Well done to both of them!
Andrew’s Challenge
Bishop Rock Scilly Isles to Shetland, Muckle Flugga "To the Ends and beyond", by Kayak, cycle and walk
Those of you who have been at the pool sessions over the winter will most likely have met Andrew Fairbairn who has been putting a lot of time and effort working on his rolling and general paddling skills. This is all for good reason as Andrew is planning some major sea kayak crossings as part of his challenge - assisted by Mike Punter. The project is in aid of Leonard Cheshire Disability - for more information on the challenge and on how you can donate to the charity visit the rotary club website: http://www.banburyrotaryclub.org.uk/special_projects/special_projects.htm
Keep in Touch
If you have any questions or comments then please get in touch:
Email: chair@cherwellcc.org.uk
Phone: 01295 738220
Mobile: 07775 991931
To update your membership details or if you do not receive a renewal form please contact Pat
Trips@cherwellcc.org.uk / 01295 265935
The Club Runs a series of email groups to keep members informed about what is going on. If you are not already subscribed to these or if you would like to ammend or add an email address the follow the links below:
Members: General information for all club members
To subscribe go to: http://mail.cherwellcc.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/members_cherwellcc.org.uk
Trips: Recreational paddling trips and events
To subscribe go to: http://mail.cherwellcc.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/tripsgroup_cherwellcc.org.uk
Polo Squad: Polo tournaments and training sessions
To subscribe go to: http://mail.cherwellcc.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/polosquad_cherwellcc.org.uk
